We have had the bats in Wolvercote Tunnel and residents and primary school parents fearful about noise and vibrations.

There have been issues surrounding the presence of newts, horses and the air quality in Port Meadow and the Trap Grounds.

But those who thought that the blessing of the Transport Secretary, following the resumed inquiry, had put the long-awaited £200m plan to link Oxford and London, via Bicester, back on track reckoned without Sean Feeney, Mr Feeney’s legal challenge will exasperate those who have followed the planning saga.

And it emerges that the intervention of Mr Feeney, no stranger to legal challenges, is already having some impact. Local commuters anticipating a late April, early May start to work, are anxious to learn about the length of the Bicester Oxford line closure, fearing the prospect of two years of travel disruption.

Anxiety has turned to irritation with information about the works programme drying up. And the reason Network Rail and Chiltern Railways are unable to confirm timescales, they say, is the forthcoming judicial review. It would be a pity if the action sours relations between the rail companies and the rail users, who for years have been looking forward to a faster and more frequent service.

You can see why with Mr Feeney involved, the companies are reluctant to count their chickens.

It would not be wise to release a detailed timetable only to see an appeal coming into view down the line.

Yet having come so far, communication with groups like the Oxford-Bicester Rail Action Group should not be suspended because of a single Summertown resident. The rail companies are going to have to depend on the goodwill of commuters stuck on buses and in traffic long after the legal files have begun gathering dust.