THE lament is heard in almost every city in the world: Why didn’t they just grasp the nettle 20 years ago and fix this terrible transport problem?

And that will continue to be the cry over the coming decades as future generations look at the work to be carried out at the railway station and wonder why Botley Road beneath it was not tackled at the same time.

We do not say it is an easy project. Nor would it be cheap. But at some point someone must be brave enough to tackle that western corridor.

The western and eastern approaches to the city are notoriously bad and we have a beating heart that is being strangled by its clogged arteries.

Mammoth transport projects (and this would be mammoth) will always carry a large bill and much disruption. But with hindsight too often people look back and say: “You know, 20 years ago we should have done this because look at the cost now.”

Widening the railway bridge is not the silver bullet answer because the two river crossings immediately to the west will also need drastic work.

But, if we are going to see the railway station work go ahead, then the brave course of action is to act today. Tomorrow won’t magic up a solution.