The only thing you can say with certainty about the Government’s announcement on electrification of the rail line as far as Oxford is that the Minister turned up and made the same announcement as that made by his Labour predecessor 12 months ago.

Why is the line only being electrified as far as Oxford? And what is the point of electrification when many of the trains travel beyond Oxford to Worcester and Birmingham anyway?

It offers little to commuters who are more interested in whether they have decent and regular trains with enough space to guarantee them a comfortable journey to work.