d to its construction,[3] the line did not need Parliamentary approval and construction could begin immediately.[2][4]↑ Rail services from London to Oxford were very poor at this time; despite being an extremely roundabout route, had the connection from Quainton Road to Oxford been built it would have been the shortest route between Oxford and the City of London.[5]↑ Although from 1899 services were operated by the Metropolitan Railway (the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground from July 1933), the track and stations remained in the ownership of the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad Company,  controlled by the Trustees of the late Earl Temple's Estate.[12] The MR had an option to purchase the line outright, but it was never taken up.[13]↑ In 1899 the Great Central Railway mainline from London to Manchester was built, running directly past the brickworks at Calvert. As a consequence, it was far cheaper and faster for the industries of Lancashire and London to buy bricks from Calve