A new £320 million railway line linking London and Oxford is now complete and will be up and running by Christmas.
Chiltern Railway services will run on the line from London Marylebone to the historic city from December 12.
The route currently stops at Oxford Parkway - a station in the northern outskirts of the city - which opened in October last year.
Final track installations have been completed around Peartree and Wolvercote, transforming an old 20-40 mph branch line to a 100 mph main line.
Network Rail has contributed £190 million towards the project, and Chiltern have invested £130 million.
Two trains per hour will run on the line throughout with the journey taking as little as 60 minutes.
Chiltern's managing director, Dave Penney, said: "The new rail line will bring significant social, economic and environmental benefits to those living and working along the route and will be the completion of the first new rail link between a major British city and London for over 100 years."
Martin Frobisher, a managing director at Network Rail, said: "This important landmark in our nationwide Railway Upgrade Plan will offer a great new travel option not just for business and leisure passengers in Oxford going to London but also for those in London heading to Oxford.
"It will bring economic benefits to the Oxford region and with it new opportunities for people living there."
