 The new company was unable to raise sufficient investment to begin construction of the Oxford extension , and had been given only five years by Parliament to build it . On 7 August 1888 , less than two weeks before the authorisation was due to expire , the directors of the Oxford , Aylesbury and Metropolitan Junction Railway Company received the Royal Assent for a revised and much cheaper version . To be called the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad ( O & AT ) , this envisaged the extension being built to the same light specifications as the existing Tramway . 
