Sir - I really must take issue with Dominic Utton’s column (Off the Rails, August 7) and his description of the “slow, crumbling shabbiness” of Oxford station.

I am a regular user of the station and agree that more space is needed, as passenger growth over the last decade has far exceeded expectations and it can be very congested, especially the area between the main entrance doors and the ticket gates.

But I have seen nothing of this “crumbling shabbiness” and wonder if Mr Utton is going out of his way to criticise. We should remember that the existing building is less than 15 years old and was designed for the 21st century, but not for the volume of passengers now using it. I find it a pleasant enough, functional building with a good range of catering, and to suggest that it presents a poor first image of Oxford is ridiculous.

The real issue is increasing the number of platforms, and unless this is done passengers will have more cause for complaint. It’s all very well gushing over “world-class station design” as the development plans do, but I shudder at the likely cost of this and increasing platform capacity must come first.

Mr Utton seems to have made something of a second career of cynicism, and as electrification work continues and causes more disruption on the Paddington route, his bile can only get worse. Perhaps he will switch to the new Chiltern Trains route to Marylebone when it opens, as I’m sure Mr Utton and First Great Western are heartily sick of each other.

Dave Richardson, Oxford