Whilst most of my letters to your paper are of praise for the good work you do, I must take issue with an article by Alison Phillips concerning the current situation at Trowbridge station currently.

The caption "Trowbridge railway station is deserted this month, closed to rail traffic for electrification" is just not true. There are still 30-plus trains each day passing through, connecting the mainline at Westbury with the mainline at Swindon.

True, the service to Waterloo and Weymouth has to start at Westbury for another two weeks but the Severn to Solent service is still running – albeit to Swindon instead of Bath/Bristol. This alteration in fact gives a better service to London via Swindon, instead of the normal Bath, for Trowbridge residents. By going to Swindon, passengers have a choice of over six trains an hour to London and a much shorter journey time. So Alison, "If you are planning a visit to London, perhaps as a holiday treat, you’d be better off going on a coach" is just not true. By coach your journey will be a lot longer, more than treble the time by train.

Yes there is some disruption to trains down the Avon Valley line, but for good reason. From 2017 the trains on this line – connecting Trowbridge to Bath and Bristol – will be longer, heavier, faster and more frequent. But in order to have this, the line has to be upgraded around Dundas and Bathampton, work which is just about nearing completion.

One cannot make omelettes without breaking eggs, my grandmother used to tell me. If passengers wish to stop spending "their life crammed into overcrowded, poorly ventilated, uncomfortable ... carriages" then there has to be some investment to make things better. This is precisely what is happening.

Incidentally, this also applies to freight trains, which we all wish to see more of. The Bradford on Avon-Bathampton line will very shortly be able to carry more container traffic than at present thanks to the upgrade. Perhaps Alison would prefer to see those container juggernauts continue to travel through our villages and towns. If so, please try convincing the residents of North Bradley and Bradley Road, who complain bitterly to me about the suffering they have to endure.

I would like to ask Alison if she has spent any time on Trowbridge Station asking travellers about the disruption. I have, standing on the platform from 7am till 9am, when the station is at its busiest, to sound out what the problems might be and explaining what is happening.

In all cases but one, the disruption was accepted with good grace and with the realisation that it was needed if things were to get better. Many even took the work as a means of grabbing a holiday in August!

The transport section at Wiltshire Council has spent most of the last year negotiating with Network Rail and First Great Western to minimise the disruption caused by the greatest upgrade to the lines from Trowbridge since the rails were laid in Victorian times.

Please Alison, keep up the good campaigning work you normally do, but accept that this time you got it dreadfully wrong. I do hope I can see a correction shortly?

Horace Prickett, Passenger Transport Portfolio Holder, Wiltshire Council.