Network Rail took the decision to withdraw services on the Helensburgh to Dumbarton line despite the Met Office issuing only a yellow weather warning for the area – which signals a low risk of disruption.

ScotRail initially announced services would be withdrawn from noon on Wednesday January 14 but this was amended to six hours later.

Although a replacement bus service was provided by ScotRail to minimise travel disruption, the move left many commuters seeking alternative modes of transport with some cancelling plans altogether.

Retired Helensburgh woman Anne Green was one of those affected. She is currently studying an art course at the University of Glasgow but was left frustrated at the decision to suspend services. After electing not to travel, Anne was confounded when she discovered she could have made it to her course as the service ran normally until 6pm.

Anne said: “I had to be in Glasgow for my course by 1pm. My husband came home with information stating that the trains were off from 12 noon and that there might be buses on, but that wasn’t definite.

“It was only a yellow weather warning, you can’t just shut the line. If they are going to be pre-emptive closures every time there is a yellow warning then there is going to be a lot of disruption.” Network Rail confirmed that the previous weekend a tree had come damaging a power line near Cardross and this had influenced their decision as well as the forecast of gale-force winds blowing from south to north-east.

A spokesman for Network Rail told the Advertiser: “We brought in a new system in response to the storms in January 2012. We don’t rely on the Met Office or the BBC weather forecasts, we use our own internal data and have our own meteorologists.

“Nine out of 10 times the TV forecasts and our’s are the same but last week our experts predicted there would be winds of 60 to 70mph.

“When they hit those speeds the winds are capable of bringing down overhead power lines and trees as well as blowing debris onto the tracks.

“We get all sorts of stuff on the tracks including trampolines, garden sheds and gazebos.

“We need to be confident the service is safe. If there are problems with flooding we can fit extra drains, we have equipment that can melt snow but problems with the wind are hard to predict.” A spokeswoman for ScotRail confirmed a dozen buses had been put on, six in Helensburgh and six in Dumbarton as a replacement service.