HELENSBURGH'S MSP has slammed plans to slash opening hours of the area's rail station ticket offices as "absolutely unacceptable".

ScotRail launched a consultation today over the future of 120 ticket offices across Scotland, including shutting some completely.

The plans would see the Helensburgh Central facility close at 7pm instead of midnight on Mondays to Saturdays. And it would close at 6pm on Sundays instead of the current 11.45pm.

Opening hours at the Cardross facility would also be slashed to a few hours on weekdays only - from 7.15am to 9.45am, Monday to Thursday instead of the current 2.15pm. It would be open until 10.15am on Fridays and would be shut on Saturdays and Sundays, rather than just on Sundays as at present.

Read more: ScotRail plans could see Helensburgh Central ticket office hours cut

Jackie Baillie MSP said: "This is absolutely unacceptable. My constituents deserve better than a second-rate service which they have experienced for a number of years under the SNP’s watch.

“All of this is happening while fares have risen again this month and routes are being drastically cut back.

“ScotRail are representing this as ‘delivering a better level of service to customers’ which is a gross misrepresentation of the truth.

"These cuts will hit passengers, threaten jobs and compromise station safety which is vitally important to people in my constituency.

“We won’t get people back on trains by cutting rail services to the bone. That is blatantly clear for anyone to see.

“It is now a matter of months until ScotRail comes into public hands – and the SNP-Green government are laying the groundwork by nodding through one round of cuts after another.

“I am appalled at this proposal and I urge the Scottish Government to intervene and ensure these ridiculous plans don’t go ahead.”

ScotRail said the changes were necessary because of changing customer habits, such as using online or ticket vending machine options.

They said there had been a 50 per cent drop in the use of offices in the past decade.