Argyll and Bute Council's leader has expressed concern at plans to slash ticket office opening hours at railway stations in Helensburgh and Lomond.

ScotRail announced last month that it plans to press ahead with cuts to opening hours at railway station ticket offices across Scotland.

Among the affected stations are Helensburgh Central and Cardross.

Under ScotRail's plans, the Helensburgh Central facility will close at 7pm instead of midnight on Mondays to Saturdays.

On Sundays the ticket office will shut at 6pm instead of the current 11.45pm.

Opening hours at the Cardross facility are also to 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 entirely on Saturdays and Sundays, rather than just on Sundays as at present.

Council leader Robin Currie (Liberal Democrat, Kintyre and the Islands) has written to ScotRail expressing the views of council colleagues and constituents warning that the impact of the cuts will go far beyond those living in the area.

His report will go before the council at its full meeting on Thursday, April 28 – the last one before the council elections take place a week later.

He said: “At the request of constituents and colleagues, I wrote to ScotRail management in relation to their ongoing consultation on ticket office closures.

“The impact on Argyll and Bute travellers, should these proposals become reality, extends far beyond the Helensburgh area where the offices are located.

“Those travelling outwith Argyll and Bute by rail must often, by necessity, travel at off peak hours, when it is proposed that offices will be closed, impacting their ability to purchase tickets and get information.

“They deserve parity of access to rail products and services and it is to be hoped that this is taken into account before any final decision is made.”

A ScotRail spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that staff availability at Helensburgh Central would remain the same, despite any change to the ticket office opening hours.

Staff would be on hand in Helensburgh, but not behind the ticket office window, allowing them to spend more time in and around the station performing other duties.

All staff currently working in ticket offices which are proposed to have amended opening hours would be redeployed to frontline duties, such as additional customer assistance.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail head of customer operations, said: “The safety, comfort, and wellbeing of our customers is a top priority, and the changes we propose to make will help create an environment that improves safety, customer support, and the helpfulness of staff.

“We believe this will deliver a railway that is modern, safe, reliable, and will serve customers even better in the future.”

Councillor Currie is one of six candidates seeking re-election in the Kintyre and the Islands ward at the May 5 election. The others are Jane Kelly (Scottish Labour), John McAlpine (Independent), Dougie McFadzean (SNP), Alec McNeilly (Scottish Conservatives) and Alastair Redman (Independent).