Jackie Baillie has spoken of her disappointment following a week of severe disruption on local railway services and called for meaningful negotiations with the trade unions, whose members are facing a cost of living crisis.

No trains served West Dunbartonshire, Helensburgh and Lomond over three separate days last week due to nationwide strike action by the RMT union.

The Dumbarton constituency MSP wrote to ScotRail to question why the area was excluded when the rail provider’s emergency timetable was revised earlier this month following weeks of reduced services.

And she questioned why no replacement bus services were being put on to help people make essential journeys.

Ms Baillie has even been contacted by constituents who are considering moving away from the area because of the poor rail service.

She said: “I would urge the employers and trade unions to work together to resolve the dispute. There is no doubt that my constituents have been badly let down by poor rail services for years and have now been completely overlooked when capacity in the emergency timetable was increased by ScotRail.

“Parts of my constituency have been completely cut off and the reduction in services has prevented people from getting to work or forced them to fork out for a taxi they can ill afford during a cost of living crisis.

“It is extremely worrying but, not a surprise, that I have constituents who feel so let down by local rail services that they are now considering uprooting their life and moving to another area better served by public transport.

“Indeed, in the response I received from David Simpson, he advises that local services are impacted because they do not have enough drivers.  I would therefore urge the Scottish Government to launch a recruitment drive specific to this area which would not only get people into work but would also assist those currently struggling to get from A to B.”