RAIL passengers should be given a discount for putting up with sub-standard trains being used on Inverclyde lines, according to the area’s MSP.

Stuart McMillan says it is ‘unfair’ that local commuters have to pay the full amount for travelling on carriages built in 1979 which lack heating and have no toilets or wireless internet.

The Class 314 models have been in use on the Gourock and Wemyss Bay lines since late 2016 and look set to stay until early next year following a delay with the delivery of a fleet of new electric trains.

Mr McMillan said: “It is completely unfair that passengers in Inverclyde were subject to a three per cent fare increase earlier this year while getting an inferior service.

“We have seen passengers on the Glasgow/Edinburgh line receive a discount to the cost of their ticket on services affected by the decreased number of carriages on certain routes, so I raised this last week when I met with ScotRail and will be raising it again when I meet with Humza Yousaf MSP, the transport minister, this week.”

The idea of a discount was also mooted by Gourock man and former Inverclyde Council election candidate Alan Holliday, who has launched a campaign calling for the old trains to be removed and the newer Class 380s reinstated.

Mr Holliday said: “It costs nearly £2,000 a year or £11.80 a day from Gourock to Glasgow.

“If I have to get on one of these biscuit tin trains then I’m happy to pay 1979 prices.”

The petition, which already has over 300 signatures, says it is ‘not sufficient for Inverclyde’s MSP to ask for the carriages to simply be cleaned’.

But Mr McMillan said: “I make no bones about asking for the older trains to be cleaned and maintained.

“I’m sure I would be attacked for not asking for this whilst we still have them.

“I have on numerous occasions raised the cleanliness of these trains, receiving a further response on the subject just this week.

“I was informed that this issue has now been followed up with the head of train care, who has arranged to carry out a fleet check and improve the areas I have highlighted.

“I completely agree with the petition that train users in Inverclyde are being shortchanged as a result of these Class 314 trains being used on both the Gourock and Wemyss Bay lines.

“Since these trains began to run in Inverclyde last year I have been in regular contact with ScotRail and the transport minister, having asked him questions on various occasions.

“I met with a ScotRail representative last week to discuss, among other things, this very issue.”