Ticket office opening hours at Wandsworth Town station are to be slashed by more than half as part of cutbacks made by rail operators South West Trains.

Under plans agreed by the government, opening hours will be cut from 43 hours a week to just 21, and there will be no staff on duty after 11am on weekdays or at weekends.

Nearby Earlsfield station will also lose 45 minutes, while Barnes station, which is widely used by Putney and Roehampton residents, will have its opening hours reduced from 89 hours a week to 75.

Wandsworth Council’s transport spokesman Guy Senior said: “This is a real kick in the teeth for rail passengers who are already forced to endure long periods of the day when there is absolutely no member of staff available to offer any kind of assistance.

“It’s also amazing they are going to shut these offices for longer each day because we have been in lengthy talks with South West Trains and Network Rail to provide a series of improvements at Wandsworth Town including a new ticket office that would be relocated nearer the station entrance.”

A spokeswoman for South West Trains said: “We are proceeding with opening hours as decided by the Department for Transport.”