The privately operated Western Ferries is to build two new ferries for its Gourock/Dunoon service, and says its plan to launch services to Arran is still alive but is delayed by uncertainty over the fate of Caledonian MacBrayne.
It wants to know if Road Equivalent Tariff (RET), which cuts fares by up to 50%, will be extended to other CalMac routes and calls for an early announcement by the Scottish Government on whether the CalMac network of 24 routes is to be broken up when it is next tendered in 2013.
Gordon Ross, managing director of Western Ferries, told The Herald the two new vessels represented a significant investment which would ensure the company provided a first-class service to the Cowal community and all its customers in the future.
He said Western Ferries’ vessel renewal programme had been suspended in 2003 due to political uncertainty surrounding the subsidised car ferry service operated by CalMac. Following the outcome of the recent tender positive decisions were taken to provide additional capacity for expected growth in the future.
The new vessels will be faster and bigger than the ferries they are replacing, which carry 34 cars. He anticipates that the first would be delivered in time for the 2013 summer season.
The company has a long standing relationship with the Fergusons yard at Port Glasgow and Mr Ross said: “Western Ferries are hopeful Fergusons are able to submit a competitive bid. Western Ferries now has the certainty to invest in its and the local communities’ future. Many local organisations have ambitious plans for Dunoon and Cowal as a tourist destination and with these vessels Western Ferries provide the capacity to meet this increase in demand.”
On Western’s plans for Arran he said a crucial consideration was whether the RET pilot scheme announced four years ago, which has seen ferry fares to the Outer Isles and Coll and Tiree reduce by up to half, would be extended to other routes.
He said: “The Arran project is still very much alive but any conclusion is being delayed by the uncertainty surrounding the Scottish Government’s promise to extend the RET pilot and whether the Arran route will be tendered separately from the main CalMac bundle in 2013.”
The Scottish Government has already confirmed that the lifeline services to Orkney and Shetland would be broken up and Mr Ross is now seeking equal clarity as soon as possible on CalMac.
He said: “An early announcement with regards the structure of the CalMac tender in 2013 will give all interested parties the best opportunity to investigate innovative solutions to deliver enhanced services at a lower cost to the taxpayer. The outcome of the single route tender on the Gourock to Dunoon route was an enhanced passenger-only service and a £1.5 million (47%) saving on previous subsidy levels. There must be merit in extending this approach onto other routes.”
But economist Professor Neil Kay said: “The break-up of the CalMac routes will lead to unregulated private monopolies over essential services, cherry pickers accessing the high value and/or low cost parts of individual routes, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the high cost public services that the cherrypicker is not interested in.”
A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said: “The Scottish Government has reaffirmed its commitment to Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) on the current routes, and look to roll out to the Argyll and the Clyde islands in light of the Western Isles pilot. Ministers are considering the roll-out of the RET scheme.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article