Ferry capacity cuts cost £11 million hit

​Caledonian MacBrayne and Transport Scotland have been accused of costing the islands’ economy £11 million by reducing the capacity last summer on the Uig-Tarbert-Lochmadde routes “for no valid reason”.
The disruption to ferry services has resulted in economic damage to the islands.The disruption to ferry services has resulted in economic damage to the islands.
The disruption to ferry services has resulted in economic damage to the islands.

Harris Development Ltd, which brings together a range of community bodies, have claimed that the capacity cuts on mv Hebrides – which are on top of those caused by the controversial closure of the mezzanine deck – have been forced by a “totally unrealistic timetable” set by Transport Scotland, which is part of the Scottish Government.

The chairman of Harris Development Ltd, Kenny Macleod, has told the Scoittish Government’s transport. Minister, Jenny Gilruth, that he is “absolutely horrified” by the extent of the cuts and their impact on the Harris and Uist economies.

Mr Macleod states that closure of the mezzanine deck “does not even account for half the loss of traffic”. The overall reduction, he says, was 9885 vehicles of which 5493 are “unaccounted for” after excluding the mezzanine issue, equating to 45 a day.

He writes: “For most of last summer we were being told that the vessel was fully booked and many of us had to go on waiting lists in the hope of cancellations, often not coming until the last 24 hours before travel.

“To now discover that CalMac had artificially reduced the capacity still further is scandalous”. He asks: “Is this them punishing the people of Uist and Harris for challenging their decision to not make the mezzanine deck available on all sailings?

“Or is it that they are more concerned with not being late so that they are only carrying the number of vehicles that can be loaded in the turn round time allowed in the inappropriate timetable provided by Transport Scotland?

Mr Macleod states: “Either of these two scenarios has the same result and that is a huge financial penalty to the economies of Harris and Uist.” They had calculated that the loss to island economies for the full summer season ran to £11 million.

“Why is the Scottish Government allowing two of its subsidiaries to do this to our communities?”, Mr Macleod asked the Minister.

“On the one hand you give CalMac a subsidy to run these lifeline services for the benefit of the island communities, whilst on the other hand you are allowing Transport Scotland to fine them for being a few minutes late according to a timetable that bears no semblance of reality.

“When very few of the transport services in this country run exactly to time, why the fixation with having ferries run like clockwork? And why is it that some ferries will go late to ensure they get as many travellers as possible on board, when others reduce the number they carry so as not to be late?”.

Mr Macleod states: “With the summer timetable having now been released and the well documented demand for bookings, we are already seriously concerned that people will not be able to get to Harris and Uist with these artificial reductions in capacity.

“We need to urgently meet to resolve this before our communities end up almost £20M down over the two summers because of the failure of CalMac and Transport Scotland to meet their obligations to carry the maximum number of vehicles on this service”.

Mr Macleod warns: “We are looking at another huge financial loss if this matter is not urgently resolved, and while people are still trying to get the ferry booked.

“Most accommodation providers have had provisional bookings as they awaited the release of the summer 2023 timetable. If people are unable to get a booking they will cancel and go elsewhere, further damaging the attractiveness of the islands as a holiday destination”.

Caledonian MacBrayne and the Scottish Government have been asked for comment.