What future ferry services for Orkney and other transport links may be like has been published in an Islands Connectivity Plan by Transport Scotland.
Much of the Plan is concerned with the West of Scotland due to the public ownership of CMAL, however, services to and from the Northern Isles are also affected.
Key actions include:
- Improving the reliability of our ferry services by modernising the CMAL fleet, reducing the average age of the vessels to around 15 years by the end of the decade.
- Building the resilience of the ferry network by increasing standardisation of vessels and ports.
- Refreshed transport connectivity needs assessments for island and peninsula communities served by the Clyde & Hebrides and Northern Isles Ferry Services.
- Detailed appraisals of fixed link proposals for Sound of Harris, Sound of Barra and Mull.
Transport Scotland is consulting on the plan and a Vessels and Ports plan for the Clyde & Hebrides and Northern Isles Ferry Services.
The Strategic Approach paper includes ferries, aviation, fixed links and, especially, addressing the strategic challenges facing the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services and Northern Isles Ferry Services.
The updated Vessels and Ports Plan provides detail on the Scottish Government’s objectives for the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services and Northern Isles Ferry Services which the Scottish Government is directly responsible for.
Click on this link to access copies of the documents above and also the consultation which closes on 3rd May 2024.
The Plan foresees more disruption to ferry services due to climate change and an increase in extreme weather events. It seeks to limit the impact of the disruption by considering vessel and port design.
Improving digital connectivity would, the Plan suggest: “see a successful island generating less demand for travel off-island rather than more. However, growing islands’ economies may require adapting transport connectivity to the particular economic growth sectors on each island.”
It also sees an increased role for air transport.
The vision for ferries is :
Scotland’s ferry services, supported by other transport services, will be safe, reliable, affordable and inclusive for residents, businesses and visitors enabling transport connectivity, sustainability and growth of island and peninsula communities and populations.
The Key question for improving transport (or any other kind of ) connectivity and including new more reliable ferries rests on FUNDING.
The document states:
The costs of providing ferry services are high and rising – this is creating an affordability challenge for both the Scottish Government and local authorities. We are in a period of sustained financial challenge, and it will be unsustainable to continue to increase funding of ferry services at the same rate as has been done in recent years. The successful implementation of this Islands Connectivity Plan can only be achieved by establishing a secure and sustainable long-term financial foundation for our ferry networks.
Costs of providing our ferry services on the west and northern isles routes have increased by 65% over the last 10 years. These costs are met through fares and financing by Transport Scotland. However, for every £1 paid by users towards covering the annual operating cost, another £2 of public funds are required.
The Scottish Government provides the bulk of the money. More than £178 million between 2018-19 and 2023-24 to the four local authorities that have responsibility for ferries.
In the Scottish Budget for 2023-24, £440 million was allocated for the operation of ferry services of which £210.8 million was allocated to Transport Scotland for capital spending, mainly on vessels and ports.
Transport Scotland has also announced its intention to look at fixed link proposals for Sound of Harris, Sound of Barra and Mull. These would replace the current ferry services.
- Sound of Harris – linking the Uists and Harris/Lewis
- Sound of Barra – linking Barra and the Uists
- Mull and the Scottish mainland
For many years now Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) has been the mantra of local politicians in Orkney demanding this scheme as it operates in the Western Isles routes.
It is estimated that the introduction of RET on the routes in the west resulted in the average fare paid per passenger and car dropping by 34% and 40% respectively.
At the same period there was a 20% reduction in 2018 for all passengers and car fares on the northern isles routes between Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Lerwick, a 20% reduction in cabin fares for islanders along with the fares freeze for islander fares in place on these routes since 2020. All ferry fares for both these routes were frozen for one year in 2023.
Since the introduction of the ferry fare freeze and RET, costs of providing the services doubled. One of the serious effects of RET was a shortage of space for islanders’ vehicles as visitors booked up well in advance of travel.
The Ferry Fares Freeze is removed for the northern isles :‘Tough Times’ as Robison Delivers Her First Draft Scottish Budget
There has been a rise in cancellations on some of the west coast routes – and this has been well covered in the media – however, the routes to Orkney and Shetland have a 96% reliability factor. Most cancellations are weather related.
This consultation is important. The future funding of the proposals in the plans is very vague considering the huge costs involved. With more and more money being syphoned off by the Scottish Government to mitigate UK Government policies, which are hitting low and middle earners, how will the financing of these proposals be achieved?
You can access copies of the documents and the consultation here.
Minister for Transport in the Scottish Government Fiona Hyslop said:
“Islanders have made clear to me that they have, and deserve to have, high expectations of transport services to meet their connectivity needs. They want a system that can deliver reliability and resilience in challenging weather environments as a result of the changing climate.”
“The Islands Connectivity Plan sets out to capture the transport connectivity needs for islanders and ferry users on mainland peninsulas. it recognises that we must ensure our islands remain attractive places to live, to visit and to relocate to.
“The Island Connectivity Plan looks at a wide range of issues, from improving fleet reliability and monitoring performance, to reducing carbon emissions and making future contracts more flexible to respond to community needs. It also considers aviation and fixed links.
“As always, the views of island communities and stakeholders will be key to this process. My officials will be hosting a series of engagement events across our networks and an online consultation will be carried out to ensure the views of the people that rely on our island transport links are heard and incorporated into this work.
“The Scottish Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that transport connectivity to our islands is reliable, affordable and inclusive to support the economic and population growth of these communities and this Island Connectivity Plan sets out a comprehensive plan to follow on from the six new vessels being delivered by 2026.”
Fiona Grahame