Council to meet transport minister over ferries

Council to meet transport minister over ferry issues 10/8/14

Serious problems with islanders facing difficulties in getting vehicles booked on mainland-bound ferries will be raised at a face-to-face meeting with transport minister Keith Brown.

Cheaper ferry travel under the Scottish Government’s road equivalent tariff scheme has boosted the number of tourists coming to visit the Western Isles.

But the initiative may be a victim of its own success as the ferries timetables cannot cope with the demand for travel.

Western Isles Council insists Cal Mac must realise the importance to tourism in the islands of having adequate capacity and services.

The council has set up a task group over the issue and other problems with ferries.

It is undertaking a study to provide Transport Scotland with “robust evidence” over each ferry service in the Western Isles.

The Comhairle told Hebrides News that transport minister Keith Brown had agreed to a meeting in an effort to seek a solution. No date has yet been set.

The council-led Outer Hebrides Ferries Task Group is bringing together various local agencies in a working group with the remit to “manage the undertaking of an economic study to provide robust and objective evidence associated with current and foreseeable demand for ferry services to and within the Western Isles; the current capacity constraints affecting the Western Isles, and the potential for growth across all sectors in the islands.”