SNP Ministers overruled ferry operators and imposed a 10% ferry fare hike, Scottish Labour has revealed.
CalMac is forced to increase ferry fares by 10% at the end of March despite the Hebridean and west coast shipping company asking for a modest two per cent rise in line with the prevailing rate of inflation.
The Scottish Government rise is five times higher than requested to pay for “additional
maintenance and operating costs” of CalMac’s ageing fleet - a situation down to the
government’s failure to invest in new ships at the necessary time.
Travellers in Orkney and Shetland are similarly impacted.
Another impetus is to recover a £10 million outlay incurred from a government ferry fares freeze last year.
For travellers the outcome means forking out £66.75 instead of £60.65 to take a car
from Stornoway to Ullapool. A one-way passenger ticket for the same route goes up
by £1.15.
Scottish Labour say islanders are being forced to “pick up the tab for SNP financial mismanagement” with the fare hike following years of disruption and chaos due to delays to new ferries.
A government briefing paper obtained by a Freedom of Information request by Labour highlights the increase “will be challenging for passengers and businesses” and appears to acknowledge a potentially negative effect on child poverty and economic growth.
Scottish Labour say islanders are being forced to “pick up the tab for SNP financial mismanagement” with the fare hike following years of disruption and chaos due to delays to new ferries.
Rhoda Grant, Scottish Labour Islands spokesperson, said: “These bombshell documents
show it was SNP Ministers who chose to inflict eye-watering fare hikes on long-suffering
ferry passengers.
“After dealing with years of ferry chaos because of the SNP’s incompetence, islanders are now being forced to pick up the tab for SNP financial mismanagement too.
“Scots cannot keep being forced to pay the price for SNP failure.”
She added: “Islanders deserve better – Scottish Labour is committed to ending the SNP’s ferry fiasco and delivering the reliable, affordable lifeline services communities deserve.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “The Scottish Government is committed to investing in our ferry services.
“We are delivering six new major vessels to serve Scotland’s ferry network from early 2025 to help reduce the need for extensive repairs on older vessels.
“We have also recently launched the procurement of another seven small vessels as we work to deliver the resilient services that our island communities need and deserve.
“The Scottish Government has had to face prolonged spending cuts from UK Government and this increase will help us recover the £10 million being carried from previous fare freezes.
“It will also help deliver the resilient, accessible services that ferry users want, enable continued investment in new vessels and infrastructure to support those services and cover the recurring costs from previous fares freezes.
“We know that any fares increase will be challenging for passengers and businesses but, having held fares in previous years, they will increase to around the level they would’ve been without our fares freeze in 23/24.”
Islanders face ferry fare hike due to ‘government mismanagement’
2 January 2025
