Ferry tales
This has all got very overheated lately. The west coast ferry network is to be split up. CMAL is to be privatised. CalMac is to be sold off. The Mull to Craignure route is to be put out to tender.The...
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Council supports Jura passenger ferry. Business Gateway to help with business...
In a sensible and generous decision, Argyll and Bute Council yesterday (2 June 2011) agreed to support the Jura passenger ferry service for the 2011 summer season, with a grant of £24,000. This will be...
View ArticlePolitical responses to Draft Scottish Ferry Services review
The Scottish Government today published the draft review of Scottish Ferry Services which will now go to consultation for a 14 week period until 30th march 2012. It is important for as many people as...
View ArticleScottish government confirms RET will be rolled out to both Bute ferry services
Transport Scotland has confirmed the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) scheme will be rolled out to both Bute ferry services after concerns were raised that the Rothesay-Wemyss Bay route would not be...
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Reviewing the Scottish Ferries Review
The consultation period for the recently published draft plan for Scottish ferry services ends on 30th March 2012.Ferry services and everything to do with them are embedded in the daily lives,...
View ArticleMcGrigor outraged as Ferries Review consultancy fees reach £440,600
The cost of almost half a million pounds on consultancy fees for the review of Scotland’s ferry services has been revealed in two written Parliamentary answers to questions tabled by Highlands and...
View ArticleOfficial: David MacBrayne Group’s CEO ‘has not resigned’?
Towards the end of last week For Argyll made several attempts to talk to Archie Robertson, Group Chief Executive for David MacBrayne Limited, or DML.DML is the parent company for subsidiaries CalMac...
View ArticleMSP uses First Minister’s Questions to ask about CalMac jobs
In the widespread concern over the Scottish Government’s intentions for the future delivery of Clyde and Hebridean ferry services, Dave Thompson MSP yesterday (11th September) asked the First Minister...
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Transport Minister rolls back First Minister’s commitment to not unbundling...
Public anxiety on the west coast of Scotland has been growing over the Scottish Government’s intentions for the delivery of the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services.These are the ‘lifeline services’,...
View ArticleScottish Government delays tendering west coast ferry services until after...
In an announcement full of interest, Transport Scotland have announced that:the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services will indeed be tendered as a single contract rather than unbundled;tendering will not...
View ArticleFerries and fares on The Ileach’s Letters page
The latest edition of The Ileach, the fortnightly newspaper for Islay, has a very interesting collection of letters on issues around ferries and fares.It seems that in recent editions Alan Reid MP and...
View ArticleRMT ballot papers out next week on Serco Northlink Christmas strike
The RMT is to send out ballot papers next week to staff who were transferred to the new private sector operator of the Northern Isles ferry services – Serco Northlink.The staff transfer follows...
View ArticleFerry staff in 88% vote to strike against Serco Northlink
Serco Northlink, the new private sector operator on the Northern Isles ferry services to Orkney and Shetland, is facing a strike by staff over what the RMT union see as reneging on previous agreement...
View ArticleRustle with Russell
What arrived in this morning’s post but a self-promotional prospectus from local MSP, Michael Russell.Such exercises are necessary in bad times. And this does lighten the mood.In the parallel universe...
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Dunoon-Gourock Ferry Action Group public meeting
On Thursday night, 11th July, the Dunoon-Gourock Ferry Action Group held a public meeting in the Queen’s Hall in Dunoon. The agenda focused on the recently published report on the feasibility of a...
View ArticleConcerns about operational reliability of CMAL vessels
[Updated below 21.45] There are now widespread concerns about the impact on the CalMac schedules of the vessels they lease from CMAL – the Scottish Government owned asset holding company.For the last...
View ArticleTransport Minister politely puts ill-briefed MSP back in his box – and dances...
As For Argyll reported recently, Labour Highlands and Islands MSP, David Stewart. offered his credibility as hostage in submitting a fleet of parliamentary questions to the Scottish Government which...
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