CalMac ticket row
Caledonian Isles ready for a busy year
Calls have been made to scrap the multi-journey vehicle ticket on the ferries. The Isle of Arran Ferry Committee has backed the move after widespread abuse of the system was uncovered.
Multi-journey vehicle tickets on the ferry could be scrapped from the end of March.
The Isle of Arran Ferry Committee (IoAFC) has backed the move after it was shown the system was being abused.
Members heard that of the 268 booked vehicles which failed to turn up for Brodick to Ardrossan sailings in December, 240 had been booked by people with multi-journey tickets. Of these, 65 were on 8.20am sailings - the equivalent of a ‘full boat’ port manager Colin McCort pointed out.
‘If we are to optimise capacity, no shows must be minimised and this is an important first step in achieving that,’ said Arran MSP Kenneth Gibson.
Transport Scotland confirmed the pilot scheme is being reviewed but a final decision has yet to be made.
The committee also discussed ongoing capacity issues with senior CalMac managers including Ross Moran, operations general manager. Mr Gibson added: ‘We discussed the introduction of electronic ticketing this year and progress towards smart ticketing. At Monday night’s meeting, the committee also heard from Graham Laidlaw, ferries division director, Transport Scotland, who said the government was looking at the possibility of a new boat for Arran.
He said: ‘Scottish Ministers appreciate the need for greater network resilience, including the vital Ardrossan to Brodick route. We have been looking to secure a Danish vessel to add to the fleet. No decision on this has yet been made.’
Bill Calderwood of Arran Community Council and acting IoAFC chairman Alastair Dobson gave a detailed presentation covering all of Arran’s ferry issues, each of which was responded to in turn, ranging from improving the complaints procedure to the potential increase in sailing hours and the possibility of re-scheduling annual vessel maintenance.
Earlier Mr Laidlaw had revealed the continued success of Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) on the Ardrossan to Brodick route.
Mr Gibson said: ‘I am delighted that in 2016 the number of vehicles travelling to Brodick increased by 11 per cent, passengers numbers rose 19 per cent and commercial vehicles 23 per cent. This shows the positive impact RET is having in bringing more people and therefore more revenue and jobs to Arran’s vital tourism sector, while continuing to make it much less expensive for islanders to visit the mainland.’
Mr Laidlaw added that, as far as Transport Scotland is concerned, ‘Arran’s Ferry Committee is the most effective across the network’.
The next IoAFC meeting will be on February 13.
The MV Caledonian Isles was due back in service this weekend after undergoing an extensive refit and installation of a new marine evacuation system with a combined cost in the region of £1 million.
The work was carried at the Garvel Dry Dock in Greenock during her twoweek annual maintenance to keep her ship shape for the forthcoming year serving Arran.
MV Caledonian Isles is 94 metres in length and can carry 1,000 people - the highest passenger capacity of any vessel in the fleet on Caledonian MacBrayne’s busiest route in the network in terms of people carried, with 761,948 passengers in 2015. She can also carry 110 cars.
The installation of a new marine evacuation system is part of a project of replacement across the fleet. The ferry has also had a complete engine overhaul and a propeller and tailshaft overhaul - a complex piece of work that requires precision engineering - as well as the hydraulics on the bow and stern ramps serviced.
There was also a whole schedule of more routine metalwork, painting, general maintenance and deep cleaning. One of CalMac’s technical managers in charge of the refit was Tom Gilmore from Brodick, a former pupil of Brodick primary and Arran high schools.
He joined CalMac in 1998 as a cadet, gaining his first officer of the watch certificate.
He spent six years away gaining further experience on cruise lines before returning to CalMac in 2006 as a third engineer and working his way up to chief engineer. He has, in the past, been chief engineer on MV Caledonian Isles and is currently undertaking a secondment as a technical manager. A spokeswoman for CalMac said: ‘MV Caledonian Isles did a total of 3,370 sailings in 2016.
‘Only three sailings were cancelled because of technical issues, which equates to 0.09 per cent.
‘That’s why these deep refit periods are very significant in terms of the safety and reliability of ships in the fleet - and, therefore, delivering our lifeline services, which is what it is all ultimately about.
‘The success of the work carried out in the twoweek annual refit period plays a significant role in maintaining this high level of technical reliability.’