On the face of it a seemingly sensible suggestion? All may not be what it seems though. I have sent the following to the Buteman:

Before we sleepwalk into supporting what, on the face of it, is a diminution of service, I would urge caution and hope that the hourly sailing proposal from Calmac will be fully scrutinised by all sections of our community so that the implications are fully understood.

It was my understanding that this was put forward on the premise that the commuter sailings would not be affected. In the proposal put forward by Calmac this is clearly not the case for the evening commuter sailings, in particular. As it stands this proposal would provide considerable inconvenience to many who commute daily to work, study, do business and in some cases, visit hospital, in Glasgow, Greenock, Largs, Ayr and points in between and beyond, with the withdrawal of the 17:45, 17:30 and 18:15 sailings. For example, someone currently commuting to Paisley or Glasgow who would normally connect with the 17:15 train from Central Station, would not get back to Rothesay until 19:35 under the new proposals, as it appears there would only be sailings on the hour from both sides between 4pm and 7pm. (As an aside, this begs the question, what input has been sought from First Scotrail?)

Whilst there may be merit in hourly sailings between 10am and 4pm from both sides, I do not think it wise that we trade this reduction in frequency for zero additional late sailings or forgoe the possibility of, say, an earlier Saturday sailing from Rothesay. Also, do people truly appreciate that in the not infrequent circumstance that we go down to one boat there will be a two hour wait between sailings?

I cannot help but surmise that this “initiative” by Calmac is yet another piece of reverse engineering to meet the performance reality of the new vessels. First the access ramps had to be redesigned at great cost, then traffic lights had to be hurriedly erected to allow traffic from the new vessels to flow, then the pier redesigned! The fact is that the timetabled sailing has stretched out from 30 to 35 minutes. The reality is that it is regularly between 35 and 40 minutes, leaving tight timescales to connect with ongoing rail connections. (I note the 06:30 failed to connect with the 07:13 train again on Monday 10th March!) It is easy to see, therefore, that hourly sailings would suit Calmac as it would give more room for manoeuvre and probably reduce customer complaints about integration.

As mentioned above, whilst I feel that this may be a bit of a trojan horse as a precursor to other, possibly less palatable changes in the future, I can see that between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Friday, the proposal may have some merit. However, this should not be at the expense of the “commuter” sailings. There should be a full and extensive consultation with travellers and all sections of Bute’s population and economy before unfettered support is given.

Why are these “commuter” ferries so important, some might say? The ability to live on Bute and commute to work or study on the mainland is a vital tool in ensuring the economic viability of the island. 50 extra families coming to live here would make a great difference to the economy through the additional income spend as well as maintaining and improving services through Council Tax. On the other hand families leaving the island due to any percieved unreliability or infrequency of the ferry service would have an equally negative impact. I know which way I would prefer the population to go!

A hybrid proposal that retains the current morning sailings to 08:45, then provides hourly sailings from 10 to 4pm, reverting to 45 minutes until 7pm with additional sailings in the evening may be more worthy of our support. This can be done with the same number of sailings we currently enjoy.