Two of CalMac’s west coast ferry routes will be prioritised for disruption following a period of public consultation.
Sailings between Mallaig-Armadale and Ardrossan-Campbeltown have been named as CalMac announced five changes to its route prioritisation framework.
Reacting to more than 200 responses, the ferry operator announced the following changes to its major vessel routes:
- When calculating the priority of each route, it will put more emphasis on the level of use by both island residents and commercial vehicles.
- Routes with limited capacity on alternative services will be prioritised higher.
- Given alternative travel options are available, Ardrossan-Campbeltown and Mallaig-Armadale routes will be the first to experience disruption if a vessel is available and a cascade involving those routes can help.
- The aim is to ensure that no route is without service for more than one week, where possible – this excludes Ardrossan-Campbeltown and Mallaig-Armadale.
- The rationale behind vessel deployment decisions will be clearly communicated.
Two proposals were not taken forward: to prioritise routes based on historical disruption, and to make spreading vessels across multiple routes standard practice.
The changes to the framework will be implemented from Monday October 23.
A 21-page document analysing the public feedback that was released alongside CalMac’s announcement shows that improved communication was the most supported proposal in the consultation, with 88 per cent of respondents backing it.
This was followed by putting more importance on islanders and commercial vehicles (79 per cent) and consulting with communities on major deployment decisions (74 per cent).
An appendix of other comments received within the feedback included the current booking system being inadequate; concerns about the size of mobile homes taking up too much space on vessels; and the need for CalMac’s senior management to spend time in local offices to better understand operational realities.
Director of Strategy and Change at CalMac, Pauline Blackshaw said: “We are immensely grateful to everyone who participated in this consultation. Your contributions have been instrumental in shaping a more effective framework for our ferry services.
“While we will continue to face challenges in distributing services during major vessel outages, these refined changes are a significant step towards a more equitable and transparent system.
“Looking ahead, we very much welcome the investment provided over the next few years to deliver six new major vessels and 10 smaller vessels, which should reduce the requirement for route prioritisation in the future.
“In the meantime, these revisions demonstrate our commitment to the continuous improvement of our services for the benefits of our customers.”
The updated framework and the publication consultation analysis can be found in the published reports section of the CalMac website.