DUNOON Community Council has criticised CalMac over plans to operate a reduced winter timetable on the Gourock-Dunoon route, claiming there was ‘no consultation’ before the changes were announced.
CalMac has confirmed the service will operate with a single vessel between September 2026 and March 2027 while both MV Ali Cat and MV Argyll Flyer undergo annual maintenance and ‘life-extension works’.
During those periods, the route will operate an hourly service instead of the current half-hourly timetable.
However, Dunoon Community Council’s transport lead, David Clough, said the community council had been given different information and questioned both the lack of engagement with local communities and the long-term future of the vessels.
He explained: “We were advised by the Clyde North Area Manager a week last Thursday that a single vessel timetable would be in force from the beginning of September until the end of January, which is different to the dates now provided.
“The single vessel timetable is to allow for the annual overhaul of AliCat and life extension works to both AliCat and Argyll Flyer, with the Argyll Flyer also out of service for two weeks in March 2027 for annual overhaul.”
He added: “At no stage have CalMac undertaken any form of consultation on this announcement, nor provided detail of what the life-extension works are.”
Mr Clough also questioned whether investing in the ageing vessels could undermine long-standing commitments to replace them.
“Our concerns are that the life-extension works will be justification for keeping these two vessels in service despite new ferries having been promised since 2011,” he said.
Adding: “These ferries are clearly not fit for purpose on the Gourock-Dunoon route and any attempt to extend their life seems inconsistent with the provision of new vessels.
“This is an appalling state of affairs, and we will continue to lobby all of our local MSPs to get definitive dates and budgets approved for new fit-for-purpose vessels.”
CalMac said the temporary reduction in service forms part of its annual maintenance programme, during which every vessel in the fleet is taken out of service for planned work.
A spokesperson for the ferry company said: “CalMac’s winter timetables factor in our annual maintenance programme, which requires every vessel to be taken out of service to undergo planned work. This means that the Dunoon-Gourock service always operates with a single vessel for several weeks during this period.
“Due to the extensive work now required on both MV Ali Cat and MV Argyll Flyer, a single vessel service will operate on this route for longer than usual this winter, at various dates between September 2026 and March 2027. During these periods, an hourly service rather than a half-hourly service will operate between Dunoon and Gourock. A revised timetable will be published next week on the CalMac website.
“We have planned the annual maintenance period with as much detail and consideration as possible, based on our knowledge of the vessels, and we are continuously monitoring the progress over each maintenance period closely.”
