Wednesday ferry cuts – economically harmful

Editor – Last autumn saw the beginning of the CHFS3 contract with a mission statement reading: “working differently, listening more, being more transparent, and ensuring services reflect the realities of island life”. Clearly someone forgot to tell CalMac, whose April Fool last Wednesday was a timetable with crucial afternoon services decimated and motorists waiting more than 150 minutes to commence a 35-minute ferry journey. Some of them were day-trippers – they will not be back, and neither will their friends.
The four per cent service reduction may seem innocuous but delivers a 30 per cent capacity reduction on Wednesdays, a level demonstrably incapable of addressing demand even on a wet April afternoon. Virtually all CalMac vessels are in service for around 100 out of 168 hours each week. Each of these hours costs the public purse several thousand pounds per vessel. Using a further eight of them in this way is completely absurd. It puts process before people and statistics before service, totally disregards any customer-based focus and is not what CHFS3 is supposed to be about.
Ferry Committee input avoided an even greater folly but at least-worst solution remains wholly unacceptable. Proper consultation and skilled evaluation must occur before services are slashed in this way.
Local users, although greatly inconvenienced, will ultimately migrate to other services. The losses to individuals, local businesses, publicly funded operations in health and education, although real, become invisible. Visitors on the other hand will simply vote with their wheels. RET and CHFS3 are supposed to be about addressing the challenges of depopulation in rural areas and promoting commercial activity in a fragile economic environment. They are ineffective if the road is closed to repaint the white lines and cut the verges.
Please get this ridiculous and economically harmful situation sorted.