10% Hike in Fees for Scottish Ferries
The boats that couldn’t be made are now the boats that can’t be afforded. First islanders were cut off from the mainland by boats that didn’t exist and now the boats that do arrive will simply be too expensive for many people. It is almost funny to think that those poor souls that are depending on ferries to keep their way of life allowed have been so thoroughly let down in every imaginable way.
For 2023/24 the fees were frozen despite inflation sitting around 9%, the argument being that people and businesses need the lower fees due to how important the routes were. Clearly that has since changed with Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop saying, "reluctantly, we are having to raise ferry fares in the coming year by 10%, bringing fare levels back to around what they would have been had fares not been frozen in 2023-24. This means, in real terms, fares have broadly increased in line with inflation over time.”
The rise comes into effect January 1st so islanders can look forward to an increase to their rates in the coming months. It is odd to see such a vital piece of infrastructure be handled quite so poorly. Everything from procurement to maintenance has been an unmitigated disaster by all involved. It also doesn’t help the metropolitan trend of the modern SNP. The islands and highlands being the forgotten little brother to the central belt.
This is adding unnecessary pressure onto an already hammered community. Why we can’t pull the ferries into public ownership at this point baffles me. We have spent far more than it would cost to buy an entire ferry firm to build just one ferry so why not turn it into a public service at this point. The lines are either commercially unviable or so down the list of the companies concern that investment is rare and service is in a downward spiral. Why can’t we pull these providers into the public domain and demand better services. It’s not like we haven’t already spent enough.
