MSP Jackie Baillie has called on SPT to take action to improve Kilcreggan ferry services after passengers experienced further disruption this week.
Jackie wrote to Strathclyde Partnership for Transport after sailings were cancelled for almost a week from Thursday June 1, when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency found ‘several serious defects’ on the Island Princess.
Services were eventually restored on June 7 but until then passengers were forced to make a 50-mile journey by bus due to the lack of a replacement vessel.
This week Kilcreggan ferry users were hit by even more disruption as services were cancelled on Monday morning as a result of a ‘technical fault’, which is thought to have been a shortage of crew.
The Dumbarton constituency MSP said that SPT must provide assurances about active maintenance and continuity of service.
“The Kilcreggan ferry is a lifeline service for many local residents and passengers urgently need reassurance from SPT that the vessel is being actively maintained to provide continuity of service,” she said.
“It is completely unacceptable that the vessel was allowed to get into such a poor state that the service was withdrawn for almost a week. It is also concerning that services were cancelled again just a matter of days after they were restored due to further technical faults.
“The assistant chief executive of SPT has informed me that he will be meeting with the operator soon and it is vital that he demands a guarantee on behalf of passengers that the vessel will be properly maintained to avoid this happening again in future.”
Leave a Reply