The Waverley will not call at Helensburgh at all this summer, it was confirmed today.
Instead there will be additional sailings from Kilcreggan, with buses taking passengers from Helensburgh to the village.
Waverley Excursions made the announcement this morning after months of uncertainty since Helensburgh pier was closed to mariners last autumn.
Argyll and Bute Council has still not said how much repairs to the pier would cost.
Waverley’s main Clyde summer season starts on Friday June 14 and will operate through to Sunday September 1.
The paddle steamer’s operators say that ‘to maintain links with the supportive local community in Helensburgh; there will be Waverley Excursions will operate a bus link to Kilcreggan every Thursday and Saturday to connect with the ship.
A spokesman said: “We are grateful for the support shown to Waverley by locals and visitors from Helensburgh over many years. For this season we will increase the number of calls at Kilcreggan to allow us to maintain a service from Helensburgh.
“We are grateful to Argyll and Bute Council for its assistance in allowing Waverley to make additional calls at Kilcreggan.”
Waverley’s Clyde timetable will be published over the coming days with passengers from Helensburgh being advised to book in advance if they wish to make use of the inclusive bus service to Kilcreggan.
There have been fears in Kilcreggan that additional waverley passengers could make the village’s parking problems even worse – last year some passengers who had booked tickets on the steamer missed their sailing becuase they could not park.
ABC will need to do something about the parking in the village asp to cope with the extra cars this will bring to Kilcreggan.
Indeed. I’m sure ABC will see the opportunity to install Arrochar style parking charges.