Records of meetings and reports into the future of Dunoon and Kilcreggan ferry services have been released following a Freedom of Information request.
Specifications of the boats that are planned and potential new linkspans or pontoons are included.
The total cost of the project could be more than £20m and the aim is to improve reliability on the Dunoon route to 98%, with the new boats delivered in 2024.
It is the latest response to many years of pressure for larger ferries to Dunoon town centre since the ‘streakers’ were decommissioned – the smaller passenger ferries Argyll Flyer and Ali Cat have been used on the route since 2011.
With CalMac also taking over the Kilcreggan ferry earlier this year, both routes have been considered since July 2019 by what is still called the Gourock-Dunoon Steering Group.
This is led by Transport Scotland – which is also currently consulting the public on options to replace the Rest and Be Thankful, which include a bridge to Dunoon.
There are also representatives, mostly with their names redacted, from Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and CalMac, as well as Argyll and Bute Council, which owns the piers at Kilcreggan and Dunoon.
We’re publishing these related stories today:
- The boats – with examples used from the River Thames and New York
- Shoreside infrastructure
- An explainer piece because, let’s face it, this issue has dragged on for years and there are quite a lot of organisations involved
- And the way Kilcreggan, which was excluded from consultations, seems very much an afterthought.
The full documents released are available here as a five-megabyte PDF: EIR 202000081892 – Annex
Leave a Reply