Ferry passengers catching trains at Gourock may have shorter waits – if transport officials can secure funding.
ScotRail has advised a committee which includes members of Argyll and Bute Council that it is ‘actively looking’ at restructuring the Inverclyde line between Gourock and Glasgow.
This would offer a better shipping connection and a faster train service, but funding must be secured before any ideas can become reality.
Passengers looking to catch a train after getting off the ferry from Dunoon at Gourock can face around a 20-minute wait for the railway leg of their journey, while some Kilcreggan passengers must wait 32 minutes.
The waits are shorter at certain times of day.
The correspondence is revealed in a report to go before the Cowal Transport Forum on Tuesday.
Responding to an email regarding ferry connections at Gourock for Dunoon, a ScotRail spokesperson said: “I agree that the current and ongoing ferry connections at Gourock are not ideal and are a legacy of the Covid timetable whereby the frequency of Gourock services was reduced and the fast services withdrawn.
“This is in part due to reduced passenger numbers, a change in commuter working practices, a shortage of drivers and overall funding cuts to the railway.
“Therefore the train service is now currently two slow off-peak services per hour calling at all stations with additional fast peak services so some of the previous benefits have been lost.
“Looking to the future, ScotRail are actively looking at totally restructuring the Inverclyde lines which would both give a better shipping connection and faster train service but this is currently awaiting future funding acceptance.”
The spokesperson added: “Ideally we would like to provide a seven to ten-minute train/ship connection, which used to happen with the four trains per hour timetable.
“But this is now also made more difficult by trying to incorporate different times on the Glasgow to Paisley corridor, which also serves Ayrshire services as well as platforming at Glasgow Central.
“We also have to give a decent frequency and spread of services to stations such as Bishopton and Port Glasgow.
“Therefore, as the Dunoon ferry and train service are both half hour frequency, the current 20-minute connection is seen as acceptable.
“ScotRail and Calmac meet at regular intervals to discuss future timetables and these issues are brought up in order to try to give the best connectivity.”
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