Argyll Ferries hails Cowal Games success and unveils vision for Gourock Dunoon service

Argyll Ferries Ltd, the operators of the new Gourock-Dunoon passenger service, have hailed their enhanced service for the Cowal Games an outstanding success, with almost 7000 passengers carried to and from the games on Saturday (August 27.)

Argyll Ferries Managing Director Phil Preston said: “The Cowal Games was a major test for the new service and I am pleased to say it passed with flying colours. The two passenger vessels, supplemented with the MV Saturn (chartered in specially from our sister company CalMac Ferries), performed admirably and the passenger facilities we had put in place at Gourock, and those provided by Argyll and Bute Council in Dunoon, ensured safe and speedy boarding.”

He added:”The high volume of traffic handled also amply demonstrated that concerns about access for buggies and wheelchairs on the new vessels are groundless.”

Mr Preston said the service’s success on Saturday showed that the time had now come to draw a line under the difficulties of the service’s start and look forward to the next six years of the contract: “Our vision has always been for a safe, frequent, reliable, world-class passenger service between the two towns, with purpose built port and passenger facilities, and we believe we are on the right road to achieve this with increased frequency and late sailings, but it is only a start.”

“We accept that the introduction of the service has been disappointing, but as we had only 16 days to buy two vessels, modify them and the shore infrastructure, recruit and train staff and create the website and other marketing material, it was always going to be a challenge.

“Getting the service underway has been a remarkable achievement, with everyone involved, including those at Argyll & Bute Council and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, making a huge effort to ensure the service started as required on June 30, and I would like to publicly thank them for their efforts,” he said, “but we do recognise, that passengers have been inconvenienced as we have found our feet, and for that we sincerely apologise. We are also grateful to our colleagues in First Scotrail who have worked with us to ensure through ticketing arrangements are in place.” 

Mr Preston said subsequent issues mostly related to the fact that the tender compelled the successful operator to provide a passenger service from facilities designed for vehicles, but in the light of customer feedback and operational experience, we are undertaking tactical improvements which will resolve a great many of the remaining problems. These include:

• The installation of electronic information boards on both piers
• The introduction of  a revised timetable to better integrate with rail services
• Further works to the ships to improve the resilience

Discussions are also underway with Western Ferries to include its vehicle service as part of CalMac “Hopscotch” multi-route journeys.

And he stressed: “With the teething problems now largely behind us, we want to focus on the future and work with partners and stakeholders to ensure the service achieves its full potential. We are doing what we can to improve the overall experience while travelling, but in order to achieve our vision of providing a world class ferry service of which everyone can be proud, we need purpose-built port and passenger facilities that will ensure a quality experience from start to finish.

“Responsibility for that lies with Argyll & Bute Council and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, as port owners, along with Scottish Government who would be required to provide funding, so we are working with them, plus other key partners such as Inverclyde Council and ScotRail, to identify what is required and drive for delivery of these services.”

“We recently met with representatives from Argyll & Bute Council, Transport Scotland and Inverclyde Council to set out our vision and were pleased at the positive response we received, so are looking forward to seeing our vision for the route becoming a reality.”

Ends.

Notes to Editors

1.            Argyll Ferries Ltd, a subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, was awarded the contract to operate the Gourock-Dunoon Service in June 2011 following a tender process by the Scottish Government.

For further information, contact:

David Cannon
Group Public Affairs Manager
David MacBrayne Ltd
(On behalf of Argyll Ferries Ltd)
Tel: 01475 650371
Mob: 07595 092332
david.cannon@davidmacbrayne.co.uk

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