New drive for Sunday ferry service to Lewis

Published on Wednesday 19 September 2007 00:42

A NEW campaign is being mounted to press Caledonian MacBrayne, the ferry operator, to introduce a seven-day service to Lewis, The Scotsman has learned.

The strictly Sabbatarian island has so far resisted Sunday ferries, although a seven-day service to the neighbouring island of Harris began last year.

However, in the past week CalMac, the state-owned company which runs the crossing from Ullapool to Stornoway, has received nearly 40 letters and e-mails calling for the six-day service to be extended as soon as possible.

It is thought that an announcement on the future of CalMac routes, due to be made this week, has prompted the new calls.

Supporters say that a seven-day service would bring social and economic benefits to the island and that Sunday travel should be a matter of individual choice. They argue that, as CalMac provides similar services elsewhere in the Western Isles, seven-day crossings for Lewis are overdue.

The ferry company has repeatedly insisted it has no plans to introduce Sunday sailings to Lewis, but said it would consider any requests to do so.

The messages began arriving on 11 September, and by yesterday CalMac had received 37 in total, mostly from Lewis but also outwith the island.

A spokesman for CalMac said: "It may be that the impending signing of our contract to offer the services from 1 October is seen as an important point in the equation.

"The issue has been raised at a sub-committee of the board, and I anticipate a formal response being made to the correspondents once the contract is signed, hopefully towards the end of this week."

He added that the issue would then be raised with the CalMac board which meets next week: "It is for the board to take a view at that point as to how to progress the matter."

The Rev Andrew Coghill, the vice-chairman of the Lewis branch of the Lord's Day Observance Society, said: "We will oppose [a seven-day service], but the evidence from the past would indicate that CalMac is not sympathetic to the Christian point of view.

"The community is not seeking this, it is being artificially whipped up. But there are those on the island desperate to break down the last vestiges of Christian cultural heritage we have here."

In March, a report urged Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) to give serious consideration to a seven-day ferry service in summer between Stornoway and Ullapool.

Fisher Associates, independent consultants, found strong cultural reasons why there was no seven-day service, but said it was clear many residents support it and would benefit from it.

A council spokesman said yesterday: "We are opposed to the introduction of Sunday sailings to Lewis."