'Surprised and disappointed' - Islanders feel 'targeted' by 10 per cent ferry ticket price hike

Islanders have hit back at decisions to raise ferry ticket prices by 10 per cent next year - a move they said will mostly impact the vulnerable in their communities.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop announced the rise will take effect from 1 January on the Northern Isles network and 28 March on the west coast.

She said a fare freeze, which had been in place this year – at a cost of about £10 million – would be “too challenging to continue” given the financial outlook facing the Scottish Government.

Islanders have hit back at the Scottish Government’s move to increase ferry tickets by 10 per cent next year | Katharine Hay

The announcement comes as Scotland’s ferry system continues to face disruption caused by breakdowns.

The Ferries Community Board (FCB), which represents communities that use the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services, said it was “disappointed and surprised to see another fares increase for island residents and businesses.”

FCB chairman Angus Campbell said: “Island communities and businesses have suffered socially and financially over the last number of years due to lack of investment and poor decision making. It is now ironic that they are being further impacted with a 10 per cent increase following the 8.7 per cent increase that has only recently been implemented in 2024.

“This affects most the most vulnerable in our islands including the young and those with families at a time when universal free travel is protected elsewhere.”

Mr Campbell said the FCB was particularly disappointed the increase had been decided “with no consultation or impact assessment but applied by decree”.

“The move towards more collaborative decision making and the application of the principals of the Islands Bill in terms of Islander community impact assessment have once again been forgotten when they are inconvenient,” he said. "Islanders know there is a difficult economic environment to deal with but have long argued that inclusive and collaborative decision making would bring better outcomes for all.

“Many local groups and communities have invested significant time and effort working towards that principle which now seems to have been trumped by balancing departmental budgets."

Local solicitor Duncan Byrd said sometimes he has to travel on ferries up to 20 times a year for work | Katharine Hay

Islander and local solicitor Duncan Byrd, who makes several ferry trips a month to courts on various islands for work, said the price hike was “very high” for those working and living between the islands and the mainland.

Mr Byrd said rather than “targeting” island communities, there should be a separate tariff for “the sheer volume of campervan type traffic that we have” and the “certain types of travellers who aren’t inputting into the islands.”

“It would effectively work as a reverse local tariff, to try and keep the prices down for those who have local postcodes,” he said.

“All islands have fragile economies. They need as much support as they can get.

“The minions in Edinburgh are targeting us.”

Lochmaddy Ferry Terminal on North Uist, where CalMac ferries run to and from the mainland | Katharine Hay

Residents in Lochmaddy, on North Uist, told The Scotsman there are concerns the cost of supplies will go up as the ferry ticket increase will impact island traders, who they said already have tight profit margins.

In a letter to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, Ms Hyslop said: “Reluctantly, we are having to raise ferry fares in the coming year by 10 per cent, bringing fare levels back to around what they would have been had fares not been frozen in 2023-24.

“This means, in real terms, fares have broadly increased in line with inflation over time.

“That will help to partially recover the previous freeze, address some of the significant budget pressures and allow the continued support of the ferries network in future years.”