Dunoon – Gourock car ferry service ends in June 2011

After years of wrangling, argument, claim, counter-claim, and accusations best not repeated, confirmation of the cessation of the car ferry service connection Dunoon and Gourock was announced today.

The service has been operated by CalMac for years, and the State-owned company has been forced to operate a strangled service with limited numbers of sailing, in order to avoid direct competition with the nearby Western Ferries service, which operated without restriction between Hunter’s Quay (near Dunoon) and McInroy’s Point (near Gourock).

The CalMac service was limited to one sailing per hour, while Western sails up to four time per hour at peak periods. (I hope my recollection of reading the rules a few years ago is correct – I’m sure some reader will let me know if I am mistaken).

The CalMac car ferry will now be replaced by a passenger only service operated by Argyll Ferries, part of the Caledonian MacBrayne group David MacBrayne Ltd.

Two passenger ferries will be available to the new passenger only service, a larger vessel with a capacity for 244 passengers, and smaller alternate. The new service will operate a half-hourly service.

EU rules only allow a subsidy to be applied to passenger services on this route, and the State owned carrier is obliged to operate within EU rules.

Despite claims to the contrary – Ferry subsides ruled fair by EC – with private individuals claiming the EU requirements were being wrongly interpreted, and community support for the car ferry to be retained, it seems that the claims did not carry any weight, and in reality, it was not possible to maintain a subsidised operation on the car ferry.

It will be interesting to see if the battle of who was right or wrong, or who was lying, continues now that the final ruling has been made and the tender awarded. I suspect the appearance of recriminations and claims of ‘foul’ are yet to come, and there may still be considerable reading to come in the wake of this change.

The car ferry service between Gourock and Dunoon town centres is to come to an end.

CalMac currently operates a car ferry crossing on the route in competition with private company Western Ferries.

The new tender, for a passenger only service, has been awarded to CalMac’s Argyll Ferries and starts on June 30, 2011 .

Both Argyll and Bute and Inverclyde councils had hoped it would be possible to find another way of keeping a car service going.

BBC News – Gourock-Dunoon ferry route to be passenger only

Dunoon ferry memories

Although the CalMac car ferry was one I often sat and watched from both sides of the Firth of Clyde, it was not one I ever had any need to sail on. Although I’ve made more journeys between Glasgow and Dunoon that I’d like to admit (and with the price of fuel, might not make again), it was always at holiday time, so part of the day was the drive, which is a great way to spend a couple of hours, and there is so much gorgeous scenery to take in along the way.

Been on Western Ferries though – and had no idea if I was coming or going after a while.

Not as a passenger though, but repairing the battery system. Locked below decks, in the dark, and having to work on the system while the ferry sailed all day (they could not afford to take it out of service as long it could be made to sail), after an hour or two you lose count of the sailing, and have no idea whether you are coming or going, or at Hunter’s Point or McInroy’s Point. At least they always remembered to moor at the mainland end… where y car was lying.