Call for extra sailings to go beyond 2014

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has responded to confirmation that the Scottish Government has agreed to sanction additional sailings on the Stromness-Scrabster ferry route over the summer this year to coincide with the Year of Homecoming.

McArthur said: “It is good to hear that Ministers have agreed to changes in the timetable on the Stromness-Scrabster route during the summer this year, but it begs the question as to why this cannot be sanctioned for the remainder of the contract.

“Cuts to sailings on this lifeline route were approved by the Transport Minister in 2012 and led to considerable anger amongst many of my constituents.  Calls for at least some of these lost sailings to be put back into the timetable have been resisted ever since by the Scottish Government.  As well as other concerns, it has been felt that this move ran entirely contrary to the efforts of the tourism sector to extend the length of the key tourist season in Orkney.

“So it is welcome news that the Transport Minister and Serco Northlink have had a change of heart.  However, unless Ministers confirm that these changes will run for the remainder of the contract, people in Orkney will be right to be suspicious that this decision has more to do with the SNP government’s concerns over September’s referendum than a genuine interest in addressing their concerns.”