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Hans J Marter
11 March, 2010
THE SCOTTISH government yesterday (Wednesday) pledged to
consult with local communities on possibly radical changes
to NorthLink's winter service to the northern isles.
The move comes after the government dropped a bombshell on
the isles on Tuesday when transport minister Stewart
Stevenson imposed fuel saving changes to the current
timetable without any prior warning.
Islanders yesterday said they were outraged by the treatment
they had received from ministers.
The minister ruled that NorthLink's two ferries Hrossey and
Hjaltland are to run on two engines rather than four,
thereby saving fuel and adding an extra hour to the 14 hour
trip between Lerwick, Kirkwall and Aberdeen.
They also want to find “further efficiencies”, and may be
looking at removing one of the ferries from the service
during the winter.
The government defended its actions by saying that these
changes were needed to protect the overall ferry service.
It is understood that ministers wanted the changes to come
in as of the beginning of April, but NorthLink persuaded
them to delay it for one month. |
A government spokeswoman
said yesterday she wanted to make it clear that "officials
from the government will certainly be consulting on any
changes to the winter service and will be looking to meet
ZetTrans and Hitrans at an early opportunity to start
discussions."
But defending the minister's action, she added: "The
contract allows Scottish ministers to vary the approved
ferry services at any time.
"While consultation is an important element in establishing
the needs of the local communities served by the ferry
services, on this occasion Scottish ministers had to make a
number of difficult decisions in order to protect the
overall level of service provision within the current
challenging financial constraints.
"NorthLink Ferries is now in discussion with key
stakeholders in Shetland to agree a revised timetable."
Chairwoman of Shetland’s transport partnership ZetTrans,
Iris Hawkins, said yesterday that meetings with the Scottish
government were in the process of being drawn up, adding
that she had the hope that some concessions could still be
reached at "the 11th hour".
She added that the lack of consultation on this issue did
not bode well for the forthcoming tendering process on the
lifeline ferry service when the current contract runs out in
2012. |
