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Just read an article in the daily record (can't paste it as I'm using my phone) but the jist of the story is that the port of Troon is willing to invest £8m to take the ferry away from Ardrossan and relocate it to Troon.

Anyone know how many direct jobs in 3Ts depend on the Arran ferry?

bonzo wrote:Just read an article in the daily record (can't paste it as I'm using my phone) but the jist of the story is that the port of Troon is willing to invest £8m to take the ferry away from Ardrossan and relocate it to Troon.

Oh no!!!! That would be awful.

The Daily Records Broadsheet companion

https://archive.is/iwgT6

The issue is a touch more complicated than it first seems, Troon has effectively no trade since it lost the Belfast run, however that for the central belt means that the extra time involved in the crossing,is surpassed by the journey time to Cairnryan
It's seems that south ayrshire want to adopt the Glasgow game of "we want"

So why did P & O drop the Troon to Larne? Is the railway station not a good distance from the harbour, so the Arran passengers would need to take their car .

SC

Edit-Port charges are high ,so says P&O. Loss of Revenue for Guest Houses and Hotels. Well that is an expensive area .

In the hearld Scotland today it says the ferry terminal in Ardrossan supports 165 jobs.

So why did P & O drop the Troon to Larne? It took passenger away from the Stranraer -Larne and the Cairnryan - Belfast route
Is the railway station not a good distance from the harbour, about a mile
so the Arran passengers would need to take their car .Yes and pay a heavty fee for parking

Don't know if Asda would be too happy at the loss of the ferry service,If you look back the Labour councillors promised a good turnover from Arran..........

Hope it stays where it is remember when the Northern Ireland trailers ferry service was there with sailings to Belfast for freight,regarding the Troon to Larne service it only operated for about 6months a year in spring and summer due to type of ship not very suitable for heavy running and choppy sea,so spent winter tied up in Belfast with a skeleton crew to keep ship shape,I believe it was a leased ship and just could make a profit.

The original one (SeaCat) at Stranraer was the one that holds the record for crossing the Atlantic, The aluminium hull is a bit of a problem when parking
Folk in Stranraer commute to Belfast for their shopping, and the cost of the ferry with the local paper's coupon was circa £2.50 the bus or train to Ayr was over double

Time to fight for the ferry. These 3 toons have lost enough jobs and trade.

Ha. Seems MP Gibson has spoken directly to the transport minister according to her fb page.

Good.

Vivc113 wrote:Time to fight for the ferry. These 3 toons have lost enough jobs and trade.

Don't think this will make any difference viv. Seems clydeport are not willing to put any money into Ardrossan harbour. Coupled with Troons ease of access in bad weather. Hope I'm wrong but to me looks like the writing is on the wall.

While the local MSP can get involved**, there are a couple of points

Troon needs to be allowed to tender for the contract, It's not on the list at present
If it's not allowed to tender , you get all the stuff similar to the Hunter's Point / Western ferry and all that that entailed
CalMac are part of David MacBrayne , which is owned by the Scottish Government(irrespective of Party), they own most of the Peirs and Docks used by the CM ferries.(these are leased to the operators)
I'm unsure that Troon is owned by Calmac If it is owned by a private company, then it would need to be purchased by the Government, and you can see where problem will arise, and who knows what discussions South Ayrshire have had with the port?

**That maybe why Kenneth Gibson will take it up with the Transport Minister

It's not as simple as some trumpet of a councillor ,Saying "we need to do this"

It involves contract law and avoiding breaches of protocol/legal guidelines

I would also like to point out that Clydeport have their own agenda, and guidelines,which will be different to CalMac's