FERRY operator Caledonian MacBrayne has decided not to introduce mainland Sunday sailings to the strictly Sabbatarian isles of Lewis and Harris this winter.
It follows a petition by more than 4,000 people against the controversial sailings – and a counter-petition demanding the service also signed by thousands.
The decision was taken by the board of CalMac despite a Scottish Government trial starting
on 19 October aimed at slashing fares and boosting passengers on the routes.
Campaigners had believed the Scottish Government's decision to pilot a Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) on services to the Western Isles made it more likely CalMac would opt to schedule seven-day operations on both its Stornoway to Ullapool route and Tarbert on Harris to Uig in Skye – the only two major CalMac services without a Sunday sailing.
The £22.5 million RET pilot will link ferry prices to the cost of travelling the same distance by road, and will see some fares slashed on the Western Isles routes by nearly 50 per cent.
David Taylor, CalMac's regional manager for the Hebrides, said there would be no changes to the existing winter timetable, although a review would take place at some stage during the trial.
This means that while Lewis and Harris continue to have no Sunday sailings, the neighbouring islands of North Uist, South Uist and Barra will all have Sabbath sailings. The islands of Coll and Tiree – which are also in the RET pilot – will continue to have their Sunday sailings, while an inter-island ferry between Harris and Berneray will continue on Sunday.
John Roberts of the Lord's Day Observance Society which had organised the massive campaign against Sabbath sailings in Lewis and Harris said it was delighted by the decision.
The full article contains 297 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
