Ferry fare freeze for some island communities extended

Passengers sailing on the MV Isle of Arran will benefit from frozen ticket prices

A freeze on ferry fares for some of the country's island communities has been extended, the Scottish government has announced.

Ticket prices on the Northern Isles, Clyde and Hebrides ferry networks will be held at current levels from October until March 2024.

The freeze was first introduced in January.

Separately, west coast ferry operator CalMac said its Lochboisdale service would resume on Friday.

The government said the fare freeze would help support communities that depend on "these vital services".

The new transport minister, Fiona Hyslop, said ministers were "acutely aware" of the challenges facing island communities.

Speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland, Ms Hyslop said the freeze was "good news" for islanders who had been hit especially hard by inflation and cost of living pressures.

She said: "That's really important to help people particularly with the cost of living crisis and the impact.

"Overall the ferry service has been strong, and is strong but when there's a withdrawal of a service that has major impacts."

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The minister said a review of future fares would also take place to ensure that services remain sustainable, affordable and fair, and would include feedback from island communities.

Ticket prices on ferries can increase annually due to factors such as inflation.

Some Islanders have been protesting against service cancellations in recent weeks.

People living on South Uist said they were left "beyond crisis" after CalMac cut this month's sailings from Lochboisdale to Mallaig on the mainland because the normal vessel was redeployed to a different route.

Islanders took to the streets of Glasgow to protest cancellations last weekend

MV Lord of the Isles was redeployed to Islay due to ongoing repair issues with the fleet.

The Lochboisdale service will now resume on Friday morning, a day sooner than expected, after maintenance work on MV Finlaggan was completed, allowing MV Lord of the Isles to return to the South Uist route.

During the disruption, protesters called for compensation to be given to islanders.

The transport minister told Good Morning Scotland she was looking at ways the government can support island businesses.

Ms Hyslop said: "I recognise you don't get compensation for transport disruptions elsewhere but I do recognise the particular issues that islanders face.

"I think we want to have strong resilient islanders we want to make sure that they can run their business and importantly we want young people to want to live and work there."