Plea for major changes to the Isle of Wight ferries over concerns about cost and reliability

A Conservative councillor Ed Blake said he is not calling for nationalisation but has tabled a motion of what he feels would be improvements – lamenting “more expensive”, “less regular” and “less reliable” Solent ferry services.

The motion will be discussed at tomorrow’s (Wednesday) Full Council meeting at Newport’s County Hall – and will put a key issue under the spotlight with services operating from Portsmouth, Southampton and Lymington.

The submission from the representative for Ventnor and St Lawrence reads: “Ferries to and from the Isle of Wight provide a lifeline service, essential to the economic and social wellbeing of the Isle of Wight.

“Working with the Island’s two MPs and the council, the council therefore calls on the Government to:

“Acknowledge that Solent ferries are a vital part of the UK’s integrated transport network;

“Acknowledge that entirely privatised and unregulated Solent ferry services are no longer appropriate, particularly in view of the government’s plans for rail and buses.

“Make legislative provision to bring ferries under democratic control in line with its strategic vision for trains and buses, including regulation for ticket prices, timetables and service reliability.”

It comes after an exasperated ferry user, started a petition this summer demanding “capped fares” and “reliable ferries” with the plea “Isle of Wight Ferries – Enough is Enough”. It went on to gather over 15,000 signatures.

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Last Wednesday, Isle of Wight West’s MP, Richard Quigley, secured a meeting to discuss Solent ferry issues with Mike Kane MP, the Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security.

Cllr Blake said: “The motion that I’ve put in is actually a bit of a merged piece of work between a few of us – I was the one that submitted it.

“It wants to accurately share our residents’ views that the current situation isn’t good enough – we’re being held hostage at times to the ferry companies and we need a better solution moving forward.

“The current system would work if there were multiple options – where we are under a duopoly – and it is a duopoly – it just doesn’t work to have them do whatever they want.

“Run the routes they want, the times they want, cancel ferries as and when they want to just to suit running costs.

“It does need a basic level of service put upon them through regulation which can only come from government – that’s what the motion’s calling for and that is a cross-party view upon things.”

Phil Delaney, commercial director for Wightlink, said: “We regularly meet with the Isle of Wight Council, MPs and customers to discuss the frequency and timings of our services.

“Wightlink runs more than 140 sailings a day, including 24/7 on our Fishbourne route, and from 05:00 to 23:00 on the Ryde Pier passenger service.

“In August 2024, we ran 98.7 per cent of our timetabled sailings, with 90.7 per cent of departures sailing within five minutes of the scheduled time.

“We are always looking at how we can improve our performance to meet customer needs and are open to adding extra sailings where there is sufficient customer appetite.”

Red Funnel has been approached for comment.