Persistence pays off…eventually. It’s been a long hard battle that started many years ago when Strathclyde Partnership for Transport awarded the contract for the Kilcreggan to Gourock ferry to Clydelink.

I joined together with Cove and Kilcreggan Community Council and local residents right from the start to make SPT see sense.

The very real concerns from the local community were swept aside as SPT were blinded by the savings they would make. It just goes to show that after years of an inconsistent and unreliable service that cheapest is most definitely not the best.

Passengers have had to put up with last minute cancellations that were not weather related, a poorly maintained vessel, and no back up boat. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency was never away from the ferry, discovering one fault after another, and in the end they were so exasperated that they reported Clydelink to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for prosecution.

Indeed on some weeks the ferry service has been off more than it’s been on. Passenger numbers have dwindled and local businesses have lost custom. In fact The service received was so poor that it made Para Handy look efficient.

Thankfully that is now at an end. The new contract from July 2018 was awarded to the previous operator Clyde Marine. The relief in the local community was palpable. But I didn’t believe we should wait that long and feared that the existing service would continue to fail whilst we waited for the new service to commence. So having lobbied hard for the new service, I continued to lobby that it should start earlier than planned. I am pleased that SPT listened and the new operator started this week on Monday.

To those who supported the debate in Parliament, who signed petitions, who helped collect petition signatures at the crack of dawn waiting for the ferry, took to social media to let me know what was happening; and sang their hearts out on the pier – thank you. And to the community council, who have worked tirelessly and patiently on this, my thanks too. We did it, and we did it together.

Now the campaign to get the service adopted by the Scottish Government steps up a gear. If the transport minister is lucky, I might even invite him for a wee trip on the Kilcreggan to Gourock ferry