Scottish islander fury as troubled CalMac booking system wrongly showing ferries as full

Details of the latest glitch to the troubled system have emerged as islanders were braced for another wave of service cuts triggered by the operator’s biggest Clyde ferry remaining out of action for up to another four months.

This has further compounded CalMac’s ageing vessel crisis, with its hugely-delayed new ferry Glen Sannox now unlikely to enter service on the main Arran route - its busiest - until at least January after the latest completion deadline was passed nearly four weeks ago.

Islanders said the booking problem was damaging their “struggling” economies and the lost fares income could have staved off the impending 10 per cent price increase in January.

The Scottish Government-owned firm has already admitted that a “long list” of improvements to the system has still to be made.

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CalMac community board chair Angus Campbell said: “The new booking system has had serious deficiencies from day one. While we are aware of efforts to retrospectively change elements of the system, many issues continue to damage islanders.

“The main impact is loss of available capacity at a time when most islands are really struggling.”

Mr Campbell, a Lewis-based businessman, said maximising ferry space was particularly crucial because carrying capacity on some routes had been reduced by the knock-on effect across CalMac’s west coast network of vessels being out of action, such as main Arran ferry Caledonian Isles.

He said: “We continually receive feedback on vessels sailing at much less than capacity while customers cannot book because the ticketing system is showing the sailing as full.

“This also results in lack of income to the operator and if that income was available, it could have negated the recently announced second year of high fare increases.”

Mr Campbell said the booking system had also been poorly introduced. He said: “Despite requests from our board to test the system in partnership with communities, the design and implementation continued without reference to the end users.”

Alastair Redman, an independent Argyll and Bute councillor for Kintyre and islands, including Islay, Jura and Colonsay, said the persistent problem was causing “significant disruption for businesses and residents”.

He said: “Reports indicate that ferries, marked as fully booked, have sailed with nearly empty car decks. Without a reliable booking process, local enterprises face severe challenges, impacting their sustainability.

“No private company would tolerate such financial setbacks and neither should we. Now is the time for decisive measures. We need clear accountability and practical solutions to rebuild trust in the system and safeguard the economic stability of our islands.”

CalMac interim chief executive Duncan Mackison told The Scotsman in August that last year’s introduction of the system “did not go smoothly”. He said: “There's a long list of improvements and updates, which we are working our way through.”

These included a “much more modern app” for easier payment and downloading tickets, a fifth software update and a new staff training centre

Concern has also been raised at bookings being suspended “for lengthy periods” while ferries were switched between routes when a vessel was taken out of service.

Jim Porteous, secretary of the Islay Community Council ferry committee, said: “This has caused the inability to book on or off the island for up to two weeks, causing people to simply give up trying. [It is] a very damaging situation for the community and for the island's economy.”

CalMac is due to announce on Wednesday how it will juggle its fleet to cover for the potential absence of Caledonian Isles for more steelwork repairs as long as the end of March.

It is understood these may include the Oban/Mallaig-South Uist service being suspended for part of the winter.

Colonsay residents fear one of its three weekly sailings will be cut to two for up to 11 weeks.

David Hobhouse, chair of the island’s Lifeline Transport Group, said: “We believe this is disproportionate and unfair, that Colonsay is doomed to death by a thousand cuts as CalMac has deemed it to be at the bottom of its priorities, not at the top where it should be as a vulnerable island with an already minimal service.”

He said the threatened Monday sailings were “key for our supply lines, NHS patients and anybody needing to make a weekend trip - our much-needed winter visitors or locals going off for the weekend”. 

Bill Calderwood, secretary of the Arran Ferry Committee, said the impending changes and lack of updates on the handover of Glen Sannox was “causing concern and grief to all sectors of the island”.

CalMac said it was consulting communities before decisions were made.

A CalMac spokeswoman said: “A sailing should only be displaying in our system as fully booked if all available spaces have been reserved.

“We have been made aware of incidences where this has not been the case, which we apologise for, and the reasons for this are being investigated.”

Alan Hood, its head of digital experience, added: “While the new system was challenging for customers and staff after its launch, most of the software issues have now been fixed, and we are working closely with the system provider and local communities to address any outstanding issues.

“Since the launch, we have carried out significant stakeholder and customer engagement, with regular communication continuing to take place through the Ferries Community Board, ferry committees, and customer steering groups.

“In terms of disruption, bookings are suspended for shorter periods than they were under the old system.

“Our new disruption team is using a sophisticated online tool to assess disrupted sailings and to move passengers and vehicles more quickly and efficiently than previously.”

Mr Hood said a sailing to Coll on Tuesday shown as full appeared to have been because of a large number of last-minute commercial traffic cancellations.