Sunday Sailings
So Calmac have ruled out any Sunday sailings between Ullapool and Stornoway this winter.
On one hand it could be noted that this is only for the winter 2008/09 timetable, whilst on the other you can wonder just how the ferry is going to cope with the huge increase in traffic forecast as a result of (a poor version of) RET being introduced.
If almost-RET takes off, then we are going to have queues for the ferry and people turned away meaning that the impact of RET-on-the-cheap cannot be properly measured.
However, as I pointed out some time back, if you are trying to measure part of the impact of the quasi-RET scheme then you do not want to change any other parameters, by adding extra services, otherwise you cannot draw properly substantiated conclusions about the impact of the crumbs thrown to us by Government.
Therefore we have ended up with the worst of all worlds: reduced fares for tourists and occasional travellers*; full ferries being jammed to the gills; and, not everyone who would want to travel being able to do so.
Thinking cynically, it is almost as if the Government want to demonstrate that the pseudo-RET scheme doesn't work and shouldn't be extended or continued (although that decision won't be taken until after the next election!)
* The new prices range from slightly lower to significantly higher than the current 6 ticket books available to regular travellers.
On one hand it could be noted that this is only for the winter 2008/09 timetable, whilst on the other you can wonder just how the ferry is going to cope with the huge increase in traffic forecast as a result of (a poor version of) RET being introduced.
If almost-RET takes off, then we are going to have queues for the ferry and people turned away meaning that the impact of RET-on-the-cheap cannot be properly measured.
However, as I pointed out some time back, if you are trying to measure part of the impact of the quasi-RET scheme then you do not want to change any other parameters, by adding extra services, otherwise you cannot draw properly substantiated conclusions about the impact of the crumbs thrown to us by Government.
Therefore we have ended up with the worst of all worlds: reduced fares for tourists and occasional travellers*; full ferries being jammed to the gills; and, not everyone who would want to travel being able to do so.
Thinking cynically, it is almost as if the Government want to demonstrate that the pseudo-RET scheme doesn't work and shouldn't be extended or continued (although that decision won't be taken until after the next election!)
* The new prices range from slightly lower to significantly higher than the current 6 ticket books available to regular travellers.
19 comments:
Somehow I can't see the ferries Nov-March being jammed to the gills... even if they were free. Though I expect your predictions might be right for Saturdays leading to Christmas etc.
And as per usual, a faction of religious extremist force their ways on everyone. I note that public transport operates on a sunday in China; obviously a more free and less repressed place to live than the Outer Hebrides.
It'll be interesting to see if there is a backlash. As exemplified by comments, letters in the paper, there is growing frustration AND people aren't afraid to speak out against this. It's embarrassing, inconvenient, and hinders work and family life.
Perhaps a picket or blockade of a church would be appropriate? If agnostics and aetheists are inconvenienced in their lifestyles and what they practice by others of different beliefs, then perhaps church services should be disrupted. That seems fair.
The sooner we get a mosque in Stornoway and get some multi-culturalism in here to shake the place up, the better.
For God's sake (sic).
Please, to all the "Sabbatarians" - let me get the boat on Sunday. I'll take it up with the big man myself when the time comes. You just get on with your business, and I'll get on with mine.
Numbers 16:
32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
35 And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.
36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.
So there you go. Spot anyone fiddling about with kindling on Sunday? Go find some stones and beat them to death. If they are consistent, LDOS would approve.
Anyway, specifically on the travel issue, there's the slight problem that some travel IS allowed on the Sabbath, as highlighted in e.g. Acts 1:12. It's two thousand paces, or about two miles.
Just as well we have an electric cooker
Good to see some more Hebridean videos appearing on YouTube.
Stornoway ferry terminal on a Sunday.
And a description of the latest split in the local church.
My favourite parts in 'Life of Brian' are where the incoming Romans try and force their views on the people who have lived there for many a year. Sound familiar??
Anon 2:59
Aye, 'cos we all know it's only them awful pesky incomers that want a Sunday ferry, eh?
None of us "real" islanders (whatever that may be) want one. Oh no, not us.
the electricity used in these 'churches' is generated on a sunday- if the taliban forefathers could worship in the dark ages, why can the more recent sects not continue in the traditional ways?
The plug should be pulled on them- its for their own good after all!
Talking of ferries, has anybody noticed that the ferry 'Isle of Lewis' has cut her speed by 1 knot over the last couple of months? Probably to save fuel, but if I bought a ticket on the basis of crossing the Minch at the expected 17.5Knots, I would feel short changed! Would you use a bus that only went at 20mph to save fuel- only on a Sunday!
Check out aisliverpool.co.uk for the evidence- they cannont turn it off- its a legal requirement to transmit this data!
Politics is the art of the possible and the RET we are getting is as good as we were going to get. IMHO it will be a good thing and will not be reversed by the next government of which ever colour. Sunday sailings ferry will also come soon - not now because SNP Government is cash strapped, combined with impact of fuel costs and economic recession. We will see a sunday service next Spring/Summer as traffic is bound to increase due to RET, CalMac can play the capacity card and they will at least cover their additional costs. It's very trying on our patience but it will happen because you can only deny economic laws for so long. Btw 2.59 I'm not a Roman - just married to one who wants to see her family a bit more.
Angus, which is worse...nearly RET or no RET?
12.42 - in one of the books of the bible Jesus and his diciples "picked the ears of corn" on the Sabbeth... did He himself demand Jesus and his mates be pelted to death because of it!!!
What a palava!
Strange reactions - mention ferries & Sunday in the same sentence and you get an uproar of conflict. Mention heavy fuel oil change, later services, loss of connections and slower vessel - nothing! This is coming and so far no-one knows how to stop it. We talk of catamarans for the future but sit on our hands when the present ship is made less efficient.
If you got in a hackney cab would you expect to find it powered by a Lada Riva engine in the 21st cent.
RET is here to stay - no Scottish Government (Labour or SNP) could risk doing away with it at a future election.
Anon 8:49 - of course fare reductions are here to stay, and we should consider what we have got as being the first stage towards RET.
In opposition, the SNP promised ferry fares would be c.40p per mile or about £20 to cross the Minch.
At the next election, we should all be demanding that the candidates make a pledge to deliver fares at that level.
"In opposition, the SNP promised ferry fares would be c.40p per mile or about £20 to cross the Minch."
The SNP promised to introduce the RET pilot (which they have) but I'm not aware of them promising a particular rate. When did they promise an RET rate of 40p per mile?
As has been mentioned before on this blog and on some more reputable sites, the RET rates were set by independent experts.
1242 i'll bite, but not as you were hoping. we are free from the sabbatarian laws of the OT therefore we can travel further than 2 miles on the Sabbath. The real question is not whether the boat sails on the Sabbath, but whether we can in good concience sail on it... there is nothing in OT about not buying things on Sunday.
No Sunday sailings for Summer 2009 either, according to the latest draft.
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