An Isle of Wight ferry firm is facing criticism over its online travel updates which are “just not good enough”, a parish councillor has said.
On Tuesday night (10th November 2026), Councillor Ed Hopper told Fishbourne Parish Council you can’t rely on Wightlink’s service status information.
Ramesh Babu, another councillor, described Hovertravel’s live status provision as “excellent” in comparison.
Wightlink in response said it takes its responsibility to keep customers informed about disruption seriously.
Hopper: You can’t rely on it
Councillor Hopper, who chairs the parish council, said,
“Their (Wightlink) online service availability and service status is just not good enough. For example, when that police car stupidly crashed into the wall, it was clearly going to be shut for a day or six hours and yet they kept saying, ‘they’re all on time, they’re on time’.
“They’re not running – of course they’re not on time. So, they didn’t update anything and that was very unhelpful for people trying to make plans to pick people up or get the other ferry.
“They’ve got a thing that says live service status updates – they really should update that. They do update it, but they don’t always update it and that’s the problem so therefore you can’t rely on it because it might be right, but it might be wrong.”
Wightlink: Updates were given in real time
A Wightlink spokesperson said that during the recent incident on Ryde Pier, the company updated the services status and timetables on its website in real time to reflect the operational situation as it developed.
They added,
“We are not aware of any customer feedback suggesting that this information was incorrect. We also used our other channels to keep customers informed from the beginning to the end of the incident.
“For customers opted in to our WhatsApp and Wightlink App notifications, updates were sent regularly during this period. All customers with bookings on the route that day were emailed and/or sent SMS notifications.
“Bespoke information was kept updated on screens at the port and the incident received extensive media coverage, providing further opportunities for people to stay informed.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
