An Isle of Wight ferry boss has promised one of its Solent crossings will be better in future, as he explained why fewer ships captains had contributed to what he admitted had been poor service.
There is also hope the Yarmouth Lymington cross-Solent route will return to pre-Covid levels this summer.
Town council complaints
In November, Yarmouth Town Council (YTC) complained problems with the Lymington to West Wight crossing had had a negative impact on the town.
During the autumn, the service was disrupted by cancelled crossings and gaps in the timetables, due to a lack of crucial staff.
Greenfield admitted poor performance
Last night (Tuesday), Wightlink’s chief executive, Keith Greenfield, met with YTC and admitted performance had been poor, between August and November.
He said the Yarmouth to Lymington route had operated at a 95 per cent reliability rate, which was ‘far too many cancellations’ compared to the standard it sets itself, of at least 99.5 per cent.
Mr Greenfield apologised, but said crews had ‘bust a gut’ to minimise the number of cancellations.
Three of seven captains left
An unprecedented three of seven ships’ captains also left the company, which the ferry boss said he had never seen before during his time at Wightlink.
They have to be specially trained for each route and hold the highest possible qualifications, so it took up to eight weeks to replace them.
In future, more captains will be trained to cover both vehicle crossing routes.
Greenfield: We are back to where we should be
Mr Greenfield said,
“The single issue meant we failed to provide a service you all expect and deserve.
“I am glad to say we are back to where we should be and I cannot see any reason that should change.”
The meeting heard councillors claim it felt like Wightlink had run down its service, decreasing sailings and bringing forward the last sailing of the day.
They said it felt like the company was driving passengers away.
Greenfield: We have to gauge size of service to demand
Mr Greenfield refuted the claims, saying he wants the biggest and best possible service for Yarmouth.
He said,
“It is a commercial service, the only income we have is ticket revenue and we have to gauge the size of the service to the demand that we think is there.”
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
