This in from Wightlink, in their own words. Ed
A review of our timetables on both the Portsmouth-Fishbourne and Lymington-Yarmouth car ferry routes and the Portsmouth Harbour-Ryde Pier Head catamaran route has been undertaken, and a decision has been made to bring forward the winter timetables to 17 September (normally these come into effect on 5 November).
The changes have been necessary due to the significant fuel increases that we have incurred this year along with the inclement weather which combined with the economic downturn, has impacted our business.
Adapt to remain viable
This is a trend which is affecting both the Isle of Wight and the UK as a whole and many businesses have had to adapt to remain viable.
Therefore we have had no option but to reduce our on-going costs wherever possible and by bringing the winter timetables forward to the middle of September, we can continue to operate a viable operation whilst crucially controlling our operating costs.
The main changes to the sailing schedules are as follows:
Portsmouth-Ryde – an hourly timetable being operated at weekends
Lymington-Yarmouth – a two boat service all week – with the exception of Friday 21 & Friday 28 September, where a three boat service will operate.
The 2025 sailing from Lymington and the 2115 sailing from Yarmouth has been withdrawn, with the exception of Fridays & Sundays
Portsmouth-Fishbourne – a three boat service in the mornings Tuesdays-Thursdays
We are aware that the change to our sailing times may not suit all of our passengers; unfortunately these changes are essential to ensure the future of the routes whilst minimising the impact for the majority of our passengers.
Wightlink would like to apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause
Image: David Jones under CC BY 2.0
