CalMac operating between 14% and 30% more reliably than ‘horror run’ in affluent New Zealand

From the NZ Herald yesterday:

The on-time performance and reliability of Interislander’s ferries have improved in the past financial year but still fall short of KiwiRail targets.

The improvement comes after what was described as a “horror run” in the previous financial year that was by far the worst for Interislander services in recent times.

KiwiRail has published the ferries’ latest performance results in its 2023 annual report.

On-time performance has improved to 83 per cent of ferries arriving within 15 minutes of their scheduled time.

This is a 10 per cent increase compared to the previous year, although still short of the 88 per cent target.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/interislander-ferry-reliability-improves-but-still-below-target/ZS5VQDIAXJBGTNDFLTP7TEY7R4/

Using the same 15 minute rule, CalMac has been averaging around 95% reliability, winter and summer for the last two years:

https://www.calmac.co.uk/calmac-performance-data-browser?date=04%2F11%2F2022

88% target in New Zealand? Really!!??

Affluence as a basis for revenue to spend on transport subsidies?

New Zealand – $250 billion or £205 billion.

Scotland – £168 billion.

10 thoughts on “CalMac operating between 14% and 30% more reliably than ‘horror run’ in affluent New Zealand”

  1. I’ve been on ferries both in NZ and Scotland and I think it’s fair to say that the average punter doesn’t think statistics, they just jump on a boat to get from A to B. What does that tell me? It says loud and clear that ferries in Scotland are used as just another unionist stick to beat the SG with.

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    1. Yes, you are right with that.

      In addition, in Scotland ferries fares operate in a number of places on the “Road Equivalent Tarriff” which is, in effect a subsidy to island dwellers and businesses so that transport costs do not excessively affect them compared to mainlanders.

      But, in unionist-speak such social subsidies are ‘feather-bedding’ – they are being shielded from ‘the harsh winds of competition which force them to be innovative.’ This is the story that has poured out of the media since the mid 1970s with the result that a large proportion of the population believe it. Islanders and people on the Celtic fringe (sic) are ‘subsidy junkies’ by this narrative.

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      1. On Road Equivalent Tariff (RET), I posted this btl on TuS on 1 October. It’s a salutary lesson for a government which also has a almost wholly oppositional mainstream media to contend with.

        Sometimes providing a subsidy is not acknowledged or its consequences are themselves a source of complaint by intended beneficiaries. In a March 2020 report for Transport Scotland on the Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Network there is this (with my emphasis):

        ‘Across the network, it is estimated that THE AVERAGE FARE PAID PER PASSENGER AND CAR DROPPED BY 34% AND 40% RESPECTIVELY. These figures take account of all discounts and concessions.’

        But from primary research with ferry users: ‘‘Of those who were aware of RET, only around a quarter could estimate their pre-RET fare, suggesting that THE SCALE OF THE FARES REDUCTION HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN RELATIVELY QUICKLY, with RET fares being the new norm.’

        This 2020 report assessed how much RET has cost the Scottish Government: ‘Since RET was first introduced in 2008, it has cost the Scottish Government a cumulative £120m (to 2018) in reduced fares revenue. As previously noted, the expansion of RET to the 2015 islands has significantly ramped-up the annual funding requirement, such that around £100m of revenue support will be required every four years to maintain RET fares at their current level (compared to their previous non-RET level).’

        So a substantial subsidy of fares directed at supporting island communities is an intervention the scale of which is now forgotten by many who have benefited. Moreover, from the report it would appear that residents of Mull didn’t or don’t like the RET subsidy anyway!

        Source: Stantec (March 2020) Evaluation of Road Equivalent Tariff on the Clyde and Hebridean Network. Report for Transport Scotland.

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        1. However, the above RET ‘tale’ and the persistent negative reporting of CalMac operations are just two examples of a wider deficit in media coverage of the Scottish Government’s support for the ferry network over more than a decade.

          I posted an article on the subject of investment in ferries on TuS on 26 June this year under the title: ‘Under-reported ferry tales – SNP Government more than doubles spending on ferry services for islanders in just ten years’. Based on an Audit Scotland report in 2017, it sought to provide context and perspective based on recent history. The report included for example this:

          On overall public funding of domestic ferry services across Scotland between 2007/08 and 2016/17, the AS report noted:

          ‘Transport Scotland’s total annual spending on ferries increased by 115 per cent in real terms, from £97.3 million to £209.7 million.

          ‘total annual subsidies to ferry operators doubled to £168.7 million’

          ‘annual capital expenditure increased by 174 per cent, to £41.0 million’

          ‘CMAL has procured eight new-build vessels in this time’, and
          ‘Transport Scotland has spent £86 million on harbour upgrades.’

          Specifically on subsidies for services for the Clyde and Hebrides, according to Audit Scotland this ‘increased by 185 per cent between 2007/08 and 2016/17, to £133.8 million’.

          Source: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2023/06/26/under-reported-ferry-tales-snp-government-more-than-doubles-spending-on-ferry-services-for-islanders-in-just-ten-years/

          It’s worth reflecting on the timing of the increased investment identified in the Audit Scotland assessment viz. years of Tory government austerity following the great financial crash of 2008.

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  3. Perhaps the Panorama program which has been shrouded in mystery and touted recently will be an expose of the various Ferry Services around the world and will proclaim the Scottish equivalent a world Leader ?
    No ? Didn’t think so !

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