From blogTO in Toronto, Canada, three days ago, we see that all of its ferries are out of service because the ice-breaker boat is in dock for maintenance. You’d think they’d get the maintenance done in summer?
Also:
While the City’s ferry fleet carries more than 1.4 million passengers annually, its current ferries are between 61 and 114 years old. [CalMac’s oldest ferry is 48]
Back in September, the almost 90-year-old William Inglis ferry experienced a mechanical issue and subsequently drifted into the wooden slip at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. Although paramedics and Toronto Police’s marine unit were called to the scene, no injuries were reported.
This high-profile incident followed the August 2022 crash, which involved the Sam McBride ferry and resulted in 20 injuries. The passenger ferry was carrying six crew members and approximately 910 passengers when it struck the dock while berthing at the Jack Layont Ferry Terminal. Six of the injured passengers were transported to hospital, and the vessel and the dock also sustained damage.
https://www.blogto.com/city/2025/01/toronto-island-ferry-service-problems/
One replacement ferry is expected from Romania in 2026 and another in 2027.
In the reporting, neither the Canadian nor Toronto City Government are blamed for this ferry fiasco.
Ferry fiascos are not new to Toronto. Just in the last year, these three incidents of mass outages, huge delays and safety concerns:
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Ah, but ….. Toronto’s most famous and prestigious university is Dalhousie, a Jock name so the fact that the ferries are bad should not surprise anyone look at Calmac. See CalMAC, it is that Jock ending that makes it bad.
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Sorry for going off topic. This is worth sharing.
This FOI request published on 20 January 2025, was received on 22 November 2024 and responded to on18 December 2024.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202400442207/
“Speaking on 3rd November 2024 on the BBC Sunday Show about the impact of the UK Government’s budget on funding for the Scottish Government, the Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee, said this:
“There is £1.5 billion extra for this year, but there’s only £70 million of that is for capital spend, which creates some challenges.That’s still a significant reduction from where it was last year. On top of that, when you adjust for inflation, there’s another £800 million for next year. But most of that is to take the capital spend back to where it was last year. So there’s really only an extra £300 million next year on top of what we’ve secured from the UK Government this year.”
Please provide the evidence, with calculations and sources fully explained, justifying Ivan McKee’s remarks.”
Below are two extracts from the thoroughly detailed response which says..
“The total Resource (RDEL) Block Grant funding received by the Scottish Government (SG) in 2024-25 is currently £39.8 billion. For 2025-26 the Spending Review confirms a resource block grant of £41.1 billion, £1.3 billion higher than 2024-25.”
and
“Within the table, it shows that in real terms, the current 2024-25 capital funding position is £401m less than it was in 2023-24. The table also shows that in real terms, the current 2025-26 capital funding position is the same as it was 2023-24.”
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Also O/T but still on transport. The Herald has maintained its fixation with Scotrail over the course of this week. It has filled pages every day including today with articles about Scotrail. Few if any appear to have been complimentary.
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