CalMac’s annual passenger carrying figures exceed five million for first time in 20 years

Caledonian MacBrayne’s official carrying statistics for 2016 reveal that the west coast of Scotland ferry company passed five million passengers for the first time since 1997.

The Ardrossan to Brodick route was the busiest of all the company’s routes, with 828,262 passengers carried in 2016, an increase of 8.7% over 2015, and 202,843 cars, an increase of 6.8%.

The company said that better value fares may be influencing the rise, though many routes which already had RET introduced in the preceding years as part of the phased introduction also showed an uplift in passenger and car numbers – possibly attributable to a knock-on effect of publicity surrounding the major pan-network roll-out.

RET is a Scottish Government policy to ensure that those living on an island are not unduly financially disadvantaged by ferry fares. It has had a phased introduction, beginning in 2008 with a number of Western Isles destinations and culminating with full network coverage in October 2015. The RET scheme involves setting ferry fares on the basis of the cost of travelling an equivalent distance by road.

Transport Scotland has commissioned a survey of the impact of RET on Arran and it can be found here.