Dunoon Community Council - Impact of Service Changes

Argyll and Bute Council · 18 June 2024
Back to Cowal Transport Forum — 18 June 2024 and its agenda

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June 2024 CTF meeting – DRC 
CalMac Disruption – Dunoon – Gourock
There have been recent changes to the 489 bus service and foot ferry timetables, introduced without
as far as I’m aware without pre-consultation with Community Councils.  This has had a knock on
effect to those travelling to/from Dunoon/Glasgow.  I’ve done some analysis on the impact of these
changes on certain services see page 3. 
You can see where travelling time has been improved, and in some cases made worse.  Of concern is
the amount of time for some of the transfers which are rather tight, and for some mobility impaired
individuals may be impossible.  As ABC are ultimately responsible for the bus service I’ve made the
Dunoon ABC Councillors plus William Sinclair aware as presumably ABC sanctioned these changes to
the bus service. 
Turning now to the disruption.  At 17:52 a week last Friday our Secretary was advised by CalMac of
cancellations to the CalMac service from Monday 3rd June; 
“Due to crew hours of rest impact with the service vessels using an alternative overnight berth
from the
3rd June to 30 June**
Monday to Saturday
the following sailings are cancelled
Departing Gourock 1005, 1135, 1835, 2010
Departing Dunoon   1035, 1205,1905,2040  
** We will give an update to sailings after 30th June week commencing 24th June, so will be able
to give you a position by 28th June latest.  
Additionally, to allow for the weekly change of core crew at an alternative overnight berth,  for
the remainder of the summer timetable the 2235 ex Gourock and 2305 ex-Dunoon are
cancelled.” 
The cancellations which affect the services I did the bus analysis on are highlighted in red on page 4. 
I’ve made enquiries of CalMac (Finlay MacRae, Head of Operations) and have been advised; 
“……unfortunately, four return sailings between Gourock and Dunoon have been cancelled
Monday-Saturday throughout June due to a combination of overnight berthing and crew
hours of rest. This is the result of one of the Bute service vessels having to berth in Gourock
due to the Rothesay pier settlement works being carried out by Argyll and Bute Council.  
Additionally, the change to the service was necessary to improve the safe access for the
vessel’s crew(s) The requirement to berth the Dunoon service vessels at James Watt dock has
resulted in an increase in the working hours for the vessel’s crew and therefore the crew
being non-compliant with the legally required crew hours of rest. We did try to cover the
required breaks with additional crew but that has not been possible in the short term, a
review of the crew requirements is underway and will be completed as soon as possible,
which we`ll confirm as soon as we can. Once it became evident that there was a regulatory
compliance issue, we had to act swiftly to correct that, and the only option was to remove
sailings from the timetable. A review was completed to assess the impact of these changes

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and the sailings removed from the timetable were the ones that resulted in the least impact
on passengers using this route, with lowest demand and avoiding missing key connections to
rail.
We totally appreciate this is unwelcome and further erodes trust and choice on the service
but hope this helps explain the requirement for the changes we had to make at short notice.” 
Upon further investigation I then discovered that as a result of work ABC is carrying out to Rothesay
Harbour, it’s the Rothesay ferry that is berthing overnight at Gourock, displacing both of the Dunoon
Ferries to James Watt Marina. 
I’ve queried whether ABC were aware of this at the time the work on Rothesay Pier was authorised
and have yet to receive a satisfactory answer. 
So, for how long has this disruption been known about?  As the owners of both Rothesay and Dunoon
harbours, was any account taken of the already shocking state of the Dunoon / Gourock service?  For
ABC to then be pro-actively involved in a further degradation of the service seems unthinkable 
It does indicate to me that the Dunoon Gourock Service not seen as a priority service by ABC in its
decision making processes. 
Kirstie Reid (Vice Convenor, Strachur CC) was attending the Clyde Kintyre and islands ferry group on
Thursday last as was due to bring it up there too. 
David Clough
Dunoon Community Council (Transport lead)
8th June 2024.

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489 - old v new timetable June 2nd 2024 V2.3 with June cancelled services.xlsx 
489 - old v new
timetable June 2nd 2024 V2.3 with June cancelled services.xlsx 
489 Bus Service / CalMac Ferry / Scotrail - example morning Monday to Friday
Current Timetable
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
Transfer
time
489 Blairmore - Farm Road End 08:00 09:00 09:55 11:00 11:55 13:00 Scotrail Glasgow Central Depart 15:35 16:25 16:55 17:27 17:36
489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal arrive 08:39 09:41 10:42 11:41 12:41 13:41 Scotrail Gourock Arrive 16:26 17:08 17:36 18:07 18:27
CalMac Dunoon Ferry depart 08:45 00:06 09:50 00:09 10:50 00:08 11:50 00:09 12:50 00:09 13:50 00:09 CalMac Gourock Ferry Depart 16:50 00:24 17:20 00:12 17:50 00:14 18:20 00:13 18:50 00:23
CalMac Dunoon Ferry arrives Gourock 09:10 10:15 11:15 12:15 13:15 14:15 CalMac Gourock Ferry arrives Dunoon 17:15 17:45 18:15 18:45 19:15
Scotrail Gourock Depart 09:42 00:32 10:42 00:27 11:42 00:27 12:42 00:27 13:42 00:27 14:42 00:27 489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal depart 17:50 00:35 17:50 00:05 18:50 00:35 18:50 00:05 19:58 00:43
Scotrail Glasgow Central Arrive 10:33 11:32 12:32 13:32 14:34 15:33 489 Blairmore - Farm Road End 18:25 18:25 19:25 19:25 20:27
Elapsed time 02:33 02:32 02:37 02:32 02:39 02:33 02:50 02:00 02:30 01:58 02:51
489 Toward Lighthouse 08:22 09:22 10:22 11:22 12:22 13:22 Scotrail Glasgow Central Depart 15:35 16:25 16:55 17:27 17:36
489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal arrive 08:43 09:43 10:43 11:43 12:43 13:43 Scotrail Gourock Arrive 16:26 17:08 17:36 18:07 18:27
CalMac Dunoon Ferry depart 08:45 00:02 09:50 00:07 10:50 00:07 11:50 00:07 12:50 00:07 13:50 00:07 CalMac Gourock Ferry Depart 16:50 00:24 17:20 00:12 17:50 00:14 18:20 00:13 18:50 00:23
CalMac Dunoon Ferry arrives Gourock 09:10 10:15 11:15 12:15 13:15 14:15 CalMac Gourock Ferry arrives Dunoon 17:15 17:45 18:15 18:45 19:15
Scotrail Gourock Depart 09:42 00:32 10:42 00:27 11:42 00:27 12:42 00:27 13:42 00:27 14:42 00:27 489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal depart 17:50 00:35 17:50 00:05 19:21 01:06 19:21 00:36 19:58 00:43
Scotrail Glasgow Central Arrive 10:33 11:32 12:32 13:32 14:34 15:33 489 Toward Lighthouse 18:09 18:09 19:39 19:39 20:27
Elapsed time 02:11 02:10 02:10 02:10 02:12 02:11 02:34 01:44 02:44 02:12 02:51
New timetable from 2nd June
489 Blairmore - Farm Road End 08:00 09:40 10:45 11:40 12:45 13:40 Scotrail Glasgow Central Depart 15:35 16:06 16:32 17:19 17:36
489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal arrive 08:39 10:26 11:26 12:26 13:26 14:26 Scotrail Gourock Arrive 16:15 16:45 17:13 18:00 18:16
CalMac Dunoon Ferry depart 09:05 00:26 10:35 00:09 11:35 00:09 12:35 00:09 13:35 00:09 14:35 00:09 CalMac Gourock Ferry Depart 16:35 00:20 17:05 00:20 17:35 00:22 18:10 00:10 18:35 00:19
CalMac Dunoon Ferry arrives Gourock 09:30 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 CalMac Gourock Ferry arrives Dunoon 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:35 19:00
Scotrail Gourock Depart 09:56 00:26 11:26 00:26 12:26 00:26 13:26 00:26 14:26 00:26 15:26 00:26 489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal depart 17:35 00:35 17:35 00:05 18:35 00:35 19:58 01:23 19:58 00:58
Scotrail Glasgow Central Arrive 10:37 12:07 13:07 14:07 15:09 16:07 489 Blairmore - Farm Road End 18:10 18:10 19:10 20:27 20:27
Elapsed time 02:37 02:27 02:22 02:27 02:24 02:27 02:35 02:04 02:38 03:08 02:51
Extra time (+) Quicker (-) 00:04 -00:05 -00:15 -00:05 -00:15 -00:06 Extra time (+) Quicker (-) -00:15 00:04 00:08 01:10 00:00
489 Toward Lighthouse 08:05 09:07 10:07 11:07 12:07 13:07 Scotrail Glasgow Central Depart 15:35 16:06 16:32 17:19 17:36
489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal arrive 08:27 09:28 10:28 11:28 12:28 13:28 Scotrail Gourock Arrive 16:15 16:45 17:13 18:00 18:16
CalMac Dunoon Ferry depart 08:35 00:08 09:35 00:07 10:35 00:07 11:35 00:07 12:35 00:07 13:35 00:07 CalMac Gourock Ferry Depart 16:35 00:20 17:05 00:20 17:35 00:22 18:10 00:10 18:35 00:19
CalMac Dunoon Ferry arrives Gourock 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 CalMac Gourock Ferry arrives Dunoon 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:35 19:00
Scotrail Gourock Depart 09:26 00:26 10:26 00:26 11:26 00:26 12:26 00:26 13:26 00:26 14:26 00:26 489 Dunoon Ferry Terminal depart 17:35 00:35 17:35 00:05 19:21 01:21 19:21 00:46 19:21 00:21
Scotrail Glasgow Central Arrive 10:09 11:07 12:07 13:07 14:07 15:09 489 Toward Lighthouse 17:54 17:54 19:39 19:39 19:39
Elapsed time 02:04 02:00 02:00 02:00 02:00 02:02 02:19 01:48 03:07 02:20 02:03
Extra time (+) Quicker (-) -00:11 -00:10 -00:10 -00:10 -00:12 -00:09 Extra time (+) Quicker (-) -00:15 00:04 00:23 00:08 -00:48
Source Data - 489 Timetable as provided by Argyll and Bute Council, CalMac/ Scotrail as per CalMac Web site