I sailed from Ardrossan to Arran: here's why the service must be saved

The Herald Scotland

14-07-2025

It's also clear that many of these passengers are from Glasgow and Lanarkshire, mainly working-class families down here for a day trip to one of the most gorgeous islands in Europe. They're mingling with golfers, student back-packers and tourists and it's not hard to see why. A return ticket for a foot passenger costs barely more than £20 and you more or less walk straight on to the ferry from Ardrossan station. Parking is just £5 for the day.
Thomas and his young family are from Glasgow's south-side and booked the trip as soon as he learned that the Ardrossan-Brodick service was returning after a six-month absence. 'It's a lovely sail and takes less than an hour and its far easier to access than Troon and a lot less hassle. As a wee boy, I used to do this trip with my family. A lot of people are cutting back on expensive holidays, but when you've got places like this a hop, skip and a jump away, who cares?'
Read more
And yet, almost eight years after the Scottish Government promised to guarantee Ardrossan's future as the main ferry port on this route, its residents and those of Arran have become increasingly concerned that a deal has already been made in favour of Troon.
Indeed, while CalMac say they will look to continue the revived service it may end - again - on July 21.
Jim, whose taxi firm relies on passengers coming from Arran, painted a bleak picture of what will happen to his business – and to Ardrossan – if the ferries stop docking here. 'It will kill our business,' he said, 'and many other businesses in this town will also feel the effect.'
'We've been advertising in Arran for 16 years and get many people from Arran coming here for appointments at Crosshouse Hospital. In fact, I'm picking up a lady for that purpose in a few minutes. It wouldn't be viable for us to drive down to Troon for a pick-up and then on to the hospital. We've already offered a decent discount from Troon while the ferry's been off, but the extra mileage means the fare becomes too steep for many. I know that several hospital appointments, including some for cancer treatment, have had to be cancelled since the ferries stopped in January.'
The sense of frustration and impending betrayal is palpable in this community. The saga of Ardrossan Harbour takes some beating. All you can say with any degree of certainty is that many of the people who live here and in Arran feel they have been treated with contempt by Transport Scotland and by Peel Ports, the private conglomerate which owns Ardrossan Harbour. The members of the campaign group, Save Ardrossan Harbour say they always feel they're an unwanted presence in any meetings to discuss its future.
Negotiations between Peel Ports, CMAL (Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited) and the local council have been proceeding for more than a year now, but you'd be wasting your time trying to divine the current state of play. And before you even attempt to do so, you first have to unravel the labyrinthine nexus of interests around the table.
The Glen Sannox sails from Troon (Image: Getty) CMAL is a wholly owned public corporation of the Scottish Government, whose ministers are its sole shareholders. It's also the asset-owning twin of CalMac Ferries which is the operating company. Both were sired by Caledonian MacBrayne following state aid maritime transport regulations in 2006. The ferry company retained most of the services following the public tendering process, but not all of its former ports.
The Ardrossan Harbour crisis has happened through a combination of factors: neglect which saw its old 'Irish' dock being degraded to a state of disrepair and no longer fit for purpose and CalMac choosing to build ferries that, consequently, are too big for Ardrossan. It's pointless even trying to look for the main culprit: there are many. Peel Ports have been sharply criticised for setting too big an asking price for the harbour by local campaigners (reportedly between £80m and £90m). They in turn have rebuked Transport Scotland (the Scottish Government) for a dilatory approach to negotiations.
CalMac, of course, are the nation's go-to whipping boys when it comes to ferries, not the least because of the Glen Sannox fiasco (millions over budget; years over their due delivery). Here, they can be criticised over the time it's taken to repair the MV Caledonian Isles which caused the six-month absence. It's not CalMac though, which has been responsible for the decrepit look of Ardrossan Harbour compared to the sleek and swish facilities at Brodick.
The local view, expressed by Norrie Hunter, a member of the Save Ardrossan Harbour group tends towards betrayal. 'Many believe Troon has always been favoured and that this decision was made long ago. Ardrossan was doomed from the start of this debacle as the Scottish government had really no intention (or the money to do so) of buying Ardrossan Harbour from Peel ports. This would involve the purchase price and then the hefty repair costs.
'And you also have to ask why CalMac approved the design of two new boats that couldn't berth at Ardrossan in the first place. The SNP are finished here if this happens.'
MV Isle of Arran is the oldest beast of burden in the CalMac fleet (Image: Jean Penman) The Scottish Government wants 'the business case' to be made for the cost of purchasing Ardrossan Harbour. Late last year they told me that this was 'substantially complete'. There have been eight (or maybe nine) editions of 'the business case'. Yet, here we still are eight months later. Indeed, Fiona Hyslop, the Transport Minister stated in February that she wanted Transport Scotland and CMAL to 'explore a potential purchase of Ardrossan Harbour'.
Over the weekend they were still deploying caution and obfuscation to explain the delay. They are still 'fully committed to Ardrossan' and to 'investing' in it to ensure the service is (altogether now) 'fit for the future'. And then this: 'CMAL and Peel Ports need time and space to undertake and conclude negotiations.' At this rate though, the 'time and space' will soon attract NASA's attention.
The Scottish Government also insist that neither they nor CMAL (also the government) can use compulsory purchase powers to force the sale. That just leaves the money then and the suspicion among local campaigners that it doesn't think Ardrossan and its people and its business community is worth whatever's being asked.
Yesterday, Duncan Mackison, the CalMac CEO said: 'Operating from Ardrossan reduces sailing time to and from Brodick, which ultimately means we can run more services per day than if a service operates from Troon.'
Is that a message to Fiona Hyslop?
Read more
The people of Arran are also invested in saving Ardrossan Harbour. The campaign group Arran for Ardrossan Harbour, posted this on their Facebook page last week: "Yesterday, along with Save Ardrossan Harbour, we had a very productive meeting with members from the RMT, STUC and the NATU council on how we can put some pressure on the shareholders of Peel Ports to influence Peel to do the decent thing and sell Ardrossan Harbour at a reasonable price. In particular, AustralianSuper who are partly owned by the Australian Council of Trade Unions. AustralianSuper own 32% of Peel's shares.'
In the Copperwheats coffee shop beside Brodick's ferry terminal, they were delighted at the return of the ferry, albeit temporarily: 'Business has been good,' the staff all told me. 'It makes sense for Ardrossan to be the main port. It makes all the onward journeys much simpler and much shorter.'
The value of Ardrossan Harbour to its own community and to families across west central Scotland won't feature when the Scottish Government decides if 'the business case' is worth it.
If Fiona Hyslop or her ministerial colleagues had been on the old MV Isle of Arran on Saturday evening they'd have experienced it in real time. It was in the faces of real families from real communities. This is what real value for money looks like.