Latest news with #ScottishGovernment-owned
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
£22m public cost expected as MV Alfred kept for another five months
It is expected that that will take the costs of chartering the catamaran to £22m. That's £8m more than it cost to buy. There is already an existing £17m bill for MV Alfred, which covers the period from May 2023, which on its own is half the price of a similar vessel that could have been bought outright four years ago but was rejected. It comes as normal Arran ferry MV Caledonian Isles which was due out of its annual overhaul on February 17, last year remains out of service. Some users have speculated about whether it will be available for its planned return on Monday after it was spotted being taken back to dry dock near Greenock after some said it appeared "rudderless". Pentland Ferries aid the charter of MV Alfred, which is operating alongside CalMac's newest ferry the long-awaited and over-budget MV Glen Sannox until the end of October. And some users have speculated that this is a sign that MV Caledonian Isles will not be returning as quickly as expected after a series of postponed returns. READ MORE: ScotGov raises 'doubt' on CalMac getting new ferry contract from October Why does CalMac still run Scotland's ferries amidst continuing ire? 'People going bananas': New ferry fiasco hits vital island supplies One user ferry group official said: "Nobody really understands what is going on because there has been little by way of communication. But clearly MV Alfred remains useful as there has been a lack of capacity in the system but mainly for Arran. "But it does make you wonder what is happening with Cale Isles." "We have seen some cuts to services in recent months around the islands, although not where the MV Alfred has been operating in. Nevertheless it has proved fairly reliable for Arran. "It does make you wonder, however why it a ferry like that wasn't just bought in the first place as it would be cheaper." Pentland Ferries staff, who are operating services on behalf of Scottish Government-owned ferry operator CalMac, bought MV Alfred for £14m in 2019 to operate between Caithness and Orkney. (Image: Newsquest) The 32-year-old MV Caledonian Isles, which serves on the Arran route, one of the busiest on the Scottish coast, and is due to be replaced, has been out of action since going for an overhaul at the start of January, last year with repairs costing over £7m. MV Alfred, which has been operating on the lifeline Arran service, one the busiest in the CalMac network, was built in Vietnam and can accommodate 430 passengers and 98 cars, or 54 cars and 12 articulated vehicles/coaches. At the time it was described as the "most environmentally-friendly ferry in Scotland". With the deal, all crew were to be provided by Pentland Ferries who are responsible for delivery of service and the operational, technical and safety management of the vessel, including maintenance, repair, overhaul and provision of crew throughout the charter period. The costs are due to cover berthing dues, fuel, the commercial charter rate and other undisclosed costs. Over four years ago a deal to buy a vessel similar in design to MV Alfred for £9m collapsed after the Scottish Government-owned procuring and ferry owning company Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) demanded a foreign firm pay up to £100,000 to pay for modifications that would allow it to gain UK maritime approval for it. Negotiations had been taking place to secure the Indonesia-built vessel for months but the owners of the catamaran said they believed CMAL were never serious in completing the sale. The vessel was expected to take around two thirds of the number of cars that MV Glen Sannox would be able to accommodate and a condition of the sale was that it would have had to be approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which provides official certification for all ships. The over-200 foot metre roll-on roll off ferry could take 300 passengers and around 80 cars and was originally designed for a non-UK company, and was regulated for the Australian market. The Mull and Iona Ferry Committee that was pushing for the purchase said the Indonesia-built vessel would have been capable of working to all ports in the network with a full drive-through operation. But CMAL said at the time: "We simply cannot spend millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on a new-build vessel that may not be able to secure a passenger certificate and therefore never be able to operate on Scottish routes.' MV Alfred was originally meant to be on a nine month charter, and was to be in service until the first of two long-delayed ferries, Glen Sannox was in service. After delay upon delay, Glen Sannox entered service in January - but MV Alfred is still required. Scotland's ageing ferries have been hit by a staggering 2,000% rise in cancellations due to breakdowns over 13 years. Crisis-hit CalMac was forced to axe 4,485 lifeline sailings due to technical faults in 2023 compared with just 217 in 2010 as it struggled to keep its fleet afloat. Meanwhile, the company running the last commercial shipyard on the Clyde has been dogged with issues with the delivery of major lifeline ferries Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa which were due online in the first half of 2018 when Ferguson Marine was under the control of tycoon Jim McColl. With both to serve Arran, they have been over seven years late, while Glen Rosa might won't see passengers till the middle of 2026 at the earliest. The last estimates suggest the costs of delivery more have increased fivefoled from the original £97m cost. Ferguson Marine, which employs over 400 staff, including over 100 sub-contractors was taken over by the Scottish Government at the end of 2019 following its financial collapse as a row erupted over long delays and mounting costs over the delivery of the vessels.
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
'Violated': Voiceover artist demands ScotRail removes her voice from new AI announcements
The voice, dubbed Iona, is being used for announcements on ScotRail services across the country. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A Scottish voiceover artist has called for ScotRail to remove her voice from its new AI train announcements system because she never agreed to its use. Gayanne Potter, whose work also includes the 'Voice of God' introductions to ITV News, said she felt 'violated' because her voice had been used for a different purpose to what she had agreed with the Swedish company that provided the system. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Councillors will discuss ScotRail's plans to reduce opening hours of ticket offices including four in Fife. (Pic: John Devlin) | John Devlin/The Scotsman A synthetic version of Ms Potter's voice, known as Iona, has been used on some ScotRail trains since July last year, replacing its pre-recorded human voice announcements. The Scottish Government-owned operator said the move was to 'make announcements more modern and reflective of the routes the train serves'. 'Nobody told me' Edinburgh-born Ms Potter, who is based in Midlothian, said she was in dispute with ReadSpeaker, which had supplied Iona, and called for ScotRail to revert to a human voice. ScotRail said the dispute was between her and ReadSpeaker and it had 'no plans' to remove the voice. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Writing on her Facebook page, Ms Potter said: 'I discovered last week that ScotRail's new horrible AI train announcer Iona is in fact using my voice data - and nobody told me. 'I have been in dispute with a company in Sweden, ReadSpeaker, for over two years to get my voice data removed from their website.' Ms Potter said in 2021 she had understood that her voice would be used by the firm 'to provide text to speech recordings to be used for translation purposes from foreign language copy pasted into their site, and as an accessibility tool for people with visual impairment'. Two years later, she discovered it was also being used for Iona, along with an AI-generated image of a red-haired woman, which was marketed by ReadSpeaker 'for much wider purposes'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Gayanne Potter called for ScotRail to use a human voice instead of AI | Gayanne Potter Ms Potter said the company refused to stop using her voice, despite offering to repay her fee, and she was now pursuing the case through lawyers. She said: 'I will not let this rest. So imagine my distress when I discover that ScotRail have installed the ReadSpeaker model Iona that contains my biometric voice data as their new announcer on their trains. 'I did not know. I was not asked. I did not consent. I was not given a choice. 'Four years ago, we didn't have the AI we use now. You cannot consent to something that doesn't exist. You should be able to withdraw your consent at any point. Readspeaker won't let me. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'Why choose a dreadful AI version of me' 'It's not about money. It's about my identity. I feel violated. 'ScotRail should employ a real human irrespective of who it is. Why continue to choose a dreadful AI version of me when I'm right here - and I know how to pronounce Milngavie?' ScotRail said Iona had been used for supplementary announcements on its Class 156 diesel trains, which operate on routes including north of Inverness, and High Speed Trains - inter-city services - over the past ten months. The system has also been used on its class 380 trains, whose routes include in Ayrshire and Inverclyde, for the last two weeks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Its spokesperson said: 'It would be a matter for Ms Potter to take up with ReadSpeaker, who her contract is with. We have no plans to remove the voice from our trains.' ReadSpeaker chief marketing officer Roy Lindemann said: "We are aware of Ms Potter's concerns. ReadSpeaker and Ms Potter have a contract regarding the use of her voice. 'ReadSpeaker has comprehensively addressed Ms Potter's concerns with her legal representative several times in the past."
Scotsman
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
ScotRail's new AI voice can speak many languages - apart from this one
Multilingual 'Iona' has a Scottish accent but can't talk in Gaelic Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... ScotRail's new AI train announcements system will be able to speak to foreign football fans in their own language - but can't talk in Gaelic, The Scotsman has learned. An artificial female voice with a Scottish accent known as Iona has been introduced by the Scottish Government-owned train operator to 'make announcements more modern and reflective of the routes the train serves'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Most of ScotRail's 355 stations have English and Gaelic names | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman The text-to-speech system from Dutch firm ReadSpeaker has more than 50 languages and accents is replacing ScotRail's pre-recorded human voice in what is thought to be a rail industry first. It said foreign language announcements could be used to assist visitors during events such as international sporting fixtures. These could include Iona's counterparts Elise (French), Marius (German) and Gina (Italian) - but Gaelic is not available. The gap comes despite most of ScotRail's 355 stations having both English and Gaelic names, which it said was 'part of a broader initiative to promote the Gaelic language and reflect Scotland's linguistic heritage'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad However, the company said it might be able to add the Gaelic version of station names to announcements where they could be entered phonetically. This has been done for Iona so that stations such as Milngavie - mull-guy - are pronounced correctly. Gaelic experts said the system's inability to make full announcements in Gaelic was a missed opportunity. Robert Dunbar, professor of Celtic and Scottish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, said: "It would be possible for them to be recorded in Gaelic - at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig [the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture] in Skye, announcements have been recorded in Gaelic, such as for use in lifts. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Unlike in Wales for Welsh, there is no legal requirement that train announcements be in a bilingual format. Given that station signs in Scotland are now bilingual, developing Gaelic versions of station announcements would be an important step for ScotRail to take in support of the language and wider policies for Gaelic in Scotland." Arrochar & Tarbet station, whose signs are in English and Gaelic | Norman McNab Iain Caimbeul, a research fellow with the Language Sciences Institute at the University of the Highlands and Islands, said: 'If equality for Gaelic is to mean anything in practice, ScotRail should ensure Gaelic has parity of esteem with English and the other languages they are planning for the new AI announcements.' Murray Macleod, editor of the Stornoway Gazette, said: 'We hear from politicians constantly about how Gaelic is an integral part of the heritage of Scotland and a visible sign of its diverse culture. 'But they are just platitudes which hit the buffers when it comes to reality. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'When there is a chance to give Gaelic its rightful place in wider society, it is too often being ignored or simply dismissed. 'ScotRail's actions show this once more at play and it is deeply disappointing.' ScotRail customer operations director Phil Campbell said: 'The use of an automated voice allows us to have more control over the announcements being made, ensures consistency for customers, and gives us flexibility to make changes at short notice. 'ScotRail has always used automated announcements in relation to customer information, but it doesn't replace human interaction'.
STV News
15-05-2025
- Business
- STV News
Further delays to years late and over budget ferry 'unacceptable', says Swinney
The First Minister has said further delays to the years-late and millions-over-budget Arran ferry are 'unacceptable'. John Swinney came under attack from opposition leaders on Thursday just days after the Scottish Government-owned Ferguson Marine revealed that the completion of the MV Glen Rosa had once again been delayed until at least June 2026. The ship is now due to enter service at least eight years late and the price tag has also increased by millions. Initially, both the Glen Rosa and the other new dual-fuel ferry, the Glen Sannox, were due to cost £97m and be in service between Arran and the mainland by 2018, but substantial delays have driven costs up to more than £400m. The Glen Sannox entered service earlier this year. 'The time that it's taken to build the Glen Rosa is unacceptable,' Swinney said at FMQs on Thursday. 'The deputy first minister set out to Parliament yesterday many of the reasons why that's the case. 'This has obviously caused disruption to island communities and the Scottish Government is very focused on making sure, with the measures that the Deputy First Minister outlined yesterday, that early progress is made on the Glen Rosa and it can join the Glen Sannox in service at the earliest opportunity.' Opposition politicians pressed the First Minister to take more responsibility for the delays. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar highlighted that the Glen Rosa was first due over half a decade ago. 'Combined with the Glen Sannox, which was launched almost seven years late, the cost of the two ships is now over £460m – that's nearly five times the original contract price,' he said. 'The fact that the new vessels don't even fit at the preferred Port of Ardrossan makes the matter even worse. In same week, it's been revealed that cancellations due to repairs on the ageing CalMac fleet have risen by staggering 531%. So much for steadying the ship. Why is John Swinney unable to get a grip on this crisis?' Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay requested the First Minister reveal what the 'final cost' will be for taxpayers. 'He has never accepted blame, no one in the SNP ever has or ever does,' Findlay said. 'Not a single one of them has held their hands up to islanders or taxpayers. Half-a-billion pounds wasted, nearly a decade wasted, so who is responsible?' In response, Swinney said he 'unreservedly' accepts responsibility for 'everything that happens in the name of my Government', adding he and Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop regularly engage with islanders about ferry services. 'I make clear to Parliament that it is unacceptable these vessels have cost so much and that delays have been experienced,' Swinney reiterated. 'This Government is very focused on making sure they enter service so we can deliver on our commitments to a sustainable ferry service to island communities.' Defending the SNP's record on ferries, Swinney added his Government is 'very focused' delivering on its commitments to support island communities in Scotland. He said ferry travel to island communities is 'significantly cheaper' than the ferry services would have been had the Government not introduced road-equivalent tariff into our ferry services. He added: 'So we've made ferry services more affordable for people in our island communities… we're providing specific support to island communities that have been affected by disruption, and we're investing in the new vessel fleet. 'That is this Government delivering on its commitments to support our island communities in Scotland.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scotsman
14-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Glen Rosa ferry fiasco: Kate Forbes issues ultimatum to shipyard
Deputy First Minister has told Ferguson Marine of her anger at latest ferry setback in 'most robust way'. Sign up for the latest news and analysis about Scottish transport Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has issued a stark warning to Ferguson Marine shipyard chiefs over the latest setback to the Glen Rosa ferry: 'There can be no more delays'. She told MSPs on Wednesday the further delay and cost overrun was 'wholly unacceptable', which she had underlined to the Scottish Government-owned yard 'in the most robust and direct way I can'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Glen Rosa moored at the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow on May 13 | John Devlin/The Scotsman The yard revealed on Tuesday the ferry would be finished up to another nine months late, between April and June next year, while its completion cost had increased by £35 million to £185m. Ms Forbes's comments came after she described the announcement as 'deeply disappointing' and ordered enhanced scrutiny of the project, which is now due to be finished eight years late. She said the yard had blamed 'historic failures in project planning, poor sequencing of work and a loss of focus during the delivery of [sister vessel] Glen Sannox'. Scottish Conservatives transport spokesperson Sue Webber described the situation as 'far worse than we could ever have imagined'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Ms Webber claimed the total cost of Glen Rosa and Glen Sannox had reached around £460m compared to the £97m original contract.
