Scottish Greens pledge to upgrade ferries
Scottish Greens will develop a ‘green fleet’ strategy to upgrade Scotland’s ferry network.
The Scottish Greens will today pledge to end the competitive bidding process and re-categorise inter-island ferries as publicly owned Scottish National Infrastructure, delivered by Transport Scotland and Calmac.
These would work together to replace the current ageing diesel fleet with electric or hydrogen ferries, such as used in Scandinavia, [1] to develop reliable, efficient and zero carbon ferries
Commenting, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “As well as opening up new ferry links to Europe, the Scottish Greens recognise that ferries also provide vital lifeline services between our islands.
“We need to ensure these services are adequately resourced and run for communities. We have a publicly-owned operator, but it is held back by having to bid for the contact every six years at great expense.
“Without that, government and Calmac could take a more strategic long-term approach to upgrading the fleet to lower emissions and tackle the climate emergency.
“We need a joined-up approach to public transport if we are cut Scotland’s emissions, such as we have in the Scottish Greens manifesto. That’s why we are asking people to vote like our future depends on it in May.”