{"id":177750,"date":"2025-06-12T06:59:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T06:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/177750\/"},"modified":"2025-06-12T06:59:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T06:59:22","slug":"all-options-must-be-considered-to-save-historic-ferry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/177750\/","title":{"rendered":"‘All options must be considered’ to save historic ferry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018ALL options must be considered\u2019 to save a historic ferry service, a councillor has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Renfrew<\/a> to Yoker Ferry officially ceased operating on May 31 after a decline in passenger numbers following the opening of the new Renfrew Bridge.<\/p>\n

The vessel was one of the country\u2019s oldest river crossings and was said to have relied solely on passenger fares.<\/p>\n

Following the announcement, there was an outpouring of sadness from commuters who depended on the link between the north and south banks of the River Clyde.<\/p>\n

Now, Councillor Malcolm Mitchell has written to transport bosses SPT and First Bus<\/a>, local authorities surrounding the bridge, and Glasgow\u2019s convenor for transport, calling to save the ferry.<\/p>\n

Cllr Mitchell, who represents the Garscadden\/Scotstounhill ward, told the Glasgow Times<\/strong> that the loss had \u2018exposed a wider lack of transport\u2019 across the river and that action must be taken.<\/p>\n

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He said: \u201cThe Renfrew-Yoker Ferry has been an institution in the local area for generations. All options to preserve it must be considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a few weeks ago, Glasgow City Council<\/a> (GCC) unanimously backed my motion about the River Clyde, acknowledging the importance of North-South connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the potential loss of the ferry exposes is a wider lack of public transport across the river.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic transport is so important for opening up work, education and training opportunities.<\/p>\n

“Providing an enhanced public transport offering that connects Yoker and the wider area with Glasgow Airport<\/a>, Braehead and the QEUH would be hugely beneficial.”<\/p>\n

In his letter, Councillor\u00a0Mitchell highlighted that the ferry had been the only public transport crossing the Clyde in this area.<\/p>\n

Its loss now means there is \u2018no public transport crossing\u2019 on the Clyde for a seven-mile stretch between the Clyde Tunnel and the Erskine<\/a> Bridge.<\/p>\n

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As such, he is urging SPT to engage with the ferry operator, Glasgow City Council, Renfrewshire Council, and West Dunbartonshire Council<\/a> to investigate the possibility of allowing the service to continue \u2018in some form\u2019 \u2013 possibly a heavily subsidised form.<\/p>\n

Councillor Mitchell further called for engagement with bus operators and the aforementioned local authorities to look at whether there is a viable timetabled bus service that could run across the bridge.<\/p>\n

If not, then exploring the possibility of a shuttle service or the re-routing\/expansion of current bus services south of the river to take in the new road network around Meadowside Street\/Fishers Road.<\/p>\n

An SPT spokesperson commented: \u201cThe Renfrew\u2013Yoker ferry operated on a commercial basis.<\/p>\n

“SPT has received correspondence from Councillor\u00a0Mitchell and will respond in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

A petition has also been launched on Change.org to save the vessel and has so far gathered more than 1200 signatures<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A statement published to the page reads: \u201cWe fully recognise this wasn\u2019t an easy decision, and we thank those who kept the service running as long as they could.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact on local people has been immediate and significant. School pupils, elderly residents and commuters now face much longer, more complex journeys and the bridge, while welcome, doesn\u2019t fully replace the ferry, especially when it lifts for river traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd crucially: the new Renfrew Bridge isn\u2019t always open. As a swing bridge, it regularly closes for river traffic, sometimes for hours at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring those periods, pedestrians, cyclists, and road users are left with no quick or easy alternative. The ferry offered a consistent route regardless of ship traffic, something the bridge can\u2019t match.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re calling on Renfrewshire Council, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government<\/a> to explore all options and keep this historic route alive, before it\u2019s lost for good.\u201d<\/p>\n

A GCC spokesperson commented: \u201cWe will consider the details on any proposals around the Ferry service, and will respond in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renfrewshire Council declined to comment.<\/p>\n

First Bus and West Dunbartonshire Council have been\u00a0contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018ALL options must be considered\u2019 to save a historic ferry service, a councillor has said. The Renfrew to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,73325,28005,918,10650,21729,4884,73321,20149,42286,73322,52459,712,73324,16,15,27974,73323],"class_list":{"0":"post-177750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-cllr-mitchell","10":"tag-ferry-service","11":"tag-glasgow","12":"tag-glasgow-city-council","13":"tag-glasgow-times","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-malcolm-mitchell","16":"tag-public-transport","17":"tag-renfrew","18":"tag-renfrewshire-council","19":"tag-river-clyde","20":"tag-scotland","21":"tag-spt","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom","24":"tag-west-dunbartonshire-council","25":"tag-yoker-ferry"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114669103546067468","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}