Uig Harbour Closure and Upgrades Community Engagement Sessions

Uig Harbour Closure and Upgrades Community Engagement Sessions

The Highland Council will temporarily close Uig Harbour to allow for the second round of temporary upgrades to be undertaken from 30 October 2023 until 11 December 2023. 

Ahead of this period, Caledonian MacBrayne conducted engagement events in Uist, Skye and Harris to update communities on the timetables which will be in place during the outage. 

Engagement events were held at the following locations: 

• Lochmaddy Village Hall

• Tarbert Community Centre

• Uig Village Hall

The information below was presented at these sessions. Communities, businesses and local authorities were invited to attend to view the plans and provide any feedback on the first closure period and/or plans for the second closure. We will be adding service continuity plans shortly, here in our dedicated web section.

Uig Harbour Closure and Service Continuity Plan - 30 October 2023 to 11 December 2023

Background

• Infrastructure upgrades are being undertaken by The Highland Council at Uig harbour which will result in closure of the harbour for 6 weeks from 30 October - 11 December 2023. ​

• This is the second closure period with the harbour previously closing between 16 January - 27 March 2023.  ​

• CalMac's service continuity plans maintain a high-level of service throughout the closure and are designed to minimise the impact to customers. ​

• Caledonian MacBrayne is presenting the community with timetables which will be in place during the closure period, which falls within the winter 2023/24 timetable period.  ​

• Caledonian MacBrayne will also provide an overview on feedback from the community and lessons gathered from first closure period. 

Uig Harbour 2nd Closure - Community Engagement​

Background​

• Infrastructure upgrades are being undertaken by The Highland Council at Uig Harbour which will result in the Council closing the harbour for 6 weeks (30 October - 11 December 2023).​

Purpose of Session​

• Caledonian MacBrayne is presenting the Service Continuity Plan that we will operate during the period of disruption - it incorporates feedback from the community and lessons gathered from the first closure. 

Timeline

• The original planned closure period was to commence 10 October 2022 until 27 February 2023. Concerns were raised regarding the 24 weeks closure and the negative impact this would have on island communities. A revised solution was reached and agreed with the communities which meant the closure reduced to 14 weeks over 2 outage periods, announced on 2 September 2022. ​

• Caledonian MacBrayne recognise that the closure will take place during the run up to Christmas but is confident sufficient capacity is available on the alternative routes to manage this period ​

• Caledonian MacBrayne recognise that there is a risk that delays to the project could result in the harbour remaining closed over the Christmas period as the contractor will have a holiday shutdown. The Highland Council, who are managing the project, will communicate this information, and we will also inform customers about any potential  delays or impacts to journeys. ​

• Caledonian MacBrayne advise customers to check their journeys in advance if the harbour remains closed over Christmas and New Year. This is something we will plan for ourselves, but it isn't something we can control. 

First Outage Summary​

Notes​: *Includes overhaul period sailings between Lochboisdale - Oban.

Service Continuity Plans

• MV Hebrides operates one return per day Ullapool - Lochmaddy (extended passage time of 4h 30m) ​

• No service will be provided between Ullapool - Tarbert ​

• Tarbert traffic will be redirected to Ullapool - Stornoway service (capacity volumes have been assessed and are considered feasible) ​

• Shuttle buses to transport passengers between Tarbert - Stornoway/Uig - Ullapool (if required) ​

• Increased frequency on Lochboisdale - Mallaig/Oban service on occasion when vessel availability allows ​

• MV Arrow will only be chartered for the duration of MV Loch Seaforth overhaul.  Due to the low utilisation during the first closure, it is not economically justifiable to charter to provide network resilience. 

Second Outage: Ullapool-Lochmaddy Timetable

Notes​:

• No change from first closure period​.

• Service may be impacted on 10 December 2023 due to vessel trialling new infrastructure at Uig

Second Outage: Ullapool-Stornoway Timetable

Notes​

• Same level of service, amended timings to accommodate MV Hebrides​

• 2h 40m sailing to align with standard winter timetable (CityLink timetable to reflect changes)​

• Excludes overnight freight sailings ​

• Excludes overhaul relief periods

Second Outage: Mallaig/Oban - Lochboisdale Timetable 

Notes​

• No change from first closure​

• During overhaul relief periods, the service is expected to operate a daily return from Oban

Second Outage: Berneray-Leverburgh Timetable​

Notes​

• No change from first closure​

*An additional daily return Monday - Saturday during this period (10:35 from Berneray and 11:45 from Leverburgh). This sailing will operate on a request basis to cater to demand. 

Other Mitigations

Second Hand Tonnage​

• Chartering of MV Arrow to provide additional resilience and capacity during Loch Seaforth overhaul.​

• Deployment of MV Alfred dependent on network status at time.​

​Bus Transportation​

• Transport for displaced Tarbert/Uig - Uig/Lochmaddy foot passengers will continue to be provided. An additional connection to the last Stornoway arrival will be provided for the second closure.

Fare Alignment​

• Customers utilising Lochmaddy/Ullapool will not pay higher fares.​

• Customers diverted to Stornoway - Ullapool, Lochboisdale - Oban/Mallaig will continue to be offered equalised fares via retrospective refunds.​

Communication​

• We will publish a dedicated web page with full details and information for customers in advance and during the closure. ​

Capacity Offered

Notes​

• No Tarbert - Uig service​

• Capacity offered during overhaul periods will vary due to relief vessel deployment

First Outage - Key Service Continuity Lessons Learned​

Contact Details​

If you have any questions or require further information, then please contact the email address below and a member of the project team will respond: ​littleminchupgrades@calmac.co.uk

Download the slide pack for the Uig Harbour Closure Community Engagement Sessions here. [473KB]