I wish I had never moved here! Furious Isle of Wight locals ‘held to ransom’ by ferry companies say they ‘can’t wait’ to move after being charged £440 for return ticket to mainland
Furious Isle of Wight locals have accused ferry companies of holding them to ransom and say they can’t wait to move after being charged £440 for a return ticket to the mainland.
This article was originally published by The Mail Online. See here – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13722747/I-wish-never-moved-Furious-Isle-Wight-locals-held-ransom-ferry-companies-say-wait-charged-440-return-ticket-mainland.html
Islanders say they cannot afford to cross the Channel due to soaring costs and unreliable services.
‘Ridiculous’ ferry prices, cancellations, and delays are blighting their lives with some now wishing they had never moved to the island who say it is making them feel ‘completely cut off from society’.
Others revealed they had life-saving hospital trips delayed because there was no room on the ferry.
At peak times, such as Cowes Week and the Isle of Wight Festival, a return journey can cost as much as £440 with the ferry providers using a flexible ‘airline’ model for prices.
There are three car ferries and three dedicated foot passenger ferries from Lymington, Southampton and Portsmouth to the island. All except a hovercraft service are run by just two companies: Wightlink and Red Funnel.
The journey to the Isle of Wight is four miles from Lymington, six miles from Portsmouth, and 10 miles from Southampton.
Bronwyn Hamilton-Brown set up the Wightlink Users Group a year and a half ago to campaign for better services after the last passenger ferry was cut to 8.20pm during Covid.
The organisation now has almost 8,000 members on Facebook and has held six protests over the ‘scandalous’ ferries.
The 62-year-old retired headteacher said: ‘I started the group because I had difficulty getting from Ryde, where I live, to Portsmouth.
‘There was effectively a curfew because the last boat was at 8.20pm – even Cinderella got to stay out until midnight.
‘We are in a dreadful pickle because the ferries hold us to ransom. People find it insanely difficult to get to appointments. It is an absolute scandal.’
The island has limited health services, including no dentists and no gastroenterologists, and many people have to travel to Portsmouth or Southampton for treatment.
The Wightlink Users Group has managed to get a £70 cap on fares for patients and a dedicated phone line for people travelling to appointments.
Ms Hamilton-Brown said Paula Brizelden’s story was instrumental in the £70 limit being implemented last April.
Ms Brizelden’s partner, Chris Tunnell, was diagnosed with kidney disease and given just 12 weeks to live if he didn’t begin dialysis immediately.
There is no renal unit on the Isle of Wight so they have to travel to Portsmouth monthly for Mr Tunnell’s treatment, using the passenger ferry and buses because the car ferry is too expensive.
When Mr Tunnell had sepsis, a stroke, and dehydration, his life saving trip to hospital was delayed as there was no space for the ambulance on the ferry.
Ms Brizelden, 70, said: ‘My partner five years ago was diagnosed with end stage kidney disease. He was given 12 weeks to live if he did not start immediate dialysis at Portsmouth Hospital every month.
‘We get the Catamaran and buses because we can’t afford to take the car.
‘He now has liver and bowel problems too and is being seen at the Royal Free in Hampstead. He has an appointment at 9am on September 5 so we have to go up the night before.
‘We can’t afford the car ferry so we are getting the train. For somebody in his condition it is going to be a very difficult journey, we have to take his equipment with us too.’
The day before the UK lockdown Mr Tunnell travelled home from the surgery to insert his dialysis tubes and had to sit on a crowded ferry, surrounded by people.
‘He was very ill, there was no help at the ferry. He was sitting among a lot of people, one day before the Covid lockdown.
‘There ought to be a separate space for hospital patients to keep them germ free.
‘He’s had sepsis twice. I could not afford to go [to the hospital] more than once a week.
‘If we were on the mainland you could go in every day. It is not natural, we were separated. You only had half an hour [to visit].
‘It is really traumatic for both of us,’ said Ms Brizelden.
The retired sign writer moved to the island in her twenties and has lived there for 45 years.
Islanders can get a multilink pass that covers multiple trips but it must be paid for in one lump sum that ranges from £350 for 10 trips to £1,500 for 60 trips.
It can’t be used at certain times of year like the Festival, nor by any friends or family.
Richard Heywood, also part of the Wightlink Users Group, pointed out the contradiction between this and the ferry companies’ marketing.
The 77-year-old, whose wife was born on the island, said: ‘Wightlink uses the slogan “keeping families together” but you can’t share your pass with anybody.
‘What I find galling is that hotels, Airbnbs, and B&Bs can get rates for the ferries that are considerably better. If they can do it for those why can’t they do it for islanders and their families?
‘If either of the ferry companies pull a ferry they immediately change their timetable, to say they are 99 per cent accurate. The other company also increases their prices.
‘They are working in cahoots.’
Others said they are considering leaving the island because the ferries are so bad and it is affecting recruitment of doctors, teachers and vets.
Jackie Devonshire, 71, has lived on the island for five years but ‘can’t wait’ to move away.
‘I went to see a specialist in February who was offered the position here and he told me he wouldn’t accept it because it would separate him from his family.
‘If there is no specialist [on the island] travel should be free. You are completely cut off from society by this stupid stretch of water.
‘I wish I had never come here, I can’t wait to leave,’ the retiree said.
Utilita Hub manager Simon Jackson set up a petition on August 2 to raise the issue nationally, and it already has more than 4,000 signatures.
The 46-year-old said: ‘I have lived here for over ten years and the ferries seem to have just got worse and worse, especially in the last few months and prices are skyrocketing.
‘It is not just a luxury of coming across for holidays, businesses over here rely on people coming over.
‘I am hopeful with having two new MPs they say it is their number one priority, but they can’t do it on their own.
‘I thought “what if there was a platform that anyone can add their voice to”.
‘What I would like to see is some official regulation which I believe has to be across all ferry companies nationwide.
‘Something that stops them charging ridiculous amounts of money, it would be good to have set fares.’
Mr Jackson said the most he has ever paid for the ferry, and is willing to pay, is £150 but it means he does not see his family in Surrey and Yorkshire as often as he would like.
‘As the crow flies it shouldn’t be much of a deal but you have to factor in a) are the ferries running and b) can you afford it.
‘It is causing me not to see my family as much as I want to,’ he added.
Robbie Lane, who was born and raised on the island, runs the Isle of Wight Guru, a website providing tips and tricks of how to travel the island on a budget.
He worries that visitors are put off by the cost but said there are ways to get a deal and that the most viewed posts on his website are all about the ferries.
The 40-year-old islander said: ‘Maybe 20 or 30 years ago the ferries had a very simple pricing structure, broadly there would be two prices and that was it.
‘What two companies have done is change to a flexible pricing structure. You get winners and losers on the same ferry, one family might say “we paid £60 for our ferry” and the other might say “we paid £300”.
‘I help people figure out how to sit in that £60 seat. I want people to be able to come to the Isle of Wight.
‘The ferries are a lifeline for people who live here, for people on the island it can become quite disruptive when ferries are cancelled.
‘It is not really my role to get involved in campaigning, I am more interested in getting people to the Isle of Wight now in a way they can afford.’
MailOnline has contacted Wightlink and Red Funnel for comment.
