Isle of Wight ferry firms should be nationalised like trains says MP
One of the Isle of Wight’s MPs has called on government to include Island ferries in plans to nationalise the railways, saying it would be “unjust” not to do so.
Joe Robertson, MP for IW East, said he has written to new Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander to ask her to meet with himself, IW West MP Richard Quigley and council leader, Phil Jordan.
His comments follow an announcement that South Western Railway — which runs Island Line — will be the first to transfer into public ownership next year
The government said the transition to a publicly owned railway will improve reliability and support its number one priority of boosting economic growth by encouraging more people to use the railway.
Reacting to the news, Mr Robertson said there continues to be a silence regarding the transport link affecting Islanders the most — the ferries.
He said: “The government cannot, with any credibility, nationalise Island Line, give millions of pounds for our buses, but take no action at all on our ferries.
“The rationale for action on trains and buses is to improve experience, reliability, and cost for transport users. All those arguments apply to ferry users with the added issue that Islanders are entirely reliant on them. There is no other way of getting on and off the Island.
”The one-sided status quo cannot be allowed to continue, particularly when action is being taken elsewhere. Wightlink used to be part of British Rail but was not franchised when it was privatised.”
Following their election earlier this year, Mr Quigley and Mr Robertson had both met with previous Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to discuss problems with the ferries.
In July, the IW East MP (Conservative) said she appeared “genuinely receptive” to the idea of including cross-Solent operators in plans to nationalise the railways.
Even before that, Mr Quigley had been in discussions with her and also met with business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, to discuss ferries.
Upon her resignation last week, Mr Robertson said he wouldn’t be shedding a tear about her departure as she has done absolutely nothing to advance “our reasonable request for Government intervention”.
Mr Quigley, meanwhile, said she was “a real champion of our issues with ferries” and he was “extremely saddened” to see her go.
