Hovertravel has suspended its Ryde-Southsea service due to adverse weather conditions this morning (Tuesday), meaning there are currently no cross-Solent passenger links in the East Wight owing to the suspension of Fastcat services too.
As previously reported by Island Echo, Wightlink has been forced to cancel all Fastcat sailings between Ryde-Portsmouth due to mechanical issues.
Now, Hovertravel has halted its operation due to strong winds on the Solent, meaning that passengers face a lengthy detour to Fishbourne’s car ferry service.
It’s unclear when either service will resume, meaning commuters have no option but to travel from Ryde to Fishbourne to catch the slow boat to Pompey – expending their travel time significantly.
Hovertravel says that their tickets are being accepted on the car ferry.
Today’s cancellations come following a period of continued disruption for cross-Solent travel as a result of the weather, mechanical problems or a lack of staff – and there appears to be no end in sight.
UPDATE @ 07:50 – Hovertravel has confirmed that its service will remain suspended until at least 13:00, which is when an update will be provided.
Neil Chapman, Managing Director of Hovertravel, explains:
“The weather today is impacting our service and we strongly recommend that you do not travel if you do not need to. We appreciate, however, that some customers must travel, and we are introducing for today a free bus connection on the Island between Ryde and Fishbourne for both Hovertravel and Wightlink customers.”
The special bus service will start from Ryde Hovertravel Terminal at 09:30, with last departure from Fishbourne at 21:00 and departures will be xx:30 from Ryde Hovertravel terminal and xx:00 from the Fishbourne Wightlink car ferry terminal.
Neil continues:
“This additional bus has been provided to meet the challenging circumstances facing Island commuters and other cross-Solent travellers today. We thank Wightlink for their assistance in creating an alternative transport offering and for their partnership in our ticket acceptance agreement which allows Hovertravel customers to travel on the car ferry.”
Hovertravel’s bus service in Portsmouth has also been adjusted for customers. The Hoverbus is now being diverted to operate via Portsmouth Car Ferry departing at xx:00 and xx:30 from Wightlink. The revised route for today is the circle route as follows: Southsea Hover Port – Portsmouth Car Ferry – Portsmouth Hard – Portsmouth & Southsea – Southsea Hover Port. Both Wightlink and Hovertravel customers can use this service.
Hovertravel apologises sincerely for the disruption to customers’ journeys today.
UPDATE @ 13:05 – Services remain cancelled until 17:00 this evening due to adverse weather.
UPDATE @ 18:45 – It has been confirmed that services are to remain suspended until at least Wednesday morning.
UPDATE WEDNESDAY – Services are once again running to timetable.
Meanwhile, the weather has also resulted in the cancellation of 4 car ferry sailings on Wightlink’s Yarmouth-Lymington route.
Due to adverse weather, the 06:15 and 08:40 sailings from Lymington and the 07:30 and 09:45 sailings from Yarmouth have been cancelled.
Vehicles and Foot passengers will be accepted on the Fishbourne-Portsmouth car ferry during this time, but of course that route is already busier with Fastcat and Hovertravel customers.
Where is the second fast cat?
being serviced
More ammunition for a bridge the commuting workers students at uni it’s a nightmare for them we didn’t have all these issues before covid so what is going on . The yarmouth ferry seems to off on a regular basis Red Funnel and Red Jet have similar issues. I am a bred and born caulkhead and I now think it’s time for a fixed link and I am in my seventies
It certainly needs to be looked at.
The three ferry operators are all private enterprises and are only responsible to their shareholders. All they care about is profit and the bottom line.
The only way for the Island to get a frequent, affordable and reliable cross Solent service is to introduce a 4th provider run on a not-for-profit basis.
Given that there isn’t anywhere suitable for a new ferry service to operate from (on either side), a fixed link is probably the only option.
People need to accept status-quo of our terrible profit-before-people ferry services (and stop whining about them as they will never change), or bite the bullet regarding a fixed link.
Also a native Islander, by the way (5th generation)
fixed linkers will never accept the fact that…
firstly – it will never get past the environmental impact assessment stage.
secondly – there is not one single constituency on the mainland that wants the entrance/exit to a link to and from the island in their backyard and will be refused at every turn.
also – who will pay?
and how many years do you think it would take before even one single shovel of dirt is moved?
the silvertown tunnel under london is going to cost over £1 billion and £1 billion more to operate and maintain over 25 years. technical studies began in 2012 for the silvertown tunnel and it isnt expected to open until 2025 at the earliest and is only 1.4km long.
there will be no IOW tunnel