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When is the FastCat evening service coming back?

Since Wightlink’s FastCat was reinstated following Lockdown #2, the late night service has remained suspended.

The last FastCat from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight is 8.20pm, meaning Islanders going out in Portsmouth or Southsea are limited in where they can go and how long they can stay on the other side of the water.

It also means the latest train from London that someone can catch and expect to cross the Solent using the catamaran is 6.30pm from Waterloo.

However, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic it was possible to catch a train from Waterloo at 9pm, connect with the 10.45pm sailing from Portsmouth Harbour and travel back to Ryde, Shanklin, Ventnor and Wroxall by Island Line train and Southern Vectis bus.

Seamless connection from London
Clearly not everyone is bothered about getting back from London in the evening, but there are a number of people who live here and carry out work for clients up there.

The advantage to the Island as a whole is that it brings money to the Island to be spent here.

Forced to use car
One Wightlink commuter tells News OnTheWight they have been trying to seek clarity from the ferry operator as to when they intend to reinstate the late night service, but has not had much luck.

The commuter says,

“At a time when it is imperative to reduce carbon emissions, Wightlink seem to plan to force Island residents to use cars instead of more sustainable modes of transport or just stay at home.

“If this is to be a permanent arrangement then the millions of pounds spent on upgrading the Island Line will be largely wasted.”

Wightlink: Unable to share information about future timetable changes
The response that the commuter received from Wightlink when he asked whether and when the late night service would be reinstated reads:

“I can understand you being eager to get back to travelling later in the evening! Unfortunately, we are unable to share any information about future timetable changes, although we always make sure that customers are the first to know when changes are confirmed.

“We are delighted to have started to reopen for business on all our usual routes and are monitoring passenger numbers carefully to ensure we are meeting the needs of customers in a way that’s sustainable for our business.”

Wightlink: Get the car ferry
News OnTheWight has also contacted Wightlink to see whether they are able to shed any more light on the situation.

The response we received was,

“Currently we are carrying less than 50 per cent of normal passenger numbers on the FastCats and no decision has been taken on running more services.

“Car ferries from Fishbourne to Portsmouth operate later in the evening and there’s plenty of room for foot passengers.”

Using the car ferry does not have the advantage of landing in at Ryde where they is easy access to the train line (when it’s working) or the range of bus routes.

For many living in Venntor, Shanklin, Sandown etc, Fishbourne is effectively in the middle of nowhere.

Appeal to MP
The Island commuter also got in touch with the MP’s office, appealing for Bob Seely to contact Wightlink and ask them to clarify their long term plans for the Ryde Pier to Portsmouth Harbour catamaran service.

Bob Seely’s office have advised that this matter “has now been raised with Wightlink”.

Nationalise the Catamaran
The commuter also asked the MP to speak with the Secretary of State for Transport about the FastCat.

He wants to know if the Sec of State will consider incorporating the FastCat route into the new Great British Railways operation?

He says,

“After all, it’s raison d’etre is to connect two rail terminals.”

He didn’t get a response to that question, but has chased it up and we’ll update once we hear back.

I voted "no" and was clearly in a small minority in so doing.

My reason is that I feel that running the railways will be enough of a challenge for GBR and that ships as well might be too much.
Whilst I hope that GBR will be a forward step, I have some misgivings about the idea and feel ships should only come under their control after some years of satisfactory railway operation.

I voted "no" and was clearly in a small minority in so doing.

My reason is that I feel that running the railways will be enough of a challenge for GBR and that ships as well might be too much.
Whilst I hope that GBR will be a forward step, I have some misgivings about the idea and feel ships should only come under their control after some years of satisfactory railway operation.

Surely the andwer here is to initially concentrate on getting the late night service reinstated in the most popular days of the week for late night entertainment - so Fridays & Saturdays? If necessary, the local councils/LEP(s) coupd subsidise the costs if doing this would result in additional losses?

Prove there’s a ‘use it ir lose it’ case for say 6 to 9 months - to the end of the year?

‘Works’ would mean enough passengers to make those services pay for themselves....so worth continuing without subsidy.

Then maybe nove on to other weekdays to do the same.

I can’t support a ‘nice to have’ unfortunately. There are other more urgent services requiring funding

If it's so vityal, what are they doing currently?

I voted for "don't know" but not for "don't care ".

That is the result of a suggestion by the late, great legendary member that was TerminalJunkie. A few of us in the early days used to do Yes/No polls, and he urged us to include a Don't know/Don't care option.

Not a simple Yes/No answer, there are various aspects to this. Part of the problem is that because of the price of housing on the IoW lots of people have to commute to work, including NHS staff.

‘Works’ would mean enough passengers to make those services pay for themselves....so worth continuing without subsidy.