The Scottish Government has pledged to work with local communities to secure a sustainable ferry service between Skye and Mallaig.
Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf, met with members of the Sleat and Mallaig communities last week, when he said the possibility of recruiting a new vessel would be explored.
The meeting on February 28 at the Scottish Parliament was arranged by Kate Forbes MSP and Ian Blackford MP.
There was significant disruption on the service last summer when the MV Coruisk was taken off the service to sail between Oban and Mull.
At the same time, the route has experienced growth as a result of the introduction of Road Equivalent Tariff fares and forecasts have indicated that growing demand will have to be appropriately managed.
During last week’s meeting, representatives of the Sleat and Mallaig communities said that, whilst they would work hard to make this summer’s service a success, there was demand for assurance about any long-term improvements.
Mr Yousaf suggested a regular meeting between Transport Scotland, CalMac, the two port authorities, himself and members of the community to discuss the service’s development.
He added: “I was very pleased to host the representatives from Mallaig and Sleat and thank them for their constructive approach and their willingness to work with us and CalMac on finding long-term solutions for the route.
“We all acknowledge that the timetable for Summer 2017 is not optimal, but it’s important to recognise CalMac have explored all avenues in a bid to reduce uncertainty and improve reliability.
“Local communities can be assured I will be monitoring performance on this route very closely.
“I am very keen that this line of constructive dialogue is kept open and hope my offer of a regular round table meeting with all key stakeholders will be taken up.
Ms Forbes added: “Myself and Ian organised this meeting because we want to see the Mallaig-Armadale ferry route strengthened to a point in the near future when it is completely dependable and has greater capacity.”
Mr Blackford said: “It was a productive meeting with the Transport Minister where there was broad agreement on a desire to see as successful an operation of the timetable on the Mallaig-Armadale route for this summer as possible.”
