Calls to bring back Glasgow ferries amid push for better public transport

Ferry services should return to Glasgow as part of the city’s push towards better public transport, according to a councillor.

Boats taking people across the Clyde were once a vital part of daily life but the last service on the river came to an end earlier this year when the Renfrew Ferry was pulled.

Councillor Graham Campbell said the lack of any mention of a ferry within the long term city Clyde Metro bid or the council’s transport strategy is a “significant weakness” in otherwise “ambitious” plans.

Outlining the advantages of bringing back boats, Councillor Campbell said: “The environmental benefits of cutting car journeys, improving air quality and congestion as well as cultural and touristic benefits (of providing) better access to the river as an integral feature of Glasgow life are obvious.

“However, from an historical perspective, it would once again bring the Clyde back to its prime place as central to the city’s future as well as the past.”

He added: “There would need to be new station pontoons built along the river and refurbishment of existing ones but I see this as a City Region investment plan.”

Pointing out potential issues, he said: “The main stumbling blocks to the return of a boat service are firstly the complex patterns of land ownership along the riverbanks which currently preclude access corridors being created through private and public owned land.

“Secondly there’s the lack of any overarching legal authority. Different jurisdictions from the defence sector, to Barclays to Peel ports exist which means there’s no one body with the required powers.”

Councillor Campbell has called for river crossings in a council meeting previously but was told that the mode of transport couldn’t compete with buses and trains.

An official said the council doesn’t have the means to take a boat transport plan forward currently but would be will be willing to discuss it with a potential operator.

The Clyde was once busy with vessels transporting passengers in the past with 11 ferries reportedly operating in the 1850s.

Over the years, boats on the Clyde included the Govan Ferry, which ran until 1965, the Clutha Ferries running from the Victoria Bridge to Whiteinch and the Finnieston Ferry.