Corran Ferry Project Overview

Project summary

Background

Found approximately seven miles south of Fort William the Corran Ferry provides a lifeline connection and a shortcut across the Corran Narrows of Loch Linnhe. Connecting the Ardgour peninsula in the west with the wider Lochaber region in the east.

We are responsible for operating the Ferry service, which is the busiest single vessel route in Europe, taking just 5 minutes to make the approximately 400m crossing, and carrying approximately 270,000 cars and 11,000 commercial vehicles and buses per year.

Road based diversion can be up to 2 hours and involves navigating single track roads with limited access for the largest of commercial vehicles due to bridge height restrictions. The ferry service is therefore integral to the economic and social wellbeing of the peninsula and the wider areas.

Case for change

The relief vessel the Maid of Glencoul (49 years old) urgently needs to be replaced due to her age and reliability issues, associated with difficulty in sourcing parts which is becoming ever more expensive, threatening service resilience.

In having deck space for only 14 cars, she cannot keep pace with the ever-increasing demand, and this causes back-up of vehicles waiting to board in the marshalling area. She also has height and weight restrictions for larger commercial vehicles and the alternative road route is not suitable due to a low bridge.

The main vessel the MV Corran (23 years old) is also nearing end of design life.

Existing infrastructure, designed to accommodate the current quarter point vessels, do not allow for the more conventional ‘straight through’ Roll on Roll Off (Ro-Ro) vessels to operate on the slipways. Due to the infrastructure restrictions, no other ferries in Scotland can operate on the Corran Ferry crossing.

Marshalling areas on both sides of the crossing are too small. Queuing vehicles can cause a road safety issue by backing up onto busy roads, particularly the main trunk road A82.

No overnight berth. Vessels overnight on ‘swing’ moorings which results in the embarkation of the crew onto the ferry via a vessel-to-vessel transfer (twice daily). This is an uncommon practice and presents a health and safety risk, albeit one which is currently well managed.

Outline business case

In November 2022 our Economy and Infrastructure Committee members agreed the Outline Business Case Final Report for investment in new ferries and shoreside infrastructure for the Corran Ferry service.

Infrastructure improvement scheme

The Corran Ferry Infrastructure Improvement Scheme will involve the construction of a new slipway and an overnight berthing pier at Ardgour, and the construction of a new slipway, breakwater, marshalling area, parking, cycle path and public toilet facilities, north of the Corran settlement on the Nether Lochaber side, to support the operation of a new electric vessel. The new infrastructure will be flexible enough to accommodate the existing MV Corran, the new electric vessel and provide interchangeability with Roll on Roll Off vessels from CalMac routes in the West of Scotland. The Infrastructure design work is almost complete with a target date for build completion in at the end of 2026. 

New electric ferry

A full Tender specification has also been provided for a new electric Corran vessel which will be used as the key document during the procurement and ship building stage Target date for delivery (subject to funding approval) is 2028.

Read more about the new electric ferry