Bar owners: Ferry cuts will choke business

The cost-cutting measures mean that the last weekday ferry to Dockyard leaves Hamilton at 8:30pm — rather than 10pm as it did last year.

The last weekend service departs for the West End at 7pm instead of 10pm.

Marooned

Front Street bar owners say the move will leave thousands of cruise ship passengers marooned in Dockyard unable to get to Hamilton for dinner or drinks.

Frank Arnold, who runs Café Cairo, told the Bermuda Sun the new schedule would deter customers from coming into the city.

He said: “It is the Government’s responsibility to provide a public transport system — not the private sector.

“These changes to the Dockyard to Hamilton service will have a huge effect on all businesses.

“The cruise ships bring in thousands of people every day and the passengers simply won’t come down to Hamilton because they have no way of getting back.

“Just last year you could see people rushing out of the restaurants to catch the last ferry.

“Now that the last one leaves Hamilton at 8:30pm, dinner bookings will be shot and so will entertainment.

“One of the biggest group of spenders are the crew on board these cruise ships — if they don’t have transport to get back then they will not come into town either.

“There does not seem to be any logic behind these changes.”

Phil Barnett, who owns Hog Penny and Pickled Onion, said the changes were “difficult to swallow”.

He added: “Obviously the majority of the cruise ship passengers will not come into Hamilton if there is no late night ferry.

“We are all aware of budget restraints at the moment but many of us look to cruise ship passengers as a small saving grace in an overall dismal outlook.

“These changes potentially preclude these passengers coming to Hamilton.”

Yesterday Michael Weeks, Acting Minister of Transport, told a press conference that service reductions had been made on specific routes with low ridership.

Mr Weeks said: “We have worked to ensure that vessels are deployed where there is ridership demand”.

Referring to the change in the Hamilton to Dockyard service, he added: “This decision is based on the lower number of passengers experienced after 9pm, which ranged between 10 and 35 people last summer.”

The service reductions affect the Pink, Orange, Green and Blue routes and they come after the ferry service budget was slashed by 24 per cent this year.

The number of ferries operating on the Pink route in Hamilton Harbour has been reduced from two to one, with some midday services being suspended.

Ferries will no longer stop at Lower Ferry or Hodson’s Ferry, while weekend and public holiday services on the Pink route have been stopped.

However Francis Richardson, director of Marine and Ports, said the department was working on a public-private partnership to provide the service.

He said he hoped to make an announcement “imminently”.

Commuter routes on the East End service have also been suspended while daytime services have been reduced from two large fast ferries to one.

Mr Weeks admitted it was a “difficult decision” to get rid of the commuter service.

But he added: “We will provide a daily supplementary service using the 750 passenger vessel Bermudian which will make one round trip departing from Dockyard at 10:30am and return from St. George’s at 3:30pm, with the exception of Tuesdays when the vessel will service the Veendam.”

Disappointment

The service reductions have also affected the Rockaway ferry, which has lost two of its midday services.

The 7:10pm final run has been cancelled and the last trip of the day is now at 6:30pm.

Mr Richardson added: “We cannot spend money we do not have.

“Some people will be disappointed and some not so disappointed.”