Parliament Workbench

Petition · PE01473 · Session 4

Wi-Fi on CalMac ferries

Closed Submitted 26 Feb 2013 Transport
Signatures
50
283 online signatures with a country
Comments
16
Considered
3 meetings
in the Official Report

What it asks

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to ensure that a universal system of Wi-Fi operates on all Caledonian MacBrayne ferries which service the Western Isles to the mainland and to provide a specific timescale for implementation.

What the petitioner did first

September 2011 – Letter written to Caledonian MacBrayne asking for the possibility of Wi-Fi being implemented on CalMac Ferries that service the Western Isles
October 2011 – Letters of support from Community Planning Partnership supporting this issue
December 2011 – Met with Representatives from Calmac and Transport Committee to highlight issue.
October 2012
- Met with Keith Brown, Transport minister at a Statutory Transport Partnership meeting along with MSP Alasdair Allan to discuss further developments in regards to the implementation of Wi-Fi on all Calmac ferries
February 2013
- Letter received from Chief Executive of Caledonian MacBrayne outlining that they are hoping to continue with the pilot scheme on the Lord of the Isles and would consider an upgrade on all ferries

Where it was considered

Official Report
  1. 15 Mar 2013
    Public Petitions Committee
    New Petitions
    1 mention
  2. 28 May 2013
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention
  3. 3 Sep 2013
    Public Petitions Committee
    Current Petitions
    1 mention

Signatures by country

283 online signatures
  1. Scotland227 80.2%
  2. United Kingdom44 15.5%
  3. England9 3.2%
  4. Australia1 0.4%
  5. Wales1 0.4%
  6. Hong Kong1 0.4%

Comments

16 comments, oldest first
  1. Maria 1 Mar 2013
    Huge benefit!
  2. Martin Lamb 1 Mar 2013
    Let's get connected!
  3. Michelle Mac Innes 6 Mar 2013
    Getting wi fi will be a fantastic benefit on a very long and tedious journey its bad enough we have to make a five to seven hour journey with very little for entertainment often a telly thats out of range or broken
  4. Charlotte MacKay 6 Mar 2013
    I've always found it surreal that you get it on a 1 and half hr PandO ferry but not on a upto 7hr Oban-Lochboisdale one! Come on calmac!
  5. ELIZABETH MACKENZIE 6 Mar 2013
    Surely in this day and age, it's little enough for us to get wifi on the ferry. I though it would have already been included in the plans! Would really help passenger comfort on such a slow boring journey, which is apparently going to be even slower on this new ferry. (surely it should be faster?!)
  6. Iain Robertson 7 Mar 2013
    I'm a frequent traveller to the Isles on business, and the return journey is a great opportunity to complete the paperwork, but for that I really need good internet connectivity. Otherwise the journey is just wasted time (especially when it's dark).
  7. Chris Laurie 8 Mar 2013
    Being a frequent user of Island Services, I would say that this would be the single most important upgrade since the beginning of Sunday sailings.
  8. Ant Power 8 Mar 2013
    Frequently in the Isles
    - Mull next month
    - love the ferries, but hate being cut off from the world 5 minutes after pulling out of Oban. Calmac give a good efficient service, surely this is a must-have addition.
  9. alister macintyre 8 Mar 2013
    good idea
  10. William McLachlan 8 Mar 2013
    Such a small but obvious advance
  11. Carol Johnson 8 Mar 2013
    Surely for the convenience of passengers Wifi should be made available. This question has been raised with Calmac by business travellers serveral times, and I its encouraging to see Barra Youth Council actively campaigning for improvements on behalf of their own communities.
  12. Kevin Van Allen 8 Mar 2013
    I'm a regular on the Oban
    - Barra service and it gets tiresome having to stand out on the deck in all weathers trying to get a signal. It's 2013, we can't live without our smartphones.
  13. Tony James 8 Mar 2013
    I have been a frequent visit to the Isles in the past few years and trust that I will be able to do so again in years to come. I love the ferries and fully support the suggestion for WI-FI on all Calmac ferries
  14. Trevor Hunt 8 Mar 2013
    We regularly use the ferries to the Western Isles to visit family and having an Internet connection is essential these days. The facility should be available on all public transport.
  15. Archie Maclean 8 Mar 2013
    WI FI availability on our ferries would help to make our journeys seem shorter especially on long routes like Oban Barra Lochboisdale which can be in excess of 7hrs.
  16. Nigel Hindley 8 Mar 2013
    I Usually use Calmac crossings for work purposes. I catch up with work on my laptop, but no wifi means its very frustrating. Not a single crossing goes by where I don't ask staff when wifi will be available. Its available on buses and trains why not ferries? Needs to be looked into as a matter of urgency, make long crossings fly by and be a productive time.