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TravelWatch - ISLE OF MAN Arrey Troailt – Ellan Vannin

Representing and promoting the interests of Isle of Man passengers

Members Bulletin – Winter 2020

Dear Member, Firstly, it may now seem a long time ago, but hope you had a good Christmas and our very best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. It’s been some time since the last newsletter and now time to again ‘put pen to paper’.

PUBLIC MEETINGS

Primarily the difficulty has been getting specialist speakers that will be of interest to the majority of members and attract other interested persons - who we hope would find TravelWatch of interest. With the nationalisation of the Steam Packet, politicians and those involved commercially have declined requests to speak in public as the subject was too sensitive. Having successfully used the Villa Marina and the Legion Club as venues (albeit with limited parking) we are trying a new venue – Ballakermeen School on Saturday 28 March starting at 10am. The vehicle entrance is at the end of Westminster Drive with an alternative pedestrian access opposite the end of Westbourne Drive. Car parking is available on site. While there is a no.26 bus from Lord Street Stop D at 0915 to the nearest bus stop in Westminster Drive, TravelWatch are exploring an alternative. It is a two hourly service. An opportunity has arisen to have as our guest speaker Angus Campbell, Chair of CalMac's Community Board. Caledonian MacBrayne is Government owned and operates ferries on 28 routes serving the west coast to Scotland from the Clyde to the Hebrides. An independent board to advise them across a wide range of customer aspects is endorsed by Transport Scotland. Following the nationalisation of the Steam Packet, now is the ideal time for a similar arrangement here – sadly, so far there seems little interest from Government who appear to see little or no benefit for users to contribute ideas to improve the service.

AIR ISSUES

Living on ‘The Rock’ we are all well aware there are only two ways on and off it – unlike the UK where there are the alternatives of trains, coaches or the family car. This is an added responsibility for politicians, and Civil Servants and all that manage our island transport links. Delays or loss of service becomes very important and not simply an inconvenience. Reliability is essential for air passengers in particular who are travelling onward from their UK arrival airport. Many are now travelling the day before to try and minimize the risk of losing an important connection – in the case of international travel, a very expensive business as there is

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little ‘through ticketing’ to the final destination. eg EasyJet offer a ‘point to point’ service. Finding out if the carrier offers ‘through ticketing’ with Code Shares is not easy. The Manx Government operates an Open Skies policy which allows any airline to spring up and use an established route, placing the route at risk of both operators failing – that has happened in the past. Our Government can only talk with operators but they have no ‘clout’ or even a gentle hand on the tiller. This might bring some security and is the model successfully applied by the Government in Guernsey. Founded in 1964, its own airline Aurigny, with nine aircraft flies to Gatwick and Stansted as well as eleven other airports in the UK and Europe. This is comparable to Manx Airlines who served twelve airports in 2002. It runs at a loss but the GCI Government consider it to be a reasonable price to pay for the many advantages of six daily flights to Gatwick plus the tourist and business benefits of all the other routes. A strong route network with better schedules came out top in a recent survey of what the Manx business community felt was essential to support and grow the economy. There are six flights daily between Guernsey and Gatwick compared to just two (and often just one) between IOM and Gatwick. The carriers don’t appear to want to take the risk. Flybe Since our last newsletter Flybe has had its ups and downs. Last March it re-established its base on the island using two of their own 78 seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft . These have doors at front and back, rather than just one at the rear as found on Stobart’s 72 seat ATR 72-500. TravelWatch very much welcomed this move as it seemed to show a commitment to the island. Sadly, it didn’t last as Flybe was bought out at a bargain basement price by Connect Airways – a consortium of Virgin, Stobart and Cyrus Financial investments. The routes from the island were again contracted out to Stobart Air based at Southend airport. Their smaller aircraft are not the preferred option for passengers especially on medical flights. Recently, these flights have been criticised as sometimes being overbooked and Patient Transfer customers being taken to Manchester rather than Liverpool with problems of then getting to and from their hospitals in Liverpool. Flybe continue to also serve Birmingham, but their short-lived daily service to Heathrow has sadly ended. However, they did intend to introduce a daily flight to Southend, due to start in late Spring. Stobart has invested significant capital into developing Southend airport and encouraging its transport links. They say that ‘It never rains but it pours’ ! As this newsletter was being written another financial crisis hit Flybe – soon due to be rebranded Virgin Connect. Flybe has been trying to secure additional

funding less than a year after being bought out. With more than 2,400 jobs at risk, the UK Government was approached to step in to provide emergency financing to the firm. It is essential that they ensure Flybe continues to operate. Had they learnt any lessons from the collapse of the much larger Monarch or Thomas Cook fleets ? Flybe carry 8 million passengers a year between 81 airports across the UK and the rest of Europe, with well over 100 routes across 15 countries - it is the largest Regional airline in the British Isles and vital for Northern Ireland links. They pay about £100 million annually in Air Passenger Duty (APD) that they have collected from passengers. At the eleventh hour, the UK Government held off demanding APD for the time being and additional funding was put in by the Connect Airways consortium. Other airlines have challenged the legality of this APD arrangement.

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The loss of Flybe would almost certainly be disastrous for the island, despite what our politicians think. Patient Transfer arranges 17,000 journeys a year to hospitals in the NW of England. The Health Minister has assured us that there are ‘contingency plans’ should their contract with Flybe end – it has two years remaining. He has stated that routes between the island and the NW are "very well served, not just by Flybe, but by other providers as well". We have reservations. The Patient Transfer office has moved yet again – this time from Noble's Hospital back to the Department of Health and Social Care's headquarters at Crookall House, Demense Road, Douglas. Car parking there is more limited and Demense Road has no bus stop. Other operators Aer Lingus Regional covers Dublin, Loganair flies to Edinburgh and BA to London City. EasyJet serves London Gatwick, Liverpool, Bristol, Belfast International and Luton. Their summer service to Luton is a welcome addition in providing flights into the London area. Luton airport always seems to be ‘under construction’ scoring poorly in a study by Which? and with a poor record for delays. However, it does offer a useful service to/from the island from 29 March to 23 October - albeit not every day. Compensation EU rules say that depending on the length of flight, passengers can claim between €250 and €600 for flights that arrive at their destination more than 3 hours late - this includes those that are cancelled or overbooked. A study by the consumer group Which ? has found that many airlines have increased flight times to reduce the likelihood of them having to pay out for late-running services. Which ? also discovered that 60% of flights have advertised flight times longer than a decade ago. These are mainly the result of increased Air Traffic Control (ATC) delays following the huge increase in air movements. TravelWatch feels that our Office of Fair Trading (OFT) should take an interest in the way airlines apply claims for compensation as it has become a reoccurring and aggravating matter. Over 800,000 passengers a year pass through Ronaldsway, thus even if only a small percentage of them are affected, it still is a significant number for which definitive Government endorsed advice would be most helpful. Security screening Ronaldsway stated that it aims to process passengers within 10 minutes and will open the second screening line if this target looks like being exceeded. At peak times this target is not always met, plus many of the negative comments on social media are about the attitude and efficiency of screening staff. Emptying out the contents of bags, etc still continues and seems to be peculiar to Ronaldsway. It scores just 2 stars (out of 5) on the airports users website Skytrax with many comments about rudeness of staff. Like screening staff, the Isle of Man Airport Police were disbanded at the end of September 2019 and their role also subcontracted out. While the airport police were sworn in with warrants, we understand that their replacements are not and would presumably need Police Officers from Douglas or Castletown to attend if an arrest is required. Blacking out of the arrivals area brought dismay to many a passenger who can no longer make early visual contact with their arriving friends and relatives. No satisfactory reason has been given.

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BUSES

Bus Station Politicians have been promising a decent bus station in Douglas since they pulled down the original building in 2002 - it contained a good sized heated waiting area, toilets, café and kiosk, etc. In 2008 there was a Bus Review to which TravelWatch submitted proposals for a fit-for-purpose bus station - the Review was simply shelved for ten years. A developer now wishes to build on the site and proposals show little improvement for bus passengers – just the addition of two WCs and a ticketing office. The DOI has accepted these minimal proposals as ‘adequate‘– TravelWatch does not. Visitors to the adjacent isle know this minimal approach falls far short of reasonable expectations. The UK Government uses a best practice guide entitled Bus and Coach Station Design and Operation 2011. There is an ancillary UK publication entitled Safer Bus Stations. Both are being ignored. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get it right. The timescale to comment was very short for a complex planning application with so many documents. Perhaps you’re wondering what facilities our Chief Minister considers a bus station should have. The answer lies in Mr Quayle’s successful manifesto of Sept 2011. He states that we need to build a modest bus station so that passengers can take shelter from the elements while being able to obtain warm drinks. Toilet facilities are also a must. We would agree. Bus Vannin Bus Vannin currently has RTLC approval to operate 90 buses and 10 minibuses. Over the last decade it has improved its fleet, timetables and provision for passengers with disabilities and buggies so that more people are now travelling by bus. Many passengers also feel that buses should call at the Sea Terminal, as they used to. Not just for links with sea services but it has good refreshment, retail and toilet facilities. The fleet is now in generally good condition and older less reliable, fuel guzzling, vehicles being phased out. In the past year the 11 Volvo double decker buses were 10 years old. The alternative is to do nothing and see reliability fall. While Manx buses may not have the stop-start duty of a city based bus, they have more hills and cover more miles. We understand that some buses have covered over 300,000 miles. Bus tickets On-board contactless payments and growth of the GO card system has meant that less cash is being carried - thus giving change can be a problem for passengers tendering large denomination notes. Travel to the airport Bus Vannin launched the connectPORTS service in October 2018, tying in with a Patient Transfer scheme that began in July of that year. Using minibuses, it is available to residents living in the north and west including Kirk Michael, Peel, St Johns, Laxey and Baldrine, for journeys to/from the airport by selling spare seats for a fixed charge of £10. Bookings can be made for any journey starting from the passenger's home after 5am and leaving the airport until 9.30pm each day. The bus will wait if your flight arrives late. Journeys can be booked up to 21 days ahead and up to 4pm on the day before departure by calling 697440. A complaint with the arrangement is that the service is primarily designed around Patient Transfer passengers and you may well only be offered

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an early morning pick up - fine for ‘red eye’ flights but a long wait if your flight doesn’t leave until the afternoon or evening. ConnectVILLAGES minibus In 2018 Bus Vannin also launched an on-demand minibus service with no set route or timetable to connect villages in the north of the Island with Ramsey. Operating Monday to Saturday from 9am to 7pm, standard fares apply. Customers can be collected from home and dropped at any location within the area, or where they can connect with another bus route. Demand responsive services have replacing most journeys operated by the 16, 17, 18, 19 and routes. Peak hour services and school buses haven’t changed. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is currently carrying out an inquiry into concerns raised by the Public Passenger Vehicle (PPV) trade that Bus Vannin are providing unfair competition for taxis etc.

SEA ISSUES

Steam Packet ownership The purchase of the IOM Steam Packet by the taxpayer for £137 million was a surprise as no public consultation was carried out – the deal included £76 million of debt. The User Agreement was due to expire this year and without it the value of the company would be significantly reduced - the main assets would have been two ageing boats. The price paid was contentious, especially with an electorate being repeatedly told that there were insufficient funds to meet the health care budget. Having purchased the Steam Packet for the taxpayer, Government must not see it as an income stream to be run at a profit other than repaying the cost of purchase, create reasonable working reserves and fund replacement vessels. It cannot be compared with such as the Cross Channel sailings with their huge savings of scale. The Steam Packet has been around for 190 years, but is a small company with long route lengths and customers that expect two sailings a day to leave the island at sociable hours. 4,862 people responded to the Ferry Service consultation and 61% stated that they prefer a daytime fastcraft service to Liverpool of less than 3hrs over the seven summer months than a much longer journey on a conventional ferry all the year round. Service standards and routes With over a decade of experience in dealing with passenger issues, TravelWatch have asked for input into discussions concerning passengers. Unlike the UK there is still no formal structure and one feels that neither politicians nor Civil Servants wish there to be any partnership. Instead of seeing such an agreement as beneficial they appear to view such a partnership as loss of control. The Sea Services Agreement makes reference to public consultation, but so far this has been limited to one by the Steam Packet regarding a replacement for the 22 year old Ben my Chree. Possible cost will probably be £70-90 million with a lead-time of 2-3 years. Some of the Steam Packet fares have reduced over the years if able to book more than 48hrs ahead with a vehicle or 24hrs as a foot-passenger. However, it is often the small detail which causes irritation – such as the costs incurred when having to change plans or book a journey at short notice. What happens after a boat cancellation could be improved by staffing the phone lines and booking office at the earliest opportunity and not leaving it until some hours later. They should consider customers themselves being able to use the internet and rebook.

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The cross subsidy by freight users has always been a bone of contention, albeit without it the foot passenger and private vehicle charges would be significantly higher. However, it does add to the cost of goods in the shops. Increasingly, environmental issues add to operating costs. Identity checks The island has been a member of the Common Travel Area (CTA) for 98 years. It is an agreement of an area without borders for its nationals comprising the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (aka the British Isles). Other than immigration checks, 70 million people can move freely between these countries. After the acrimonious Brexit vote, the UK and Irish governments remain united in their desire to maintain the CTA. TravelWatch is concerned that a ‘go it alone’ policy by the Manx Government with identity checks for sea passengers would not be in our best interests and have requested involvement in any further consultations as and when these occur. With the uncertainty of a Brexit, the UK Government have advised anyone travelling to the EU to have at least six months validity on their passports after they return home. New Liverpool Terminal We have expressed reservations about the proposed relocation of the IOMSPCo facilities from the Pierhead to Prince’s Half Tide Dock. Liverpool is where most foot passengers go and the existing location at the southern end of Princes Parade on the floating landing stage (by the Liver Building) is their first choice of embarkation and departure. It did look that this arrangement would have ended in 2016, but the Steam Packet agreed with the landlord, Peel Ports, to pay £540,000 for essential works to be able to continue to use their existing facilities in exchange for a three year extension until 2019. This has been extended as work has started on the new terminal which should be finished by autumn 2021. In April 2019 Liverpool City Council granted planning permission for the new terminal but with unwelcome restrictions - such as no overnight operating (which particularly affects sailings in TT fortnight). Also, only in an emergency will limited cargo facilities be permitted. There no plans for public transport services, making it no better than Heysham for foot passengers. An essential new footway link between the new terminal and Princes Parade was not included in the Planning approval or contract for the terminal. We are not aware if there has been any progress in provision of this vital link or whether it will be ready in time. The cost of the terminal is well over budget and has increased from £25M to over £38M (Nov 2019). It is being funded solely by the Manx taxpayer – Peel Ports no longer contributing. The terminal design has come in for comment as regards high maintenance and running cost – architecturally pretty it may well be, but large expanses of glass bring with them high heat loss in winter and overheating in summer. The Chief Minister has stated the intention of improvements at Heysham terminal after Liverpool has been completed. It is certainly spartan compared with many other ferry terminals, albeit not owned by the IOM Government nor the Steam Packet. Since May 2001 it has been owned and operated by Mersey Docks and Harbour Company. It has limited parking facilities and Mersey Docks and Harbour Company charge £12.00 per 24 hours. The City of Liverpool now has planning permission to develop a cruise liner terminal both for visiting ships (as now) and as a location where cruises can start and terminate. While wanting to be

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the cruise liner centre of the north, they will need to address many issues taken for granted at Southampton - such as local secure car parking for cruise liner customers and shore based Customs and ticketing facilities.

TRAVELWATCH MEMBERSHIP

Your membership of TravelWatch helps give the organisation stability and credibility. The suggested donation is £10 a year (less than 20p a week) as it is vital to be able to pay for such as the hire of suitable locations for Public Meetings. Renewals can be carried out a number of ways – cash or cheque at a Public Meeting, cheque by post or a Standing Order. You retain control of all these ways of payment and can amend them at any time. As many members have an email address, it is cost efficient to use this to communicate – as we have done in sending this Members Bulletin. The Treasurer is Mr Mike Bathgate at Alt Na Craig, Bernahara Road, Andreas, IM7 2EL. Email: mike.bathgate@gmail.com The weak link is when an email address changes and we are not informed, albeit we may get an auto response back from our email server that the address is no longer valid. We’d love to stay in touch with you, so please let us know if your home address or email changes. Full details on our website www TravelWatch-isleofman.org under the menu heading ‘Join Us’. Mike joins Terry Liddiard as our spokespersons on air issues and our representatives on the IOM Chamber of Commerce. The Board of TravelWatch is a small group from diverse backgrounds but with one common aim – to improve travel both on and off the island. We would welcome new members to the Board – if interested please speak with our Chairman Mr Brendan O’Friel on (01624) 833636.

MEDIA

We value our good links with the media, and are often asked to comment on transport issues. Having been running for over a decade on the island, TravelWatch has gained a creditable firm footing and is now registered as a company and a Manx charity. As we know, transport is a constantly changing facility and it is essential that the voice of the passenger is heard amid ever complex conditions for travel and legislation. Much useful travel information and new is on our website www.TravelWatch-isleofman.org If members experience poor service then don’t just tell us but let your MHK know. We know from communication to our website and what appears on social media (such as Facebook) that there are some reoccurring issues not being addressed. TravelWatch Isle of Man [TWIOM] hold your contact details in order to provide you with newsletters and communication regarding actions and activities of TravelWatch. If at any point you wish to update, correct or ask us to delete your record please email twisleofman@gmail.com Best wishes,

The TravelWatch - ISLE OF MAN team. E&OE