The Highland Council’s Community Services Committee is considering the implications of a report on the cost of running the Corran Ferry, which, despite fare increases, continues to run at a deficit.

Under European State Aid tests there is a real possibility that the public funding of the Corran Ferry service deficit may be viewed as State Aid. Three options to overcome this issue are:-

1. To continue running the service by increasing charges to meet costs.
2. To re-tender the service.
3. To transfer the service to Transport Scotland.

Fares are likely to increase on the Corran Ferry again next year as the authority aims to make the ferry cover its costs. The crossing has been run at a loss for a number of years, recording a deficit of £221,764 in 2013/14. This is predicted to drop to £115,000 for the current financial year. The ferry links the remote peninsula communities of Ardnamurchan, Ardgour and Moidart to the mainland at Nether Lochaber across the Corran Narrows on Loch Linnhe, nine miles south of Fort William.