A HISTORIC ferry service that dates back 500 years faces the axe because of a spending shortfall, it was revealed yesterday. The Renfrew Ferry across the River Clyde could be scrapped to save money. Operators Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) said it has to save about £2.5 million.

Around 140,000 passengers use the Renfrew to Yoker ferry each year. SPT said scrapping the ferry will be among the options at a budget meeting on 22 January.

The fate of a historic Glasgow ferry which dates back 500 years will be decided by transport chiefs today. The Renfrew Ferry, which runs between Yoker and Renfrew, is one of the services under scrutiny as operators Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) makes savings of £2.5million.

The route provides more than 140,000 passenger journeys a year. But SPT, which owns and runs the service, said scrapping the ferry will be among options considered at a budget meeting. A spokeswoman said: "SPT, like many other local government agencies and local councils, is facing severe financial problems. For next year's budget we have to find savings of £2.5 million. To that end we are looking at every line of our budget including our current subsidies to bus, subway and ferry services."

Sadly it will cease operating in March...

TRANSPORT leaders have voted to close a ferry service that has crossed the Clyde for 500 years. Councillors in Renfrewshire last night vowed to fight the move by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, saying it will disrupt the lives of thousands of people and is "economically, socially and environmentally unjustified".

The ferry carries around 140,000 each year across the 200-metre stretch between Renfrew and Yoker. SPT said the service was not financially viable. SNP council leader Derek Mackay said: "I am outraged at the decision by SPT. It will have a huge impact on people. These are people getting to work each and every day. This was a vital link and it has been running for 500 years. This will mean a vital link will be lost."

Four private operators are in talks about providing a replacement service for the Renfrew Ferry, which will sail for the last time on March 31 after almost six centuries. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which operates the ferry, yesterday decided to scrap the service, saving £400,000 a year. The transport authority has to make savings of £2.5 million in the year from April.

At present, it is subsiding each £1.20 fare by almost £3, which SPT officials say is not good value for money. The two ferries will be sold and SPT is in discussions with the eight staff about the possibility of them transferring to other SPT operations like the Glasgow Subway. The move was greeted with anger by Paisley North MSP Wendy Alexander and Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP Jim Sheridan.

A Dutch-built vehicle which can carry 50 passengers – the same number as the current ferry service – will be trialled next week as part of a potential new cross-river link between the Braehead shopping centre and Clydebank. The Stagecoach demonstration comes two weeks after Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) voted to axe the ferry at the end of next month because it was no longer financially viable.

The bus move is the latest proposal for amphibious vehicles on the Clyde, a decade after abortive plans by a tour firm to use D-Day landings-style craft for tourist excursions. Stagecoach said the "amfibus" would be the first in the UK to carry commuters, but the firm already operates them for tours on the Hudson River in New York. The £70,000 vehicle being used for the Clyde trial on Monday, which will not involve passengers, runs tours in Rotterdam.

TRIALS of an amphibious bus on the River Clyde were embarrassingly halted yesterday when the Dutch vehicle developed a suspension fault. The single-decker could replace the 500-year-old Renfrew ferry as part of a potential new cross-river service between the Braehead shopping centre and Clydebank.

Transport giant Stagecoach dismissed yesterday's problem as a minor setback and said the tests would resume today. The ferry is due to close at the end of next month because of mounting losses, but eight other firms have also expressed interest in taking over the 200yd crossing as part of a wider Clyde water bus service.

An ampibius bus which could replace the Renfrew Ferry successfully took to the Clyde on Tuesday morning - a day after its trial was halted because of technical problems. The £700,000 vehicle, known as an Amfibus, was tested on the stretch of water between Yoker and Renfrew. SPT are scrapping the exisiting ferry service at the end of next month to save money.

The £700,000 Dutch-made water bus, which can travel on water and roads, is one of a number of options being considered as a replacement. The Amfibus uses a hull that allows the vehicle to float. While it operates like a normal coach on the road, when it is in water it is driven by twin water jets and can achieve a speed of eight knots. It can carry 50 passengers, and if given the go-ahead the Amfibus would use slipways at Renfrew and Yoker, although they would need to be extended so it can work at all tide levels.

Reports that the closure-threatened Renfrew to Yoker ferry service has been given a reprieve have been denied by Strathclyde Partnership for transport (SPT). The ferry had been due to be cut by operators SPT who took the decision to end the service on economic grounds, having to make savings of £2.5million. The service had been expected to cease from the end of March.

Two MPs, Jim Sheridan and John Robertson, had said that through their campaigning SPT had decided to postpone the closure. But a spokesman for SPT said: "SPT funding of the Renfrew-Yoker Ferry will cease on 31st of March. This is a highly regrettable decision which is a result of the financial difficulties SPT has to confront including the necessity to cut our budget in the next financial year by £2.5million."