CalMac summer timetables to be released in January confirmed

CalMac’s summer timetable is set to be published in late January 2023, with bookings opening in a phased approach, with the first period covering 31 March – 4 June. The remaining periods will open for bookings as soon as they are available, and customers will be informed once this next date is confirmed.

Finalised timetables will be issued when Transport Scotland confirms the 2023 fare levels, which is expected to happen in early January. Details such as sailing times have been agreed and are ready to be released as soon as a decision about fares is made.

Delay was also caused in part by the focus on a solution around the closure of Uig Harbour, as the start of the normal timetable community consultation process was moved out by several months – starting in mid-October when our summer timetables would normally go live on 30 October.

Robbie Drummond, Chief Executive of CalMac, said: “We apologise for the late publication of the summer 2023 timetable. We understand the impact this has and for the difficulties this causes to island communities and local businesses. The timetables will be issued once Transport Scotland has set the fares for 2023.

“Delivering timetables is highly complex and factors such as interdependencies between routes, berthing availabilities, connecting services and tidal timetable changes must be considered. Once finalised, staff must enter and quality control thousands of manual entries.

"Our operational planning and ticketing teams are now condensing timetable work that normally takes several months into as short a time as possible so we can open bookings as early as we can. This means that we must open our timetable for booking in phases to allow time for this work to be carried out accurately and efficiently. I wish to extend my gratitude to local communities and customers for their patience and understanding.”

Find more information on the publication of summer 2023 timetables on the CalMac website.