Shields Ferry timetable cut blamed on 'random series of unexpected bad luck'

A months-long suspension of evening crossings on the Shields Ferry has been blamed on a “random series of unexpected bad luck”.

Operator Nexus announced last week that it would be temporarily cutting the ferry’s timetable until January because of unexpected staff shortages. It means that services will now stop running from South Shields at 5.45pm and from North Shields at 6pm on Monday to Saturdays.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Monday morning, Nexus managing director Cathy Massarella said transport chiefs had “explored every alternative” to keep the nighttime ferry crossings running. She said that the problem had arisen because of an unexpected spate of long-term sickness absence among the team of ferry skippers.

Ms Massrella said Nexus had determined it was not feasible to bring in replacement ferry masters or train up other staff to carry out the role, as that would take several months and it is hoped that some skippers will have returned to work by then. She added: “It is really unfortunate. We have been hit by an unprecedented and extremely unexpected series of long-term sickness. A couple of the team were injured outside work and have a recovery period, another was awaiting surgery and was called in at exactly the wrong time for us.

“It is a small team. Funding-wise we cannot afford to block in too much contingency and can’t bring in lots of additional staff. The training period for a ferry master is extensive.”

The slimmed-down timetable started on Monday, November 4, and is expected to be in place until January 2025. However, the ferry’s existing Sunday timetable will remain the same, running from 10.15am to 6pm.

Ms Massarella said: “The most robust and guaranteed solution was to look at 12-hour shifts and look at where we could get best coverage in the morning to allow commuters to get over the river and then as long as we could into the evening. We are just trying to cover the commuter day as best we can.

“It is a really, really unfortunate set of circumstances, but it would not be something we could plug the gap for. We have looked at every alternative and this really is a last resort. I apologise for the inconvenience. We have explored every alternative, but we genuinely think this is the best way to give people certainty and reliability during this period.”

Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community

Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community for all the latest news direct to your phone.

To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.

If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.

If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN