Little Minch Routes—Infrastructure
Welcome to the Little Minch Routes Infrastructure Programme page, formerly known as the Skye Triangle. Overall programme updates and progress will be published in this section, as well as details of planned stakeholder events to be held at all three ports. Previous copies of event presentations and exhibition boards, as well as stakeholder Q&As, are also included here.
For updates and details of construction progress at each of the three individual ports, please click on the location sections above. Each of these also includes information about local meetings and contact details for local enquiries.
Event Storyboards—March 2024
14 March 2024
The exhibition boards from this week’s Little Minch Routes events are now available below.
Open the presentation in a new tab ›
Little Minch Routes—Rescheduled community events to be held in March 2024
29 February 2024
The rescheduled public information events will be held in March 2024 to provide updates on the infrastructure works across the three ports, the progress of the new vessels under construction, and timetabling planning for the routes. Representatives from Transport Scotland, CalMac Ferries Ltd, The Highland Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and CMAL will attend the events.
The events will be drop-in sessions open to all members of the public, and copies of the exhibition boards will be available on this page following the events.
| Event Date | Event Venue | Event Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 11 March 2024 | Uig Community Hall | 16:00–19:00 |
| Tuesday 12 March 2024 | Tarbert Community Centre | 16:00–19:00 |
| Wednesday 13 March 2024 | Lochmaddy Community Hall | 16:00–19:00 |
CalMac continues to develop the deployment plans for the vessels on the Little Minch routes. CalMac’s intention is to commence community timetable consultations in mid-2024, with final timetables planned to be published with network-wide summer 2025 timetables in October 2024. Further information on the consultations will be available at the events and shared here when available.
Stakeholder Updates—January 2024
31 January 2024
The exhibition boards from January’s postponed events have been updated with some supplementary information and are now available below.
Open the presentation in a new tab ›
Rescheduled Community Events
26 January 2024
The postponed events have now been rescheduled for 11th, 12th and 13th March 2024, at Uig, Tarbert and Lochmaddy respectively, and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.
The rescheduled events will be drop-in sessions, running from 4pm to 7pm and follow the same format as those planned for January: providing updates on the infrastructure works across the three ports, the progress of the new vessels under construction, and timetabling planning for the routes.
Representatives from Transport Scotland, CalMac Ferries Ltd, The Highland Council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and CMAL will attend the events. Further information and updates on these events will be available on this page in due course.
The exhibition boards from January’s planned events are currently being updated with some supplementary information and will be available on this page as soon as possible, together with arrangements for submitting any questions or comments.
Events postponed
21 January 2024
Due to a forecast of adverse weather, the planned Little Minch Routes events, 22–24 January 2024, have been postponed. Further updates will follow.
Little Minch Routes—Community Events to be held in January 2024
9 January 2024
Public information events will be held in January 2024, to provide updates on the infrastructure works across the three ports, progress of the new vessels under construction, and timetabling planning for the routes. Representatives from Transport Scotland, CalMac Ferries Ltd, The Highland Council; Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and CMAL will be attending at the events.
The events will be drop-in sessions open to all members of the public, and copies of the exhibition boards will be available on this page following the events.
| Event Date | Event Venue | Event Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 22nd January 2024 | Uig Community Hall | 16:00–19:00 |
| Tuesday 23rd January 2024 | Tarbert Community Centre | 16:00–19:00 |
| Wednesday 24th January 2024 | Lochmaddy Community Hall | 16:00–19:00 |
CalMac continues to develop the deployment plans for the vessels on the Little Minch routes. CalMac’s intention is to commence community timetable consultations in early 2024, with final timetables planned to be published with network-wide summer 2025 timetables in October 2024. Further information on the consultations will be available at the events and shared here when available.
Please continue to use the links above to access detailed information on the infrastructure projects at Tarbert, Uig and Lochmaddy.
Public vote decides new names for Little Minch vessels
19 December 2023
The two new vessels for the Little Minch route will be named MV Claymore and MV Lochmor following response to a public vote.
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) has today announced MV Claymore and MV Lochmor as the names for the two new ferries that will serve the Little Minch routes.
Read more ›
Name the new vessels for the Little Minch
30 November 2023
CMAL has launched a public vote to help choose the names for two new ferries to serve the Little Minch routes.
October 2023 Update
4 October 2023
New vessels for the Little Minch—please follow the link at the top of this page for more details on the vessel builds and further information.
Public Meetings—the public information events expected to take place in Autumn 2023 have been postponed until Winter 2023; while the Infrastructure Steering Group continue to progress reviews of the interfaces between the ports and the new vessels, in conjunction with CalMac’s operational planning and timetable development.
The review of options to maximise operational efficiencies includes the potential to bring forward the renewal of the linkspan at Lochmaddy. All options will be subject to affordability and funding approval.
CalMac continues to develop the deployment plans for the vessels on the Little Minch routes. CalMac’s intention is to commence community timetable consultations in late 2023, with final timetables planned to be published with network-wide summer 2025 timetables in October 2024. Further information on the consultations will be shared here when available.
Please use the links aside to access information on the infrastructure projects at Tarbert at Uig and Lochmaddy.
May 2023 Update
19 May 2023
New vessels for the Little Minch—please follow the link at the top of this page for more details on the vessel builds and further information. The planned delivery dates for the vessels to CMAL are June 2025 and October 2025 respectively, and they will undergo crew familiarisation and local operational trials before entering into service.
CalMac is currently developing deployment plans for the vessels on the Little Minch routes. CalMac’s intention is to commence community timetable consultations in late 2023, with final timetables planned to be published with network-wide summer 2025 timetables in October 2024. Further information on the consultations will be shared here when available.
The main construction works at Tarbert are now complete, and construction at Uig and Lochmaddy is progressing—please use the above links for further for details on the projects.
Public meetings to share updates on the new vessels and port works are being planned for early Autumn 2023, and details will be shared here when available.
Public meetings
14 November 2022
Public meetings have been arranged to engage with local communities at Uig, Lochmaddy and Tarbert (Harris) regarding the two new vessels being procured for the Little Minch.
The meetings will include a presentation from Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) regarding the vessel type, cargo configuration, passenger areas, accessibility and overall vessel configuration. There will then be a Q&A session.
Communities are invited to attend their local meeting:
Tuesday 22 November: 6pm–8pm—Uig Village Hall
Wednesday 23 November: 6pm–8pm—Lochmaddy Village Hall
Thursday 24 November: 6pm–8pm—Tarbert Village Hall
There will be further engagement with communities regarding timetables and scheduling at a later date.
CalMac seeking community views
15 December 2021
Due to infrastructure upgrades being undertaken by The Highland Council, the harbour will be closed for a period of 21 weeks from 12 September 2022 until 03 February 2023.
Consultations will be held on the following dates/times and locations:
- Benbecula, Balivanich Hall: 15 December 2021, 5.30–8pm
- Uig Village Hall: 16 December. 11am–1pm
- Tarbert Community Centre: 16 December, 6–8pm
Uig, Tarbert and Lochmaddy harbours are all being upgraded to replace life expiry infrastructure and to enable CalMac to deliver an effective service when new vessel 802 is introduced into service.
Operations Director Robert Morrison said: “The upgrades will deliver many improvements, but the closure of a port means that we have to carefully plan alternative timetables.
“We recognise that the closure will be challenging for our customers, and for this reason, community views are extremely important. I would encourage people to attend the consultation events and to let us know what they think.”
Public meetings
6th December 2019
Meetings were held in November to update communities on the harbour upgrade projects at Tarbert, Lochmaddy and Uig.
You can view the exhibition boards from the meetings here:
Public meetings
25th October 2019
Meetings will be held in November to update communities on the harbour upgrade projects at Tarbert, Lochmaddy and Uig:
- Uig Village Hall
Monday 25th November, 4pm–7pm - Harris Hotel
Tuesday 26th November, 4pm–7pm - Lochmaddy Village Hall
Wednesday 27th November, 4pm–7pm
Individuals are welcome to drop in at any time during the meetings.
Work is now underway at Tarbert and tender evaluations for a construction contractor are currently in progress for Lochmaddy. The tender to appoint a contractor for work at Uig has been issued.
The meetings will be attended by representatives from CMAL, CalMac, Transport Scotland and Highland Council.
Exhibition boards & presentations
- Exhibition boards—April 2019
- Exhibition boards—Sept 2018
- Presentation—March 2018
- Stakeholder newsletter—February 2018
- Presentation—April 2017
- Exhibition boards—April 2017
Stakeholder Q&As
- Stakeholder Q&A—Aug 2020
- Stakeholder Q&A—Sept 2018
- Stakeholder Q&A—May 2018
- Stakeholder survey responses—May 2018
- Stakeholder survey—March 2018
- Stakeholder Q&A—February 2018
- Stakeholder Q&A—November 2017
- Stakeholder consultation plan—November 2017
- Stakeholder Q&A—August 2017
- Stakeholder Q&A—April 2017