No probe into Isle of Wight ferry services (From Daily Echo)
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No probe into Isle of Wight ferry services
1:47pm Wednesday 14th October 2009 in News
No probe into Isle of Wight ferry services
THE ferry companies running services across the Solent to the Isle of Wight will not face a Competition Commission probe, it was announced today.
Following a two-month consultation, the Office of Fair Trading ruled out an investigation but said there was room for improvement both in customer satisfaction levels and the amount of information available to users on the performance of the ferry operators.
Wightlink and Red Funnel have told the OFT that they will voluntarily introduce a range of measures aimed at communicating and improving the service they offer their passengers. This includes publishing punctuality, reliability and some pricing information as well as undertaking customer satisfaction surveys.
The OFT study found that in general, average prices have risen at around the same rate as inflation over recent years, and overall fares were not obviously out of line with other commercial ferry services across Europe.
It added that the overall, the service was reasonably frequent, comprehensive and reliable.
