– This is our way. It is completely idiotic that we should go back in time. Remy Olsen lives in Vassøy. He is not happy that the timetables they have had since 1996 were changed on 1 January this year. The reason? The collective service to Vassøy and the other islands will from this year be operated with two electric fast boats and an electric ferry. They need time to charge. So much so that it is not possible to have the same route offer as before, according to the public transport company Kolumbus. – The financial framework we have means that we cannot increase the number of departures, says communications manager Jon Dagsland at Kolumbus. Dagsland does not have an answer to how many departures will be cut and changed, apart from the fact that the route offer is not as good as the previous one. One of the departures that has been removed is at 06.10 by speedboat. Many combined it with a bus on the mainland to be at work at seven o’clock. – Now it no longer works. Now I have to take the car on the ferry to get to work. Last week there were so many cars when I was going home that I didn’t get in and had to wait an hour, says Lisa Johansen. Lisa Johansen had hoped that she could still travel by public transport all the way to work at Forus. But now it will be a car. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news Diesel vessels to go From next year, all new contracts entered into must require emission-free vessels. About 200 ferries and 80 speedboats go back and forth along the coast of Norway. Annually, they release around 580,000 tonnes and 130,000 tonnes of CO₂. It is these emissions that the government wants to end. But it’s not free. – It is good for the climate that the boats become emission-free, but we see that the transition will be expensive and demanding, says senior researcher Kenneth Løvold Rødseth at the Institute of Transport Economics (TØI). Calculations from TØI and NTNU show that electrifying fast ferry routes will cost between NOK 2,500 and 18,000 per tonne of CO₂ using current battery technology. It is far above the authorities’ reference price for CO₂ of NOK 2,000 per tonne in 2030, the researchers write in this chronicle (external link). Who will pay? TØI has carried out a study into whether the timetable can be adapted so that electric vessels have enough time for charging. It shows that there can be significant challenges with the range of the fast boats. This means that the speed must be reduced or that the timetables must be changed in order to be able to operate a fast ferry connection with electric boats for approximately the same amount as with diesel vessels. – It is important to look at the costs for the operators against the costs for the passengers in the form of changed travel time and waiting time. Rødseth believes it is a political question whether islanders should have as good an offer as today. – Costs increase for both operator and passengers. It has not been clarified who will pay for the increased costs. One of the two electric fast boats that will go to the city islands in Stavanger is Rogaland County’s Medstraum. The other is not ready yet, so there are still diesel vessels plying the route. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news Many commuters There are about 600 residents living on Vassøy. By speedboat, it takes ten minutes to get to the center of Stavanger. The journey time is doubled by ferry. On most of the other city islands there are also permanent residents who commute to Stavanger for work and school. The ferry from Vassøy that docks in Stavanger in the morning is full of cars with commuters going to work. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news – We have had our everyday life turned upside down. We had a logistics that went haywire, and suddenly it didn’t go haywire anymore from 1 January. Signe Egenberg also lives on Vassøy and commutes to Stavanger to work at Stavanger University Hospital. She no longer works shifts, and can have flexible working hours. But the commitment to the route offer is just as great. – It is dramatic. People do not make it to work and school, or are left waiting for a very long time. Several are now talking about whether they can continue to live on Vassøy. Like the others who live on Vassøy, Signe Egenberg is upset about the new timetables. – It turns our lives upside down. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news Don’t want to cut – will be cut anyway Just before Christmas, the county politicians in Rogaland said no to proposed cuts in the fast boat service in the county. An offer that until now has been operated with speedboats that run on diesel. But no more money was put in to cover the increased expenses to have the same route offer as before with electric fast boats to the city islands. As a result, the route offer was nevertheless cut for the islanders. The reactions have not been long in coming. First mentioned in Rogaland’s Avis. Kolumbus communications manager Jon Dagsland has received many reactions to the route offer for the islanders in Stavanger municipality. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news – We have great respect for the problems that arise. That boat is extremely important for the people who live there, and the logistics that we all know in daily life must go up, says Dagsland. – Therefore, the easiest thing would have been not to change these times. But we can’t do that. We try to optimize the offer and prevent any negative consequences that we see continuously coming. Vassøy is 10 minutes by fast boat from the center of Stavanger. Photo: Åse Karin Hansen / news On Vassøy they are not satisfied, and will fight on to get back the route offer they had. – It affects children and young people and the elderly and everyone who works shifts. We have equal ambitions to participate in community life on this side of the fjord, whether it is at work or socially, says Egenberg.
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Electric speedboats are good for the climate, but bad for the passengers – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
