Western Isles Council will pay Scottish Citylink to lay on an extra bus in a bid to avoid Stornoway ferry passengers being stranded on the mainland.
Travellers regularly complain about being left behind on the operator’s Inverness to Ullapool service which is timed to meet the ferry for Lewis.
Numerous foot passengers have been caught out just turning up without a ticket on the twice daily service.
In one recent case, other travellers had a whip round to pay the £80 taxi fare for a couple who could not get on the bus.
CalMac staff at Stornoway – who take seat bookings for Citylink – face the brunt of people’s frustration when told there is no room on the bus.
The new arrangement only kicks in when travellers turn up without a ticket and the strong message is for passengers to pre-book in plenty of time.
The islands’ council and regional transport authority, Hitrans, will make up the shortfall if Citylink is asked to lay on a special coach.
Demand will be gauged by monitoring the Citylink computerised booking system.
Hitrans and Western Isles Council accept it is “not commercially viable for the operator to ensure that sufficient capacity could always be provided for anyone expecting to travel without a booking.”
Iain Mackay, chair of the council’s transport committee, said: “We very much welcome the co-operation of Scottish Citylink and the opportunity to collaborate with Hitrans in seeking to reduce the likelihood of passengers being stranded in either Inverness or Ullapool.
“We do however need to emphasise that, for operational reasons, this additional capacity cannot in any way be completely guaranteed by the operator.
“There remains a very real imperative that all passengers should make every effort to book as far in advance as possible of when they intend to travel from either Inverness or Ullapool.”