A majority of the public seem to be dissatisfied by the prices of Steam Packet tickets.

The public were canvassed forthe Ferry Service Survey report published by the Department of Infrastructure.

Respondents were given the chance to rate ticket prices for foot passengers and for vehicles.

Of the 4862 respondents, a total of 78.8% are ’very dissatisfied’ or ’dissatisfied’ with the prices for passenger vehicles, compared to just 15.1% who were ’satisfied’ or ’very satisfied’.

And 41.9% are ’very dissatisfied’ or ’dissatisfied’ with prices for foot passengers, compared with 40.8% are ’satisfied’ or ’very satisfied’.

The report also showed that more than 60% of the public favour a seasonal fast craft service, during the daytime, to Liverpool over a year round conventional ferry service.

The report was conducted by the DoI to seek the public and businesses priorities for the new user agreement with the Steam Packet.

It was agreed by Tynwald that a new agreement was needed after the government purchased the company earlier this year.

Question 19 asked if people would prefer: ’An approximately two and a half hour journey, seven months of the year, will departures during daylight hours.

’An approximately three-and-a-half- to four-hour journey on a conventional ferry, all year round, but with one overnight departure.’

Of the 4862 responses, 2970 (61.1%) said they wanted the fast craft service, 1617 (33.3%) said they preferred the year round conventional ferry, while 275 did not answer the question.

Question six also recognise the strong feelings regarding the sailings as a combined 81.7% said the timings of Liverpool sailing times were ’fairly’ or ’very important’ to them, with 78.6% saying the same for Heysham.

And 79.8% said the speed of sailings to Liverpool was ’fairly’ or ’very important’ to them, with 75.6% saying the same for Heysham.

The results of the survey also show that most people are satisfied with the frequency of sailings to Liverpool and Heysham.

A combined total of 65.1% of respondents said they were ’satisfied’ or ’very satisfied’ with Liverpool sailings and 71.6% said the same for Heysham.

However, the frequency of services to Ireland -both north and south - proved both unpopular and under used.

For both Dublin and Belfast, the top response was ’not applicable to me’, each with over 50%, while a further 13.3% and 12.5% failed to answer.

Of those who did indicate they use or wish to use the service, a combined 25.6% for Dublin and 26.9% for Belfast said they were ’dissatisfied’ or ’very dissatisfied’ with the service on offer.

However, the Irish routes seem of little important to most respondents as over 50% listed the frequency of services to Dublin and Belfast as ’not at all important’ or ’not very important’.

Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer MHK said: ’The survey attracted a huge response and I thank everyone who took part for their input.

’The island’s sea links are a vital part of life for everyone of us, so gathering views in this way is crucial in being able to understand what residents and businesses would like to see and how the agreement can succeed in making it happen.’