Councillors have backed plans to connect some of Shetland’s islands with a network of undersea tunnels that could be in place within eight years, in a move they say would be cheaper than replacing ageing ferries.
At a meeting in Lerwick on Tuesday, councillors approved exploring funding options for the ambitious project, which a feasibility study described as “economically transformative”. The tunnels – from Shetland’s mainland to Yell, and from Yell to Unst – could cost an estimated £1.5bn. Two more links, to the islands of Whalsay and Bressay, could follow.
“Shetland councillors back £1.5bn undersea tunnel plan, saying it is cheaper than replacing ageing ferries.”
Council leaders argue the tunnels would be more affordable than building new ferries and replacing harbours. The council currently runs ferry services to nine islands, carrying around 750,000 passengers each year on 12 vessels at a cost of £23m per year. Costs have risen sharply in the past decade, with some routes struggling to meet demand for vehicle places.
“The system we have that has served us well for decades is now no longer able to do that,” said Moraig Lyall, the council’s transport chairperson. “It doesn’t have the capacity and we’re struggling with other things, like the ability to crew the system adequately. These barriers to giving the islands a really good service are not going to be easily overcome by replacing ferries with other ferries. The tunnel is the answer that we believe will help us solve these problems.”
Lyall said the feasibility report showed there were “no technical barriers” to building tunnels, which would be “cheaper in the long run” than ferries.
The council’s chief executive, Maggie Sandison, acknowledged the project was not going to be easy but said she thought pursuing a funding solution was the “right thing to do”. The money could come from a mixture of private investment, public subsidy and borrowing, alongside tolls to cover maintenance costs.
Unst is the UK’s most northerly island and home to the UK’s only spaceport, at Saxavord, as well as a sizeable aquaculture industry. The feasibility study said tunnels could boost direct economic activity related to the spaceport as well as spin-off benefits such as other aerospace industrial development and tourism. It said tunnels would improve the rocket facility’s “competitiveness, efficiency and scope for growth” as well as improving access to labour for island businesses.
Boatbuilder Brydon Barclay of Fluggaboats on Unst predicted a tunnel would transform his company’s prospects. “It’s absolutely essential,” he said.
With the vote taken, the focus now shifts to securing funding for a project that would reshape the archipelago’s transport links – and whether the vision of a tunnel network can overcome the practical and financial challenges ahead.