It's been 15 years since the last look at ferry prices!

The last enquiry by the Competition Commission (then the Monopolies and Mergers Commission) into cross-Solent travel was in 1991. Click here for the report: http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1992/315crosssolent.htm#full

Look at this!

• The enquiry focussed primarily on Wightlink but thoroughly reviewed all ferry operators, including cost comparison with other ferry services in Europe.
  
• When the report was done, Cowes Express, a high-speed foot-passenger service, serviced Southampton and West Cowes in addition to Red Funnel's Red Jet high-speed service. Red Funnel was also running service from West Cowes to Portsmouth. Neither of these services exist anymore.
  
• The Competition Commission concluded that the situation could need continuous monitoring and this has not been knowingly done in a thorough manner in the last 15+ years. "1.6. We have found no current aspects of Wightlink's performance to be against the public interest but the competition it faces cannot be regarded as strong. The company remains in a dominant position which could be open to abuse and there may be a need for further monitoring of its profitability and fares in the future."
  
• There was some conclusion that the cost-per-kilometre operation of the ferries across the Solent was one, if not the most, expensive ferry trips. (See page 20 onward of http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1992/fulltext/315c2.pdf and http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1992/fulltext/315a2.4.pdf for the raw data) However, there was a significant caveat that short ferry trips have significant overhead costs.