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Alec Priest says the ferries for his commute are \u2018a colossal waste of time\u2019. Photograph: Shetland News<\/p>\nFor Alec Priest, an instrument technician at Sullom Voe oil terminal on Shetland, the case for digging tunnels under the narrow stretches of ocean that separate his home from work is clear-cut.<\/p>\n
As things stand, two ageing ferries crossing tidal sounds notorious for their powerful currents break up his commute. For a casual tourist, that adds to the mystique. For time-pressed islanders, care workers and businesses, it adds delays, stress and costs.<\/p>\n
Those two ferries over Bluemull and Yell Sound convert a 34-mile drive from Priest\u2019s home at Baltasound on Unst, the most northerly of Shetland\u2019s islands, to Sullom Voe on Shetland\u2019s main island, into a 3.5 hour round trip. He works 12-hour shifts at the terminal.<\/p>\n
Alec Priest says the ferries for his commute are \u2018a colossal waste of time\u2019. Photograph: Shetland News<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a colossal waste of time,\u201d he said. \u201cDuring the winter, if you have any gales, there\u2019s a good chance the ferries will stop. It does make you cautious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cutting tunnels between Yell and Unst and Shetland\u2019s Mainland would shrink that journey dramatically to perhaps 40 minutes each way. Instead, Priest stays in staff hostels at Sullom Voe, so is away from home for weeks at a time. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame for my family, but it\u2019s the only option,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Priest is part of a very energetic campaign by islanders on Yell and Unst to promote tunnels<\/a>. In 2025 they commissioned and funded geological surveys \u2013 and retained advisers steeped in Scandinavian tunnel engineering \u2013 in a bid to prove their economic, social and financial value.<\/p>\n The social cost of not having the tunnels is significant, campaigners argue, because it drives depopulation and isolation. Priest\u2019s sister left Yell for Shetland\u2019s Mainland with her family to avoid the insecurity of relying on ferries. School rolls on Yell fluctuate as families arrive and leave again, he said.<\/p>\n They point to the Faroes, to the north of Shetland, where road tunnels connect numerous islands, including the world\u2019s only underground roundabout \u2013 the brightly lit Eysturoyartunnilin. Shetlanders also look enviously at Norway, where islands have been linked to the mainland for decades.<\/p>\n Their campaign, backed by their Liberal Democrat MP, Alistair Carmichael, is credited with forcing tunnels and bridges firmly on to the political agenda. Scottish ministers have included fixed links in their strategic transport plan and gave Shetland \u00a310m to investigate connectivity options ranging from ferry replacement, to flights to tunnelling.<\/p>\n Campaigners say tunnels between Yell and Unst to Shetland\u2019s Mainland would dramatically cut journey times. Photograph: geogphotos\/Alamy<\/p>\n A government spokesperson hinted that further commitments could emerge with the publication of an updated infrastructure strategy, alongside the publication of the Scottish budget in January.<\/p>\n \u201cInter-island connectivity, including funding, has been a focus of discussion at the Orkney and Shetland ferry replacement task forces since early 2023, and we will continue to work in partnership with local authorities,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Officials in the Western Isles are also pressing their case to complete what they describe as a continuous \u201cspinal link\u201d connecting their sinuous chain of islands, with bridges or tunnels to connect south Harris with north Uist, and south Uist with Barra.<\/p>\n