Overview
- The Shetland Islands Council approved a draft inter-island transport strategy on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 that endorses two initial tunnels from Mainland to Yell and Yell to Unst and leaves room for later links to Whalsay and Bressay.
- Consultants including engineering firm Cowi found no technical barriers and estimated the four-tunnel programme would cost about £1.5 billion with roughly three years of planning followed by five years of construction.
- The proposal responds to strains on the existing ferry network, which runs 12 vessels, about 70,000 sailings to nine islands, carries roughly 750,000 passengers a year and costs around £23 million annually to operate.
- Next steps are to produce an implementation route map, explore mixed funding options such as public money, private investment, borrowing and tolls, and to seek support from the Scottish and UK governments with a follow-up report due in September 2026.
- Backers say fixed links could improve access for workers, boost tourism, help aquaculture and support the SaxaVord spaceport, but environmental, funding and community issues remain unresolved and the council will continue investing in ferries during the planning phase.