Editing Outer Hebrides (section)

== Transport ==
[[File:Leaving Lochmaddy - geograph.org.uk - 929584.jpg|thumb|right|[[Caledonian MacBrayne]] ferry [[MV Hebrides|MV ''Hebrides'']] leaving [[Lochmaddy]], [[North Uist]], en route for [[Skye]]]]

Scheduled [[ferry]] services between the Outer Hebrides and the Scottish mainland and Inner Hebrides operate on the following routes:

* [[Oban]] to [[Castlebay]] on [[Barra]]
*[[Oban]] to [[Lochboisdale]] on [[South Uist]] (winter only)
*[[Mallaig]] to [[Lochboisdale]] on [[South Uist]]
* [[Uig, Snizort|Uig]] on [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] to [[Tarbert, Harris|Tarbert]] on [[Harris, Outer Hebrides|Harris]]
* [[Uig, Snizort|Uig]] on [[Isle of Skye|Skye]] to [[Lochmaddy]] on [[North Uist]]
* [[Ullapool]] to [[Stornoway, Outer Hebrides|Stornoway]] on [[Isle of Lewis|Lewis]]
* [[Tiree]] to [[Castlebay]], [[Barra]] (summer only)

Other ferries operate between some of the islands.<ref>[http://www.calmac.co.uk/ "Home"]. [[Caledonian MacBrayne]]. Retrieved 12 May 2012.</ref>

National Rail services are available for onward journeys, from stations at [[Oban railway station|Oban]] and [[Mallaig railway station|Mallaig]], which has direct services to Glasgow. However, parliamentary approval notwithstanding, plans in the 1890s to lay [[Garve and Ullapool Railway|a railway connection to Ullapool]] were unable to obtain sufficient funding.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1892/may/31/garve-and-ullapool-railway-bill-by-order "Garve and Ullapool Railway Bill"] Hansard. Retrieved 26 September 2008.</ref>

There are scheduled flights from [[Stornoway Airport|Stornoway]], [[Benbecula Airport|Benbecula]] and [[Barra Airport (Scotland)|Barra]] airports both inter-island and to the mainland. Barra's airport is claimed to be the only one in the world to have scheduled flights landing on a beach. At high water the runways are under the sea so flight times vary with the tide.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.hial.co.uk/barra-airport.html| title=Barra Airport| publisher=Highlands and Islands Airports Limited| access-date=6 April 2009| archive-date=22 March 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090322030628/http://www.hial.co.uk/barra-airport.html| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/barra/airport/index.html| title=Barra Airport| publisher=Undiscovered Scotland| access-date=8 July 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Bus na Comhairle Optare Solo YJ14BDY is seen in Sandwick in May 2020.jpg|alt=|thumb|Bus Na Comhairle Optare Solo YJ14 BDY seen in Sandwick, May 2020]]

===Bus na Comhairle===
'''Bus na Comhairle''' (meaning "Bus of the Council") is the council-owned local bus company of the Western Isles. The company serves the Broadbay area of Lewis with 7 buses: 6 Optare Solos and 1 ADL Enviro 200.

=== Shipwrecks ===
[[File:Admiralty-yacht-HMS-Iolaire-ship-Amalthaea-1908.jpg|thumb|right|The [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] yacht [[HMY Iolaire|HMS ''Iolaire'']]]]

The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and [[lighthouse]]s are sited as an aid to navigation at locations from Barra Head in the south to the Butt of Lewis in the north.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Main/ |title=Lighthouse Library |publisher=Northern Lighthouse Board |access-date=16 April 2016}}</ref> There are numerous sites of wrecked ships, and the [[Flannan Isles]] are the location of an enduring mystery that occurred in December 1900, when all three lighthouse keepers vanished without trace.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp.&nbsp;329–31</ref>

''Annie Jane'', a three-masted immigrant ship out of [[Liverpool]] bound for [[Montreal|Montreal, Canada]], struck rocks off the West Beach of Vatersay during a storm on Tuesday 28 September 1853. Within ten minutes the ship began to founder and break up, casting 450 people into the sea. In spite of the conditions, islanders tried to rescue the passengers and crew. The remains of 350 men, women and children were buried in the dunes behind the beach and a small cairn and monument marks the site.<ref>{{Canmore|num=102881 |desc=Annie Jane: Bagh Siar, Vatersay, Atlantic |fewer-links=yes |access-date=16 April 2016}}</ref>

The tiny Beasts of Holm off the east coast of Lewis were the site of the sinking of {{ship|HMS|Iolaire }} during the first few hours of 1919,<ref>Thompson (1968) p. 76</ref> one of the worst maritime disasters in United Kingdom waters during the 20th century. [[Calvay]] in the Sound of Barra provided the inspiration for [[Compton Mackenzie]]'s novel ''[[Whisky Galore (novel)|Whisky Galore]]'' after the {{ship|SS|Politician}} ran aground there with a cargo of [[single malt whisky]] in 1941.