Today I received the following from Red Funnel . 
Dear Malcolm,
We wanted to provide you with an important update regarding The Hythe and Southampton Ferry Company.
As you know, the Hythe Ferry is an iconic and historic transport link, and since acquiring the business in September 2023, Red Funnel’s goal has been to maintain this vital service. During this time, we operated over 5,500 sailings and carried more than 70,000 passengers, ensuring connectivity at a time when the route might otherwise have ended.
Significant investment has been made, including a full vessel refit, pontoon repairs and ongoing operational costs. However, despite these efforts and extensive work to secure additional funding, the service has remained suspended since August 2024 due to infrastructure challenges and funding constraints. Added to this, changes in commuter travel patterns and the Government’s bus cap scheme impacted passenger numbers.
Although Njord partners are delighted to have acquired SIOW late September 2025 and recognises The Hythe Ferry as a vital and historic transport link, it does not consider itself as the best suited partner for this operation, moving forward.
Looking ahead, we are now actively seeking a new owner who shares our vision to restore, modernise and unlock the full potential of this historic route. This is an exciting opportunity to bring innovation and technology to a well-established service with strong local heritage and community support.
Interested parties should contact enquiries@hytheferry.co.uk for more information by 19th February 2026.  In the interest for all parties, it is expected that this process is completed within a rapid timeline.
We continue to work closely with the Hythe Pier Company during this transition and remain committed to supporting colleagues.
While it is disappointing that more progress could not be made to resume the service, we remain hopeful that, with a new investor, the Hythe Ferry will be preserved and developed for generations to come.
Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Now we know the situation we must work out  how to get the ferry back  up and running

I'm posting here my own personal opinion - not as an administrator, and not representing any official view from the Coffee Shop forum:

As Mark Hehir has been so well supported by members of the public and politicians of all parties, it would be good to see him return to his skilled role as a qualified bus driver - but not with Metroline. 'Other bus company operators are available'.

CfN. [Image from here is not available to guests]

There are - a year on - 1814 searchable .pdf files there, of which 950 are also indexed (that means they come up with a subject and date when they match). 105 of the documents are whitelisted (guests as well as members can read then); most of the rest are available to any logged in member.

See whole whitelist at http://www.passenger.chat/whitelist.html

With my thanks for your post, eightonedee, I rather think you have hit the whatsit on the proverbial there. [Image from here is not available to guests]

There are possibly three clues combined into one there: there is a railway station at Barking (which is what the dog is doing); there is one at Riverside (which is where the dog is standing); and there is one at Barking Riverside (combining those two clues).

Derby and Poole I will also add, as they are both absolutely plausible.