Until the end of October there was also a year-round ferry between Torquay and Brixham (Brixham Express). This was paid for through a Green Transport Fund grant awarded to the local council and commenced operations in November 2014, with a contract awarded for five years. The service was to use a 100-seat catamaran which was supposedly capable of operating in all weather and tidal conditions in Tor Bay, and would complete the crossing in as little as 15 minutes.
Unfortunately, the service failed for a number of reasons:
- lack of interest from existing (seasonal) ferry operators, which turned into outright hostility when a new company (Brixham Express Ltd) was created to operate the contract. One of the two existing operators subsequently downsized dramatically and withdrew from the Torquay-Brixham seasonal market, blaming the new service. In reality, they had entered a ruinous price war with the other company, who were much better resourced and better able to withstand the losses.
- a purpose-built fast catamaran seating 100 people (40 seats inside) was ordered from an Irish manufacturer, but was held up by red tape and eventually entered service during Spring 2017 - over two years late. Until that time Brixham Express had to rely on small hired-in craft which were not able to achieve the headlining 15-minute journey time.
- lack of support from the local Council, whose direct input seemed to stop at two purpose-built pontoons for this service (although the one at Brixham was, and still is, used also by the other operators) and some half-hearted publicity in its first year of operation.
- unreliability: crossings were often cancelled for unspecified reasons, or were blamed on "operational reasons" or "crew training". Also, despite being described as an all-weather service, there were certain tidal conditions in Tor Bay (notably when strong winds from the south-east blow directly into the Bay) under which the craft did not sail.
All the above caused local antipathy towards the service and anger at the perceived waste of money (although it was funded through a Government grant and not through local taxation), and it was not able to generate the usage required to make it viable. The company took the decision on 25th October 2017 to suspend operation from the end of that day and the catamaran was quickly removed from Brixham to Ireland the day after to await its fate.