The crossing is owned by two local authorities, Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council, and its operation is governed by the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee, constituted by elected councillors from the two authorities.

The ferry is operated in conjunction with the Tamar Bridge as a single business unit under powers derived from primary legislation – the Tamar Bridge Acts, and operation, maintenance and improvement of both crossings is funded solely from combined toll income. The three chain ferries provide service 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year and offer a 10 minute frequency at peak times. The Torpoint Ferry crossing is the busiest estuarial vehicular ferry crossing in the United Kingdom, and the three vessels together carry nearly two million vehicles per annum.

Until 1831 this was provided by traditional vessels powered by sail and oars, and subsequently steam, albeit somewhat intermittently and unpredictably due to a host of operational and reliability problems, mostly due to effects of wind and tide.

A major turning point came in 1831, when the crossing was transformed by one of the foremost civil engineers of the time, James Meadows Rendel, with the introduction of the first Torpoint chain ferry or ‘floating bridge’, using a self-propelled vessel using a pair of vertical chain wheels in the middle of the vessel to pull on fixed chains connected between the river banks and transport. This solution proved to be very efficient and reliable, and the same principles are retained to this day. The principle was developed in subsequent generations of Torpoint chain ferries, each generation impressively serving for approximately forty years, but still powered by steam until 1960.

The service was privately owned and operated until 1922, when Cornwall County Council acquired the enterprise using powers derived from the Ferries (Acquisition by Local Authorities) Act 1919, and since that time has been in public ownership. Subsequently the construction of the Tamar Bridge between 1959 and 1961 became the catalyst for the current joint ownership arrangements.

The fourth generation ferries were built in 1961 (Lynher and Tamar) and 1969 (Plym) and served with remarkable reliability. Under the direction of the previous manager, Mr. Roger Warren, the vessels were effectively reconstructed when they underwent major improvement and enlargement in 1986, when engines were replaced and hulls extended, providing a much needed 60% increase in capacity and a new lease of life. By 1997, however, the vessels were reaching the ends of their working lives, with ageing steelwork, and there were increasing concerns regarding capacity, reliability and safety.

Based on the same basic design, a range of three ferry sizes was considered, with nominal capacities of 60, 73 and 85 cars. In 2000, the consultant Atkins was appointed to undertake environmental impact assessments of the different ferry sizes, and use those assessments in a comprehensive public consultation process involving user questionnaires, exhibitions and public meetings. The public consultation process reinforced management views that the middle size offered a sensible balance between improved capacity and shorter journey time on the one hand and the effects of larger loads of disembarking vehicles affecting air quality and congestion on the local road network.

In July 2001, following the consultation process, the Joint Committee endorsed the preferred design for ferries with a nominal capacity of 73 cars, allowing detailed design to proceed. In July 2003, following detailed design and a European Union tendering exercise, the construction contract was awarded to Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd, using their facilities on the Clyde near Glasgow.

To minimise the effects of the transition to new ferries but at the same time facilitate the much needed refurbishment of the ferry slipways, the delivery programme was phased such that the first two new ferries would be delivered initially, and then after approximately six months following the completion of slipway improvement works, the third ferry would be delivered.