What do you think about implementing ferries cross the Forth?
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I think the hovercraft is a great idea and I hope it continues. It just goes to show what an entrepreneur like Brian Souter can do. Lets hope the public sector gets behind it, as they do with bridges, road and rail. If the ferry needs a subsidy, then it should have one.
I wish this innovative idea well. It stems from Brian Souter’s truly competitive spirit and it is good to see Lothian Buses from the public sector becoming involved at this early stage.
I’m old enough to remember queuing for ages for the vehicle ferries beside the Forth Bridge, itself an example of private initiative.
However it is clear from the comments in today’s Scotsman (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1111862007) “We were surprised, given that it is a new form of transport and that it was a public holiday in Fife.” that there is a remarkable degree of naivety.
Obviously it will need year round commuters to make it ‘viable’ (seems to need large subsidy - not that that is/should be a problem. The road system is an enormous ‘hidden subsidy’) but there are also SIGNIFICANT tourism possibilities.
I’m told by Stagecoach’s PR person that the hovercraft will have “capacity for around a dozen bikes” - but this is not mentioned on the web site, AND people have been told that bikes WON’T be carried. I am assuming that this is someone confusing the hovercraft and the shuttle buses.
It’s a great idea and the numbers using it today (17/07/07) and yesterday show how universally popular the idea is. Some teething problems (long queues, etc) stemming from difficulties in predicting the popularity of the trial were to be expected and were handled well by the organisers and patiently by the users. Long wainting times today may have a knock on effect for the rest of the trial period.
More frequent services, particularly at commuter times, would seem essential and a clear policy on carriage of bikes (or provision of secure bike storage either end) is necessary. There is obviously a clear opportunity for cafe/ coffeee shop facilities at each terminal.
I went on the hovercraft for the first time this morning and was really impressed. The service is very fast - we went on the 7.10 service, my girlfriend caught the bus into the city centre and was in work before 8, and I hopped back on the hovercraft and then drove to work (in Aberdour) and was also in bang on 8am.
I think more car parking is needed, and also better ticketing facilities, but I’m sure these would be addressed in time if the service became permanent. A news-stand or shop would also be good addition.
My only gripe is on the price - I think the operators will need to reduce the peak pricing in order to entice people away from their cars and the rail service.
Travelled on the hovercraft on Monday and will do so again tomorrow. There’s obviously the novelty value at the moment, but I think there will still be a high demand after the novelty wears off as it is certainly a much quicker - and dare I say interesting - journey to Edinburgh. There’s obviously going to be teething problems which incredibly some folk I overheard were somewhat annoyed about. There’s definitely scope for a shop at either side and promotion of tourism in Fife. Well done to all involved.
I’ve used the hovercraft for three days this week and although the morning crossing at 8 am is great (with the bus stopping outside my office door I get to work by 830) but I am less than impressed with the return trips which never run to schedule (we were left waiting for over 30 minutes in the freezing cold at Portobello on Wednesday waiting on the 530 service). The reason seems to be that they decided to “scrap” the timetable and try and run as many crossing as possible. Although this is an admirable sentiment aimed at catering for the the tourists, it really leaves us commuters (who will be the service’s main regular clientelle) pretty naffed off! I have booked my return trips for next week and have been assured they will be sticking to the timetable so fingers crossed as I really want this service to work!!
Also, many psople seem to be unaware that they can buy an Edinburgh megarider ticket for £18 entitling you to 7 return trips to Edinburgh (either by ferry or bus)!! An amazing saving for us commuters - I am basically travelling for free now!!
I wish this service all the best, and really hope they can iron out all the teathing problems and it becomes a permanent route accross the Forth.
I think that this is a great idea and look forward to using it. Can anyone say whether bikes are allowed on the hovercraft (I am doubting it) or whether there are secure areas to store bikes at either end? Perhaps not viable for the trial but worth thinking of when service is (hopefully) implemented.
The survey is being conducted purely to obtain opinions from passengers. Below is a copy of my letter to the Fife Free Press.
In your article in the FFP of 20 July 2007 you finish by quoting A Stagecoach Group spokesman as saying “The hovercraft trial will help prove whether there are enough people, day after day, wishing, to travel by waterborne transport, and noise and comfort studies being carried out during the trial will inform the study.”
Obviously this trial will not provide useable information on the viability of a daily service throughout the year. As anyone with a minimal understanding of statistics can see the sample is in no way representative of ‘normal’ usage considering the number of “jolly holidaymakers” who queued last week. The editorial gave some insight and also provided amusement from the use of the expression “skewered data”. (Rather than skewed) Are we going to get data kebabs?
The real question from people living in the vicinity of the bus depot is, will there be studies of “noise and comfort” of those sitting in their gardens. Clearly the noise would be unbearable on a daily basis.
One of the founders of Stagecoach went to court to protect her peace and privacy around her property. Will we have to go to court to stop Stagecoach making that awful noise and disturbing our peace? In similar situations around airports residents are provided with triple-glazing so that they at least get some peace inside their homes. Who is going to pay for that if the hovercraft service goes ahead?
It is time to declare this whole thing dead ‘on’ the water!
In response to Cycle-communter, Happy to say that they do allow bikes (and pushchairs) on the ferry, there are large lockers on the outside that the staff store bikes etc. in and I have seen several cyclist using them!!
Arrived @ Portobello at 1pm having paid £4.50 for the bus and the hovercraft to Fife only to learn we would not get on the hovercraft until 3.30pm as there was a backlog. AND there was NO guarentee we would get back from Kirkcaldy as the hovercraft was fully booked and the last sailing was @ 6pm. Why did the driver of the bus from the city not make an announcement instead of taking our money only for us to find out later there was a 2.1/2 hour delay and no guarentee we would get back on the hovercraft to Portobello?
Needless to say we did not get the hovercraft - who is going to wait 2.1/2 hours with no guarentee of a return service??
We were lucky that it was a beautiful sunny day as there is no place to shelter should it rain.
AND there are NO REFUNDS.
TALK ABOUT A RIP OFF..
This excellent idea would appear to be a victim of it’s own success.
Better planning would have made all the difference.
I am told that the Saturday crossings are all fully booked.
You have been warned.
Really great, innovative idea. Used it (for leisure purposes) 23 July.
To be viable once the initial novelty value wears off, it has to be competive on (a) price, and (b) journey time. Point (a) means the cost has to be in line with bus/train fares. Point (b) means it’s important for the 20 minute crossing time not to be undone by poor onward connections or prolonged queuing to get on the vessel. Convenient and customer friendly advance booking facilities should be regarded as part of the key infrastructure investment if a regular service gets the go-ahead.
…I agree with most comments…having travelled to edinburgh for years it is paramount that when you are working, you are able to get on the hovercraft at the specified time and have the connections available..as not everyone works on ‘flex-time’…..however having been given the dedicated mobile number to book the service, I tried continually on the friday the 20th…still to no avail… went down to try the 10am service on the 21st, the queue being massive..and was informed that I would be lucky to get on the 2pm service….having a toddler with me..its just not practicle to wait for hours…went home by bus…and on the monday tried to contact the number again, to book for this friday…being informed by the line provider that the phone is switched off!! Called stagecoach to be told that you can only contact the mobile number to book service…told them that the number not contactable!!!….sorry …but lost the will to live…I am sure that if the trial goes ahead that the above problems would be rectified…however it will probably be a good few years/months if introduced…..
i was on the hovercraft last saturday and this whole concept of crossing over is brilliant. as this is only trials the public have to expect a few problems, it would be a bit nieve to try and run it 100% problem free i admire brian souter for having the balls and going ahead and trying this and would love to see this go commercial.
To Suffering local resident.
I also live in vicinity of hovercraft and although there is noise it is no worse than other noises ie boy racers. As a daily commuter I have found it not without teething problems(most have been ironed out as trial continues) and other benefit staying so close I would question the need of having a car(which currently sits at train station all day) Nights out in Leith area and all fine restaurants become more accessible can be there in 30 minutes without driving as opposed to with train and bus 1 hour and still taxi to train station. Why don’t you look at benefits as opposed to one negative,noise.
I’m a Portobello resident (have been for most of my life) and I think this is a great idea.
I used the ferry on Satruday with my kids and the staff were helpful & friendly. The level of information given was good and our options over a wait in Kirkcaldy or a bus to come back were well explained. Thanks to Stagecoach and Lothian staff.
This link can only help Portobello & Kirkcaldy. Yes, there is some noise but less irritating than the jet-skis.
I’ve lived here long enough to remember the dirty beach (I still don’t go in the water!) and the only wildlife were manky seagulls that looked more like station pigeons than sea-birds. Let’s not have this romantic notion about an unspoilt landscape.
The North-West corner of Portobello has nothing there but a bus depot and car show-rooms. More people coming to my town, better buses and a quick link to Fife. It isn’t hard to see the advatages outweight the disadvantages. More footfall for shops and cafes. A chance for Kirkcaldy to redevelop.
Please, let’s move forward. Keep the ferry in Portobello.
Even though it’s mostly been used by day-trippers & less by the commuters it’s aimed at, I think the past two weeks have shown there is a demand for a Forth crossing, such as this.
The hovercraft has worked well. Whether it is finanicially viable & what frequency of crossings would be required, is a different question & hopefully one Stagecoach will be able to answer with facts & quickly. & hopefully the various councils & executives on either side of the Forth will be bold & throw their full support behind a long term service. How about a big RBS logo sponsorship on the side of the hovercraft!
Kirkcaldy itself would do so well, with a link like this to the capital. And towns further up the coast like Leven, would also be enhanced.
Kirkcaldy could become a great commuter town. In fact, you could buy one of the excellent Abbotshall Homes houses on the Seafield estate & have a 10 minute walk to the hovercraft every day!
Going in to Leith would still be the preferred route, to match up with the new tram system & make use of Ocean Terminal shopping.
Well done to all those involved.
I have sent TWO e-mails to Stagecoach with some constructive comments regarding the hovercraft.
Guess what - they have not had the decency to reply, after all they are receiving £300,000 from the Scottish Exec.
Having arranged to go to Kirkcaldy from my home in barrhead,9 miles to the south of Glasgow, to make return journey,i would state that i was not in the least worried by the 2 hour wait at each side.
As for the comment that there could not be constructive owing to “jolly holidaymakers” is nonsense as there were boxes for aditional comments.
The said boxes were put to use more than once by myself, as a transport enthusiast mainly buses, i felt it only right that the evaluation team were aware that i was not necesarily going to be a regular user.
All in i was really impressed with the handling of travelling public on both sides of the forth,and would hope that service does eventually go ahead.
I sincerely hope that the Hovercraft link does not go ahead.
Has anyone thought of the negative impact it will have on all of Portobello, not just a few streets? There’ll be cars parked everywhere, and Portobello High Street doesn’t need any more traffic.
Also, the noise from the hovercrafts is unbearable, and it’s planned to start at 6 am and finish at 9 pm. Well, the good news is that only 6% of the people that used it during the trial were doing so as commuters. I can’t see how the link can survive without a much higher proportion of commuters.
This hovercraft link had better go ahead as I can afford a house in fife and not edinburgh and dont want to get stuck in the traffic when I work 5 minutes walk from Portie beach. I am moving in a month so if you fancied saving me a hellish car journey into and then through Edinburgh that would be much appreciated. Please note i am not even considering trains as they are far too expensive it would take me a lot longer than a car.
Like above I can’t afford to move to Edinburgh and so I actually drive everyday from Perth. At the moment bus, train and park and rides etc. don’t offer the times I need and are too expensive.
There is nothing that actually works out quicker and cheaper than me jumping in my car and driving door to door at times that suit me.
Hopefully the hovercraft goes ahead but gets a good price sorted for regular users as I don’t mind paying a little more than I am at the moment as long as it is quick, good times and hassle free.
Hope it works out as there is a real opportunity for it to succeed!
It’s a great idea to introduce a ferry service from FIFE to Edinburgh. Not only will it open up a quick alternative to driving each day to Edinburgh but it’ll mean greater access for tourists wishing to explore areas outside of Edinburgh city. I hope this initiative gets up and running soon!
Working for a company who will soon be relocating to Leith Docks and living in Fife this is an ideal mode of transport. Instead of over an hour on the Train and countless buses (or the alternative traffic hampered drive-in) a simple 20 minute hovercraft journey would make life so much easier.
It would also make weekend trips with the family to Edinburgh much more likely.
This is a great post and makes me think of where I can fit in. I do a little bit of everything mentioned here and I guess I have to find my competitive advantage.
This is a great post and makes me think of where I can fit in. I do a little bit of everything mentioned here and I guess I have to find my competitive advantage.
July 16th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I think the hovercraft is a great idea and I hope it continues. It just goes to show what an entrepreneur like Brian Souter can do. Lets hope the public sector gets behind it, as they do with bridges, road and rail. If the ferry needs a subsidy, then it should have one.
July 16th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
I wish this innovative idea well. It stems from Brian Souter’s truly competitive spirit and it is good to see Lothian Buses from the public sector becoming involved at this early stage.
I’m old enough to remember queuing for ages for the vehicle ferries beside the Forth Bridge, itself an example of private initiative.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Great idea, hope it works out. The Forth is a completely under used resource, stop fighting the water and use it!
Brian Souter is the sort of entrepreneur we need to see more of in the region.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Great idea.
However it is clear from the comments in today’s Scotsman (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1111862007) “We were surprised, given that it is a new form of transport and that it was a public holiday in Fife.” that there is a remarkable degree of naivety.
Obviously it will need year round commuters to make it ‘viable’ (seems to need large subsidy - not that that is/should be a problem. The road system is an enormous ‘hidden subsidy’) but there are also SIGNIFICANT tourism possibilities.
I’m told by Stagecoach’s PR person that the hovercraft will have “capacity for around a dozen bikes” - but this is not mentioned on the web site, AND people have been told that bikes WON’T be carried. I am assuming that this is someone confusing the hovercraft and the shuttle buses.
http://cyclingedinburgh.info/2007/07/16/flying-to-fife
July 17th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
It’s a great idea and the numbers using it today (17/07/07) and yesterday show how universally popular the idea is. Some teething problems (long queues, etc) stemming from difficulties in predicting the popularity of the trial were to be expected and were handled well by the organisers and patiently by the users. Long wainting times today may have a knock on effect for the rest of the trial period.
More frequent services, particularly at commuter times, would seem essential and a clear policy on carriage of bikes (or provision of secure bike storage either end) is necessary. There is obviously a clear opportunity for cafe/ coffeee shop facilities at each terminal.
Stick with it, it was great.
July 18th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I went on the hovercraft for the first time this morning and was really impressed. The service is very fast - we went on the 7.10 service, my girlfriend caught the bus into the city centre and was in work before 8, and I hopped back on the hovercraft and then drove to work (in Aberdour) and was also in bang on 8am.
I think more car parking is needed, and also better ticketing facilities, but I’m sure these would be addressed in time if the service became permanent. A news-stand or shop would also be good addition.
My only gripe is on the price - I think the operators will need to reduce the peak pricing in order to entice people away from their cars and the rail service.
Fantastic service, and long overdue.
July 18th, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Travelled on the hovercraft on Monday and will do so again tomorrow. There’s obviously the novelty value at the moment, but I think there will still be a high demand after the novelty wears off as it is certainly a much quicker - and dare I say interesting - journey to Edinburgh. There’s obviously going to be teething problems which incredibly some folk I overheard were somewhat annoyed about. There’s definitely scope for a shop at either side and promotion of tourism in Fife. Well done to all involved.
July 20th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
I’ve used the hovercraft for three days this week and although the morning crossing at 8 am is great (with the bus stopping outside my office door I get to work by 830) but I am less than impressed with the return trips which never run to schedule (we were left waiting for over 30 minutes in the freezing cold at Portobello on Wednesday waiting on the 530 service). The reason seems to be that they decided to “scrap” the timetable and try and run as many crossing as possible. Although this is an admirable sentiment aimed at catering for the the tourists, it really leaves us commuters (who will be the service’s main regular clientelle) pretty naffed off! I have booked my return trips for next week and have been assured they will be sticking to the timetable so fingers crossed as I really want this service to work!!
Also, many psople seem to be unaware that they can buy an Edinburgh megarider ticket for £18 entitling you to 7 return trips to Edinburgh (either by ferry or bus)!! An amazing saving for us commuters - I am basically travelling for free now!!
I wish this service all the best, and really hope they can iron out all the teathing problems and it becomes a permanent route accross the Forth.
July 22nd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
I think that this is a great idea and look forward to using it. Can anyone say whether bikes are allowed on the hovercraft (I am doubting it) or whether there are secure areas to store bikes at either end? Perhaps not viable for the trial but worth thinking of when service is (hopefully) implemented.
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:40 pm
The survey is being conducted purely to obtain opinions from passengers. Below is a copy of my letter to the Fife Free Press.
In your article in the FFP of 20 July 2007 you finish by quoting A Stagecoach Group spokesman as saying “The hovercraft trial will help prove whether there are enough people, day after day, wishing, to travel by waterborne transport, and noise and comfort studies being carried out during the trial will inform the study.”
Obviously this trial will not provide useable information on the viability of a daily service throughout the year. As anyone with a minimal understanding of statistics can see the sample is in no way representative of ‘normal’ usage considering the number of “jolly holidaymakers” who queued last week. The editorial gave some insight and also provided amusement from the use of the expression “skewered data”. (Rather than skewed) Are we going to get data kebabs?
The real question from people living in the vicinity of the bus depot is, will there be studies of “noise and comfort” of those sitting in their gardens. Clearly the noise would be unbearable on a daily basis.
One of the founders of Stagecoach went to court to protect her peace and privacy around her property. Will we have to go to court to stop Stagecoach making that awful noise and disturbing our peace? In similar situations around airports residents are provided with triple-glazing so that they at least get some peace inside their homes. Who is going to pay for that if the hovercraft service goes ahead?
It is time to declare this whole thing dead ‘on’ the water!
Yours etc.,
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:22 am
In response to Cycle-communter, Happy to say that they do allow bikes (and pushchairs) on the ferry, there are large lockers on the outside that the staff store bikes etc. in and I have seen several cyclist using them!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Arrived @ Portobello at 1pm having paid £4.50 for the bus and the hovercraft to Fife only to learn we would not get on the hovercraft until 3.30pm as there was a backlog. AND there was NO guarentee we would get back from Kirkcaldy as the hovercraft was fully booked and the last sailing was @ 6pm. Why did the driver of the bus from the city not make an announcement instead of taking our money only for us to find out later there was a 2.1/2 hour delay and no guarentee we would get back on the hovercraft to Portobello?
Needless to say we did not get the hovercraft - who is going to wait 2.1/2 hours with no guarentee of a return service??
We were lucky that it was a beautiful sunny day as there is no place to shelter should it rain.
AND there are NO REFUNDS.
TALK ABOUT A RIP OFF..
This excellent idea would appear to be a victim of it’s own success.
Better planning would have made all the difference.
I am told that the Saturday crossings are all fully booked.
You have been warned.
July 24th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Really great, innovative idea. Used it (for leisure purposes) 23 July.
To be viable once the initial novelty value wears off, it has to be competive on (a) price, and (b) journey time. Point (a) means the cost has to be in line with bus/train fares. Point (b) means it’s important for the 20 minute crossing time not to be undone by poor onward connections or prolonged queuing to get on the vessel. Convenient and customer friendly advance booking facilities should be regarded as part of the key infrastructure investment if a regular service gets the go-ahead.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:38 am
…I agree with most comments…having travelled to edinburgh for years it is paramount that when you are working, you are able to get on the hovercraft at the specified time and have the connections available..as not everyone works on ‘flex-time’…..however having been given the dedicated mobile number to book the service, I tried continually on the friday the 20th…still to no avail… went down to try the 10am service on the 21st, the queue being massive..and was informed that I would be lucky to get on the 2pm service….having a toddler with me..its just not practicle to wait for hours…went home by bus…and on the monday tried to contact the number again, to book for this friday…being informed by the line provider that the phone is switched off!! Called stagecoach to be told that you can only contact the mobile number to book service…told them that the number not contactable!!!….sorry …but lost the will to live…I am sure that if the trial goes ahead that the above problems would be rectified…however it will probably be a good few years/months if introduced…..
July 25th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
i was on the hovercraft last saturday and this whole concept of crossing over is brilliant. as this is only trials the public have to expect a few problems, it would be a bit nieve to try and run it 100% problem free i admire brian souter for having the balls and going ahead and trying this and would love to see this go commercial.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
To Suffering local resident.
I also live in vicinity of hovercraft and although there is noise it is no worse than other noises ie boy racers. As a daily commuter I have found it not without teething problems(most have been ironed out as trial continues) and other benefit staying so close I would question the need of having a car(which currently sits at train station all day) Nights out in Leith area and all fine restaurants become more accessible can be there in 30 minutes without driving as opposed to with train and bus 1 hour and still taxi to train station. Why don’t you look at benefits as opposed to one negative,noise.
July 26th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I’m a Portobello resident (have been for most of my life) and I think this is a great idea.
I used the ferry on Satruday with my kids and the staff were helpful & friendly. The level of information given was good and our options over a wait in Kirkcaldy or a bus to come back were well explained. Thanks to Stagecoach and Lothian staff.
This link can only help Portobello & Kirkcaldy. Yes, there is some noise but less irritating than the jet-skis.
I’ve lived here long enough to remember the dirty beach (I still don’t go in the water!) and the only wildlife were manky seagulls that looked more like station pigeons than sea-birds. Let’s not have this romantic notion about an unspoilt landscape.
The North-West corner of Portobello has nothing there but a bus depot and car show-rooms. More people coming to my town, better buses and a quick link to Fife. It isn’t hard to see the advatages outweight the disadvantages. More footfall for shops and cafes. A chance for Kirkcaldy to redevelop.
Please, let’s move forward. Keep the ferry in Portobello.
July 27th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Even though it’s mostly been used by day-trippers & less by the commuters it’s aimed at, I think the past two weeks have shown there is a demand for a Forth crossing, such as this.
The hovercraft has worked well. Whether it is finanicially viable & what frequency of crossings would be required, is a different question & hopefully one Stagecoach will be able to answer with facts & quickly. & hopefully the various councils & executives on either side of the Forth will be bold & throw their full support behind a long term service. How about a big RBS logo sponsorship on the side of the hovercraft!
Kirkcaldy itself would do so well, with a link like this to the capital. And towns further up the coast like Leven, would also be enhanced.
Kirkcaldy could become a great commuter town. In fact, you could buy one of the excellent Abbotshall Homes houses on the Seafield estate & have a 10 minute walk to the hovercraft every day!
Going in to Leith would still be the preferred route, to match up with the new tram system & make use of Ocean Terminal shopping.
Well done to all those involved.
July 27th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
I have sent TWO e-mails to Stagecoach with some constructive comments regarding the hovercraft.
Guess what - they have not had the decency to reply, after all they are receiving £300,000 from the Scottish Exec.
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Having arranged to go to Kirkcaldy from my home in barrhead,9 miles to the south of Glasgow, to make return journey,i would state that i was not in the least worried by the 2 hour wait at each side.
As for the comment that there could not be constructive owing to “jolly holidaymakers” is nonsense as there were boxes for aditional comments.
The said boxes were put to use more than once by myself, as a transport enthusiast mainly buses, i felt it only right that the evaluation team were aware that i was not necesarily going to be a regular user.
All in i was really impressed with the handling of travelling public on both sides of the forth,and would hope that service does eventually go ahead.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Considering the public money that was spent on this trial, will the results of the survey me made available to the public?
August 13th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
… in general it’s not a bad idea, however, i don’t think portobello is the right place.
portobello is a residential area and it is very peaceful. it’s not really peaceful with the hovercraft which is simply too noisy.
surely, a decent landing site has to be found.
thanks
August 28th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
I sincerely hope that the Hovercraft link does not go ahead.
Has anyone thought of the negative impact it will have on all of Portobello, not just a few streets? There’ll be cars parked everywhere, and Portobello High Street doesn’t need any more traffic.
Also, the noise from the hovercrafts is unbearable, and it’s planned to start at 6 am and finish at 9 pm. Well, the good news is that only 6% of the people that used it during the trial were doing so as commuters. I can’t see how the link can survive without a much higher proportion of commuters.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:04 am
This hovercraft link had better go ahead as I can afford a house in fife and not edinburgh and dont want to get stuck in the traffic when I work 5 minutes walk from Portie beach. I am moving in a month so if you fancied saving me a hellish car journey into and then through Edinburgh that would be much appreciated. Please note i am not even considering trains as they are far too expensive it would take me a lot longer than a car.
November 28th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Like above I can’t afford to move to Edinburgh and so I actually drive everyday from Perth. At the moment bus, train and park and rides etc. don’t offer the times I need and are too expensive.
There is nothing that actually works out quicker and cheaper than me jumping in my car and driving door to door at times that suit me.
Hopefully the hovercraft goes ahead but gets a good price sorted for regular users as I don’t mind paying a little more than I am at the moment as long as it is quick, good times and hassle free.
Hope it works out as there is a real opportunity for it to succeed!
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 am
It’s a great idea to introduce a ferry service from FIFE to Edinburgh. Not only will it open up a quick alternative to driving each day to Edinburgh but it’ll mean greater access for tourists wishing to explore areas outside of Edinburgh city. I hope this initiative gets up and running soon!
December 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Is this going to happen?
Bob Blair-Watt 7th December 2008
March 4th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Working for a company who will soon be relocating to Leith Docks and living in Fife this is an ideal mode of transport. Instead of over an hour on the Train and countless buses (or the alternative traffic hampered drive-in) a simple 20 minute hovercraft journey would make life so much easier.
It would also make weekend trips with the family to Edinburgh much more likely.
Cound me in from day one, the sooner the better!
June 25th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
This is a great post and makes me think of where I can fit in. I do a little bit of everything mentioned here and I guess I have to find my competitive advantage.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:21 am
This is a great post and makes me think of where I can fit in. I do a little bit of everything mentioned here and I guess I have to find my competitive advantage.