Plans for a hovercraft cross-Forth service have been given a lift after European funding was secured.
Stagecoach hopes to have a passenger service between Kirkcaldy and Portobello running within the next few years. This follows a trial in the summer of 2007 which saw more than 32,000 passengers make the crossing in the space of a fortnight.
The project is one of three to benefit from a total of £902,000 awarded over three years, aimed at stimulating inter-regional co-operation.
I missed my trip because the craft was full the afternoon I rolled up to have a hurl over one of the most picturesque rivers in Scotland. When I spoke to one of the staff, I was told many of the users were tourists or local people who, like myself, didn't want to miss out on the experience.
Stagecoach continue to progress the planning applications with Fife Council and the City of Edinburgh Council and decisions are expected later this year.
It now looks as if I will get wish to whizz across to Portobello, have an ice cream, then return to the shores of Fife. I wonder if Gordon Brown will have a go. He just lives a few miles down the road from where the new terminal will be situated.
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As it is part funded by the EU, I will refuse to use it as a point of principle!
I wonder if Gordon Brown will have a go.
I hope somebody pushes him over the side if he does.
Perhaps he could be cemented into the foundations. But would this guarantee a disaater?
Antisthenes, they'd have to push bloody hard. Due to the speeds of hovercrafts, they're normally sealed cabins, unlike on most ferries.
Like Subrosa, I missed out on taking a ride on the hovercraft. I look forward to taking a jaunt down to Portobello and on to Fife in the near future, although I do question the long term sustainability of the hovercraft compared to the buses and trains.
Not me Rab. I like to get my money's worth!
Oh Antisthenes, what a thought. He'd need a craft to himself if the amount of security he presently has comes with him.
That could, indeed quite possibly, spell disaster Demetrius.
I think it will be fine for a small number who live in Fife and work Portobello/Joppa/Musselburgh way Hythlodaeus, but I can see it doing a roaring trade in day trippers.
Scottish Media: "Altogether now, Brian Soutar is a donor to the SNP. It's a fix, etc, etc."
William, I was waiting for someone to mention exactly that. Congratulations.:)
If it is so popular that people are already missing out because it is full, why does it need EU funding and is that legal anyway?
The trial was only for a couple of weeks banned and the timings and numbers had to be limited to the temporary jetty restrictions.
I should think it's legal receiving EU money for this. The report details the EU regulation which it would seem Stagecoach have met.
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