City hovercraft service lifts off

COMMUTERS and day trippers were met with stormy seas today as they became the first to board a new hovercraft service across the Forth.

Although tickets sales got off to a slow start - with just 40 passengers boarding the first craft from Kirkcaldy - some disgruntled passengers were turned away from later services because they were full.

The new service, called Forthfast, is on a two-week trial and has promised to cut commuters' travelling time between Edinburgh and Fife.

The 105ft-long vessel is being operated by Brian Souter's Stagecoach group and commuters are met by buses on each side of the Forth.

Stagecoach Scotland managing director Robert Andrew, who joined commuters for the bumpy 8am crossing from Kirkcaldy, said he was pleased the craft was being tested in rough seas.

He said: "The craft arrived last Tuesday and we have been testing it since then in what have been relatively calm waters.

"We were always hoping to get some choppier seas like this morning so we can show that it is a reliable service that can operate in all weathers."

He added: "There's been a talk of a ferry link for a long period of time and we take the view that the best way to see how well this will work is to test it out to see exactly what people think of it."

The first service left Kirkcaldy at 7.10am with just 40 passengers on board. The return journey attracted fewer still with just 15 buying a ticket for the 20-minute service.

However, passengers attempting to board the 10.30am service at Portobello were turned away as all 130 tickets were sold to those travelling on the link buses from the city centre and Ocean Terminal. The 10am service from Kirkcaldy was also sold out.

Celia Tearless, 52, from Corstorphine, tried to get aboard in Edinburgh with five friends but was disappointed.

She said: "It was just chaos down here, I would say at least 100 people have been turned away.

"We were told you can only buy tickets if you are on one of the special buses so we are away to get the train instead."

Stagecoach have now pledged to keep aside some tickets for passengers who do not use the bus to travel to the Hovercraft terminal.

One of the first on board was social worker Carol Leslie-Golden, 53, who travels every day between her Tranent home and the Victoria Hospital at Kirkcaldy.

"If I'm stuck in traffic it can take two hours or an hour-and-a-half by train which is frustrating when I can see right across the water from my home to Kirkcaldy.

"To be able to go straight across there in just 20 minutes is brilliant.

"I think it's a brilliant idea and a far far better way to get to work than before. I will be on this every day for the next two weeks and I really hope they continue it."

Among those waiting at the Portobello promenade this morning was Edinburgh East MP Gavin Strang.

He said: "This is an excellent idea to try and cut congestion and open up new ways of reaching Edinburgh but its success will all depend on how many people on the Fife side will travel to Kirkcaldy to catch the hovercraft."

The trial will continue until 28 July and its success will be analysed by experts at Napier University's Transport Research Institute (TRi).

They are assessing the service in an online survey and anyone wishing to participate can visit www.forth-hovercraft.s-and-w.org