Article at: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotlan ... 1091572007'No business case' for hovercraft
CONSULTANTS have found the viability of a cross-Forth hovercraft is "pretty hopeless", The Scotsman has learned, as a trial service makes its first passenger run today.
Feasibility work commissioned by Fife Council has shown that "no business case would stack up", it is understood.
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The news comes as Stagecoach chief executive Brian Souter hosts the launch of a two-week hovercraft trial
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The ongoing £750,000 study...
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However, Stagecoach said it had opted for a hovercraft trial because efforts to launch a ferry between Burntisland and Granton had been hampered by Forth Ports, which owns both ports.
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No, it is. Why waste money on a talking shop when somebody is out just doing it off their own back? £3/4M would probably buy your vessel... What makes Edinburgh any different to many cities based on a water front, which have many ferry services linking them? (For starters consider Auckland)Porty wrote:Thats a bit disappointing but not really surprising.
You've lost me. I must be misunderstanding something?wangi wrote:No, it is. Why waste money on a talking shop when somebody is out just doing it off their own back? £3/4M would probably buy your vessel... What makes Edinburgh any different to many cities based on a water front, which have many ferry services linking them? (For starters consider Auckland)Porty wrote:Thats a bit disappointing but not really surprising.
The Firth isn't a barrier, it should be looked at as a transport corridor.
Health and safety may have something to say about that. Not to mention the delay caused by the the shuttle buses having to make their way out to the Airport from Marine Garage. Why are you so against this idea?Puerto bella wrote:Saw the Hovercraft in action today and it was very exciting and quite an impressive sight. I do hope it takes off.
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16,000 passengers catch Forthfast hovercraft in first week of trial
23/07/2007
More than 16,000 passengers used Stagecoach's popular cross-Forth hovercraft in the first week of the trial operation, according to figures released today (23 July 2007).
- Commuter volumes more than double as priority booking service takes off
Busy second week expected with closure of Forth Bridge to rail services
Advance bookings now being accepted for all journeys on final day of trial
Future potential of cross-Forth public transport link "extremely positive"
The number of commuters using the Forthfast service has also doubled following the introduction of a special priority booking hotline and numbers are expected to rise with the start of the closure of the Forth Bridge to rail services.
Stagecoach reported today that 16,116 passengers travelled on the Kirkcaldy to Portobello hovercraft link between Monday 16 July and Saturday 21 July on a total of 148 trips.
Most trips on the 130-passenger hovercraft have been full and the craft has made the crossing in an average of less than 18 minutes – two minutes faster than its scheduled journey time.
Advance commuter bookings this week have been strong and more than 100 journeys were booked in the first two hours of the 0797 689 1529 commuter priority hotline being open today.
Stagecoach also announced today that advance bookings are now being accepted on the hotline for all journeys on the final day of the trial, Saturday 28 July, to manage the expected rush to experience the hovercraft.
Robert Andrew, Regional Managing Director of Stagecoach Scotland, said: "We have been absolutely delighted with the popularity of Forthfast in the first week of the trial and we are expecting another busy week with the closure of the Forth Bridge to rail services.
"Our new priority booking hotline for commuters has been working well and the number of people using the hovercraft to get to work, which is a key market for the service, has more than doubled from the first week of operation.
"We have also been very impressed with the performance of the craft and the early signs about the future potential of a cross-Forth public transport link have been extremely positive."
Passengers using the first two services of the day from both Kirkcaldy and Portobello and making their return journey from 3.30pm or later will be able to pre-book seats by calling 0797 689 1529. Bookings can be made for day return trips or weekly travel.
The priority booking line will operate Monday to Friday from 9am to 4pm. To ensure the system operates fairly and effectively, any passengers that book a week’s travel in advance and fail to turn up for a journey will invalidate their bookings for the remainder of the week.
Stagecoach is undertaking a £300,000 two-week trial, part-funded by SEStran (the South East of Scotland Transport Partnership). It runs until Saturday 28 July – excluding Sunday 22 July - offering a fast 20-minute crossing time using a 28-metre BHT130 hovercraft, incorporating the latest diesel engine technology .
A total of 22 services a day – 11 in each direction - operate on the route, with convenient peak-time services and integrated bus links to accommodate commuters looking to avoid congestion on the Forth Road Bridge.
Stagecoach estimates that running a two-craft operation would cost around £2million a year. Around 9,000 passengers a week - and up to 470,000 passengers a year – are estimated would use the service. While the service would require initial public investment, Stagecoach believes that within a few years passenger volumes could grow to make it commercially sustainable.
ENDS
Retail boost from hovercraft
KIRKCALDY retailers are feeling a financial boost as thousands of travellers using the Forth crossing hovercraft spend cash in the town.
Large increases in customer numbers and higher than usual takings have been reported by shops and eateries across the town.
A spokesman for BBs Coffee and Muffins, in the Mercat, said: "It has definitely been good for us. There have been a lot of customers who tell us they have been on the hovercraft, coming from the other side of the water.
"It's great for business. Get another three of them I say."
Shops and businesses along the Prom have also reported an increase in shoppers, attributing this to the hovercraft crossing as well as the school summer holidays.
A spokesman for Dunelm Mill said a positive difference in trade had been noted.
Visitor attractions throughout Kirkcaldy have also been affected by incoming passengers who entertain themselves before returning to the capital.
Town centre manager Sunil Varu said: "We've had about 16,000 people coming back and forward in the space of a week and they spend at least an hour, if not more, in the town.
"They've been going up to the museum and around the shops, which can only be good for the town. Some of these people have had no reason to come across to Kirkcaldy before. I think television and radio coverage of the hovercraft crossing is also good for Kirkcaldy."
Retailers did express concern that perhaps not all visitors realised how close the town centre was to the Seafield hovercraft arrival point.
It was hoped that if the craft became permanent, such information would be advertised.
This hovercraft normally uses a lift and here they use a step machine, but those are time and labour intensive, so for smooth speedy commuting only a ramp would allow the numbers on without delays and the extra manpower and interior parking. With such radical projects, it is only the unwillingness of some to accept change that often holds us back. The ambitious plan to operate a hovercraft service between Portobello and Fife is another classic example.
While it had novelty value during the recent two week trial, there was little dissent. But now that operators Stagecoach are more bullish about running a permanent service, there are already signs of Nimbysm creeping in, with suggestions a terminal on Portobello seafront is unwelcome.
This from a resort which has been desperately crying out for reinvestment on its shoreline as it seeks to re-establish itself as a leisure destination. With an estimated 470,000 a year passengers using the service, it is perhaps time that it re-examined its priorities.
It was bad enough in the two weeks it was here. My daughter walks to work in the D&C Home via the Prom and for the whole time the hovercraft was here they shut off both the Promenade and the Beach from the point of boarding forcing her (and other pedestrians/dog walkers) to walk along the top road.tom nimmo wrote: To accommodate the hovercraft permanently we would lose a huge part of the prom from Kings Road.
