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Monday, 23 July 2007, 17:16 GMT 18:16 UK

Thousands use hovercraft service

Forth hovercraft More than 16,000 people used a new hovercraft service in the Forth estuary in its first week, operators have revealed.

Commuter numbers also doubled after the introduction of a priority booking line on the route between Kirkcaldy in Fife and Portobello in Edinburgh.

Transport firm Stagecoach is expecting more passengers this week after the closure of the Forth Rail Bridge.

The 92ft-long BHT130 hovercraft can carry up to 130 passengers.

It is being used during a £300,000 two-week trial which ends on Saturday.

The company had originally planned to run 22 services a day, with prices starting at £4.50 for an off-peak return ticket.

'Extremely positive'

Stagecoach announced that 16,116 passengers travelled on 148 trips, averaging less than 18 minutes each, on the route between Monday and Saturday last week.

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."



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Related to this story:
Not a bother commuting by hover (16 Jul 07 |  Scotland )
Hovercraft lift-off for the Forth (13 Jul 07 |  Edinburgh and East )
Forth hovercraft trial to begin (19 Jun 07 |  Edinburgh and East )
Forth hovercraft trials to start (01 Mar 07 |  Edinburgh and East )
Hovercraft to transport commuters (12 Sep 06 |  Edinburgh and East )

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