Page "Firth of Forth" Paragraph 12

In July 2007, a hovercraft passenger service completed a two week trial between Portobello, Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy, Fife.

The trial of the service ( marketed as " Forthfast ") was hailed as a major operational success, with an average passenger load of 85 %.

It was estimated the service could cut congestion for commuters on the Forth road and rail bridges by carrying about 870, 000 passengers a year.

However, the plans were shelved in December 2011 after councillors in Edinburgh decided they did not want the scheme to go ahead, much to the annoyance of councillors in Kirkcaldy and project backer, Brian Soutar.