Plans have been mooted for a hovercraft service to be introduced in Fife and Edinburgh, Scotland, with officials describing the development as “exciting”
A UK city could be on the brink of becoming only the second place in the world to operate a scheduled hovercraft service, in what officials are dubbing an “exciting” move.
The idea of launching a hovercraft route between Fife and Edinburgh’s ports has been floated for years, first popping up in 2007. An earlier attempt to link Kirkcaldy and Portobello Beach was scrapped in 2011 due to money worries, but locals have dusted off the plans and began a study into whether this space-age travel option could work for locals and tourists.
If it gets the green light, it wil be the second regular hovercraft service in both the UK and the world, joining the Isle of Wight’s connection with Southsea in Portsmouth, which started back in 1965.
But that service has hit choppy waters recently, with passenger numbers dropping since the COVID-19 outbreak and running costs going through the roof – casting a cloud over the future of its Scottish cousin.
Despite these hurdles, officials seem upbeat about bringing the project back from the dead.
A spokesperson highlighted Fife Council’s eagerness to “re-explore the possibility” of this hybrid transport method, which would glide on a cushion of pressurised air across the North Sea.
“We ran some workshops last week to review the evidence from the previous study and the pilot that was done in 2008/9, looking at what has changed since then,” they added.
“We’ll be discussing the findings and any potential plans at a future meeting of the area committee.”
The current travel time between Edingburgh and Fife is around 45 minutes to an hour via car.
Hovertravel, the brains behind the Isle of Wight’s iconic service, dropped the bombshell in December about reassessing its “timetable, staffing levels and rostering across all departments”.
The company previously spilled the beans that it’s been grappling with “significant challenges” after a drop in punters post-lockdown failed to pick up again, as per the Isle of Wight County Press.
Hovertravel’s nifty craft has been the go-to for a speedy hop to Portsmouth, smashing other ferry times by making the trip in just 10 minutes. But, there’s a catch – hovercrafts are pricier to operate than their rivals, guzzling fuel like nobody’s business, not to mention the dosh needed for fancy infrastructure and the fiddly mechanics demanding constant TLC.
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