Timetable for first buses across the Forth Road Bridge

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

34231

Title

Timetable for first buses across the Forth Road Bridge

Description

A paper timetable, printed in red ink, of the first bus servies of the Scottish Omnibuses Ltd and W. Alexander & Sons companies to cross the newly opened Forth Road Bridge. On the cover is a hand drawn image of the bridge from South Queensferry.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1964

Type

Document

Location

Queensferry Museum

The Forth Road Bridge was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 4th September 1964 after six years of construction. The bridge was built to respond to increasing volume of traffic in the region. Prior to the bridge, the nearest crossing was the Kincardine Bridge upstream, or a ferry service linking North and South Queensferry.

The ferry service which had carried passengers across the Firth of Forth for almost 8 centuries ceased operation the same day as the bridge was opened, and the next day saw the first public transport routes using the bridge to link Edinburgh with Fife and beyond.

By the 1990s increasing concerns about the structural wear and tear of the bridge led to the eventual agreement to begin construction, in September 2011, of a third bridge at Queensferry, named by public vote the Queensferry Crossing. This new road bridge is due to open in 2016.

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Related subjects

Places > Edinburgh areas > South Queensferry

Places > Edinburgh Landmarks > Forth Road Bridge

Places > Scotland > Edinburgh