Press release -
Our April Fool - The Fourth Forth Bridge
VisitScotland and Network Rail have collaborated to launch the blueprint for a new rail bridge over the Firth of Forth.
The announcement today comes after a new survey revealed a significant rise in rail travel by visitors to Scotland, leading to a strain on capacity on key tourist journeys including the Forth Bridge.
Named the Fourth Bridge, the new structure was designed by Scottish architect Ailsa Polyford and work will begin on the project in the summer of 2018.
The Bridge will have three distinct arches each 110m tall – the same height as the current Forth Bridge and track level will be the same height but each of the four masonry towers will be bigger – about 70m in height.
The ambitious project - which is the equivalent of building three Sydney Harbour Bridges back to back - will cost around £1,420,160,000
The bridge is the first major infrastructure project that VisitScotland has funded, but the recent launch of the Spirit of Scotland pass and other tourism initiatives has revealed the urgent need for extra capacity for visitors.
Over 42 million passengers travel on ScotRail trains for leisure trips every year. The extra rail bridge will allow for double the capacity of trains crossing the Firth of Forth every day from 200 to 400 trains a day.
The Fourth Bridge will bear the majority of the daily train crossings, leaving the original Forth Bridge free to accommodate special steam train rides, bridge climbs and themed excursions available throughout the year. Visitors will be able to purchase a special round-trip ride over both bridges, to admire the Forth Bridge from the adjacent bridge.
The launch of blueprint is a key milestone for the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design – celebrating Scotland as a pioneering nation
Josh Atikies, Director of Crossings at VisitScotland, said:
“We are delighted to help unveil these exciting designs for the Fourth Forth Bridge. The new structure will be a fantastic asset for Scottish tourism, allowing more rail passengers than ever before to explore the country. I’m sure that, like its world-famous Victorian neighbour, it will become a global icon of Scottish engineering, something which is especially apt in the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.”
Ian Heigh, a senior project manager for Network Rail developing the visitor centre proposals said:
“The Fourth Forth Bridge design is fairly well scoped out. It is a hugely ambitious design, the equivalent of building three Sydney Harbour Bridges back to back. The arches are designed to be almost as tall as the existing structure (110m) but the track level is unaltered. The four masonry towers are colossal, reaching about 70m in height.
“The alignment of the bridge is just to the east of the existing Forth Bridge, meaning that the railway would have to deviate through some historic parts of Dalmeny and North Queensferry. Ultimately a new rail bridge could add capacity on this section of the route and create more paths for special trains.”
The Fourth Bridge will be included as an artist impression in all VisitScotland advertising from 2016 as part of the Spirit of Scotland campaign and visitors are asked to share their thoughts on the Fourth Bridge using the hashtag #ScotSpirit
STOP PRESS: Time to come clean! This was an April Fool...built on truth! Scotland's not really getting a Fourth Forth Bridge, but there was in fact some truth behind the story - find out more here
Topics
- Tourism
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP.
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business events in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design 2016 - 2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design begins on 1 January 2016 and ends on 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the current 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed creative industries sector.
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).
- The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- Join the conversation at #IAD2016
- Events can join the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design Partner Programme throughout the year by visiting http://www.eventscotland.org/YIAD_partner_programme
