ForthRoad bridge

The Scottish Government will provide additional bus and rail services on public transport routes between Fife and Edinburgh to avoid congestion during the Forth Road Bridge closure.

The Forth Bridges Operating Company (Amey) closed the bridge for regular maintenance work.

Nearly 33 additional buses will be added to provide a 10min bus shuttle service from Halbeith Park and Ride to Inverkeithing rail station and Edinburgh.

Under an agreement with the Confederation of Passenger Transport, these additional buses by Stagecoach will provide an extra 11,000 seats.

A dedicated corridor for heavy goods vehicles and buses would operate on the A985.

Transport Scotland will also install traffic information signs to ensure proper traffic flow and to provide drivers with journey information on the diversion routes.

"Together, we will monitor how the plans are working and will respond to any incidents which do occur."

Transport minister Derek Mackay said: "A significant amount of work has been put in to deliver additional resources for commuters and businesses that need to travel and we have been able to add additional resources for public transport routes between Fife and Edinburgh.

"Police Scotland have been working with Transport Scotland to ensure that traffic management systems on the diversion routes are as robust as possible."

Scotrail will also operate additional rolling stock between Cowdenbeath and Haymarket that will put an additional 6,500 seats a day into operation when combined with existing services.

The new rail services are expected to increase passenger capacity by 40%.

"Together, we will monitor how the plans are working and will respond to any incidents which do occur. We do expect a certain amount of delays, but will continue to assess and adapt accordingly to help traffic keep moving," Mackay added.

Image: Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. Photo: courtesy of Euchiasmus via Wikipedia.