Stagecoach Plc, the national and international bus and train operator, ran a twelve day trial accross the Firth of Forth using Hovertravel\'s BHT 130 craft, which was manned by Hovertravel crew.

The BHT 130 hovercraft, \"Solent Express\", completed the 512 mile positioning trip from its base on the Isle of Wight to the Firth of Forth, in just 13hrs 15mins, averaging 38.5 knots. Once established on the 9.5 nautical mile route, Kirkcaldy in Fife to Portabello near Edinburgh, the craft performed very well and carried over 32,000 passengers on 288 crossings. The weather was varied over the trial, but on the first day there were winds of force 6 to 7 from the East, blowing in directly off the North Sea. \"Solent Express\" coped admirably with the associated short steep seas, proving its capability to handle much greater seas than smaller hovercraft.

The trial was to investigate the feasibility of establishing a permanent hovercraft crossing to create a short cut from travelling the long way round the Forth road or rail bridges. Stagecoach announced the trail as a great success.

The return journey to the Isle of Wight was also made in one day, but with some adverse sea conditions. Long Northerly swells up to 3.5m high were experienced while passing Northumberland & Durham, but the hovercraft rode these well, arriving back on the Isle of Wight stortly after dark.

The trail ran from July 16th 2007.