Queensferry Passage – History of the Forth Ferries 1934–1964.
Car Ferries that operated on the River Forth.
This website documents the history of the Queensferry Passage and the four car ferries that operated between North Queensferry and South Queensferry from 1934 until the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964.
The ferries were making 40,000 trips a year and carrying 900,000 vehicles. It was becoming increasingly difficult for the ferries to cope
with the volume of traffic that had increased over the years.
North Queensferry Pier
After many years of debate on whether or not to build a road bridge over the Forth it was finally decided that a
bridge was required and work on its construction started in 1958. The Forth Road Bridge which replaced the ferries in 1964 had 4 Million crossings in its first year increasing to an annual figure of approximately 24 Million.
Construction of the Forth Road Bridge
The Forth Road Bridge was designed to carry only 11 million vehicles annually, with this figure
constantly being exceeded the construction of an additional bridge across the
River Forth was considered necessary, construction started in 2011. Both the Forth Road Bridge and the new bridge called the Queensferry Crossing were officially opened
by Queen Elizabeth II. The Queensferry Crossing was opened in 2017 exactly to the day 53 years after the Forth Road Bridge.
