45–60 minutes to Ferrytoll without detouring into Edinburgh city
Stagecoach Jet 747 is the Fife link from Edinburgh Airport if you want to skip Waverley and Princes Street completely. In normal traffic it’s roughly 45–60 minutes from the airport stands to Ferrytoll Park & Ride, putting you straight onto the Fife side of the Queensferry Crossing for onward buses or trains.
The bus stops right outside the EDI terminal at the signed coach and bus stance; you’re on stand in under 5 minutes from arrivals if you walk directly out past the taxi rank. Buses usually run about every 30 minutes in daytime, with a thinner timetable in the late evening and on Sundays, so check the app before you head to the stop.
Typical fares run around £8–10 from the airport into Fife, depending on your stop and ticket type. Contactless is accepted on board and the driver can sell singles and returns in under 30 seconds, but locals say concessions and through tickets can get confusing, especially if you’re trying to combine a bus ticket with a ScotRail journey.
Regulars often ride Jet 747 only as far as Ferrytoll or Inverkeithing, then swap to a fast ScotRail train that reaches central Edinburgh in about 20–25 minutes or continues deeper into Fife. One Fife commuter on Reddit called it “way better than going into Waverley and back out,” and RailUK posters reckon this bus-plus-train combo cuts both time and cost versus running the whole way round by coach.
Timetable reliability depends heavily on traffic over the Queensferry Crossing. Locals suggest adding 10–15 minutes to the scheduled time in peak hours, especially weekday mornings around 08:00–09:00 and late afternoon between about 16:00–18:00. People also point out that the route has changed over the years, previously serving Halbeath P&R, so ignore older blogs and use current maps in the Stagecoach app.
Watch out for evening service gaps: forum posts complain that the 747 now finishes earlier than it did a few years ago, with fewer late buses after about 22:00. Another gripe is luggage space when a standard Stagecoach single-decker subs in for a branded Jet coach; overhead racks are limited and the front buggy bay can fill quickly on busy flights.
One tip: on the day you travel, open the Stagecoach app at least 30 minutes before you plan to leave the terminal and watch the live tracker; walk out only when your specific Jet 747 is 5–10 minutes away so you’re not standing at the stance in Fife weather longer than needed.