Overview of Tay Railway Bridge

Carrying the railway line from London and Edinburgh to Dundee and Aberdeen, the Tay Railway Bridge crosses the Tay estuary from Wormit in Fife to the City of Dundee. Opened for the North British Railway on 11th July 1887, it replaced a previous single-track bridge which was completed in 1878 to a design by Sir Thomas Bouch (1822-80). Part of the former bridge collapsed during a storm on the night of 28th December 1879, killing all the passengers and crew of a train which was passing over the bridge at the time, a total of 75 individuals. The stumps of this bridge can still be seen a few metres to the east of the present bridge. The present Tay Railway Bridge is 3135m (3429 yards) long and carries two railway tracks.