The Forth Bridge could become a tourist attraction like Sydney Harbour Bridge, as part of a UNESCO world heritage site bid.
Network Rail has confirmed it is considering opening up parts of the bridge to the public. If given the go-ahead, the plans are likely to involve trips to a viewing platform at the north cantilever, which would open up spectacular views of the Forth and surrounding landscape.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “As part of the world heritage bid process, the public is being asked how they would like to see the structure evolve in the future.
“Network Rail is also looking at how we could open up certain areas of the bridge to the public but these plans are at a very early stage and no decisions have been made.”
There are a few obstacles to be overcome before the public could be let on to the masterpiece of Victorian engineering. More than 200 trains cross the bridge every day and there would be health and safety issues related to public access.
Meanwhile, the campaign to make the Forth Bridge a UNESCO world heritage site is set to gather pace.
Next month, Historic Scotland is to launch a consultation on the bid to achieve the status, which would see the iconic structure ranked alongside the pyramids and the Taj Mahal.
A spokesman for Historic Scotland said: “There will be a public consultation for the Forth Bridge world heritage nomination commencing in May this year, which will continue for 12 weeks.
“People will be able to express their views either by completing a specially-designed questionnaire or by participating in a series of public events.
“The hope is that local people in particular will respond to the consultation and that their views can be taken on board in the final version of the nomination when it is submitted to UNESCO in February 2014.”
There are just three Scottish sites on UNESCO’s tentative list of properties being considered for nomination. Also on the list is the Flow Country in Caithness and Sutherland and the Iron Age wonders of Shetland. Successful bids will be revealed in 2015.
The Forth Bridge, with its famous cantilever structure and red paint, could have looked a lot different if the Tay Bridge disaster had not happened.
Engineer Sir Thomas Bouch who designed the first, and doomed, Tay Bridge had drawn up plans for a suspension bridge over the Forth and the foundation stone had already been put down.
But following the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879, which is thought to have killed 59 people, and the subsequent inquiry, the project was handed to Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Fowler.
The project allowed Baker to put his extensive research into cantilever structures into practice. It cost around £2.5 million to build, which in today’s money would be £120m.
In comparison, the new road bridge currently being built over the Forth is to cost £1.6 billion, well over 10 times more.