Public transport in Bratislava

Bus stop under the Nový Most bridge, an important public transport hub in Bratislava

Public transport in Bratislava is the biggest public transport network in Slovakia. It is managed by Dopravný podnik Bratislava, a city-owned company. The transport system is known as Mestská hromadná doprava (MHD, Municipal Mass Transit). The history of public transportation in Bratislava began in 1895, with the opening of the first tram route.[1] Public transport in Bratislava is paid and travellers are obliged to buy their tickets before entering the vehicle. Revenue from tickets cover approximately 40% of expenses, 60% is paid by city.

History

At the end of the 19th century, Bratislava (then Pressburg/Pozsony) was still suffering after losing the status as the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary. Now being a provincial city of political and economical mid-importance its development lagged behind its European neighbours. The main means of transport at this time was horse-driven and later steam-powered railways.

In the year 1868, omnibuses appeared in the city, but they could not meet the demands for transport at their chosen routes.

On 23 March 1881 an engineer from Vienna, Nicolaus Markovits, submitted the project documentation for a city horse-driven railway in Bratislava to the directorship of King's Hungarian state railways. Its path was from the Danube riverbank through the city to the Austrian state railway station. It was supposed to be connected to the Bratislava – Trnava wagonway, belonging to the King's Hungarian state railways.[2]

In the 1990s, transport jams became a routine occurrence in Bratislava, affecting public transport vehicles which became stuck at places like Patrónka or Prístavný most. A major contributing factor was the lack of an inner circle, which today consists of parts of motorways D1 and D2 in Bratislava. While its two crucial points, bridges over river Danube, Prístavný most and Lafranconi bridge partially opened in 1983 and 1990 respectively, it was not until 2002 that Prievoz viaduct on motorway D1 opened, the D1 part Viedenská – Prístavný most was finished in 2005 and the Sitina Tunnel finished the ring in 2007.

Description

The system uses three main types of vehicles: buses, trams and trolleybuses. Buses cover almost the entire city and go to the most remote boroughs and areas, with 70 daily routes, 20 night routes and other routes on certain occasions.

Trams

Tram Tatra K2S #7132 on line No. 13 in Bratislava

Today, trams (streetcars) cover heavily-used commuter routes, except for the biggest borough, Petržalka which will be served by new line currently under construction and planned to open in early 2016. Trams in Bratislava have 1 000 mm gauge (so called metre gauge) with one-way current of 600 V (originally 550 V). Trams in the city have always been electrically powered since the start of the system in 1895; there were never any horse-driven or steam-powered trams in Bratislava. The city's tram network is amongst the oldest continually operated tram systems to the present day. The length of tram rails in the city is 39.6 kilometres (24.6 mi). There are 152 tram stops served by 8 lines, numbered 2 to 9. The maximum speed for trams in Bratislava is restricted by an internal order to 50 km/h, although this speed is lower in some parts of the network. 60 new fully air-conditioned and low floor trams were ordered in 2013 and are being delivered since 2014 for new lines to Petržalka and as a replacement for old vehicles. 30 of these trams are bidirectional trams Škoda 30T and another 30 are standard one-way trams Škoda 29T. Bidirectional trams are to be used in Petržalka (since first phase of new line will have no loop at the end) and also during maintenance works to keep operational as much of the network as possible.

Trolleybuses

Bratislava trolleybus network

Today, trolleybuses serve as a complementary means of transport in the Slovak capital, with 13 routes.[3][4] The first trolleybus service in Bratislava was established July 19, 1909, being the second oldest such system in the country after the one in High Tatras. This first line was headed from the Roth bullet factory on Pražská Street to Vydrica Valley. Its total length was 5,800 metres (3.6 mi) and it was served by seven vehicles. Due to technical and financial difficulties, the service on this line was terminated after six years, in 1915. In the period between the world wars, Bratislava was left without a trolleybus system. First talks about its restoration emerged only right before the Second World War.

Trolleybuses returned to the city on 31 July 1941. Line M connected Slovak National Theatre and the Bratislava hlavná stanica. In 1951, the first Škoda 7Tr trolleybuses appeared. In 1953, trolleybuses reached Trnavské mýto, two years later Šafárikovo námestie. Most of the current trolleybus network infrastructure was built before 1960. Afterwards, buses started to be preferred in Bratislava. Many trolleybus lines were shortened or cancelled altogether. After the 1970s energy crisis, the importance of trolleybuses increased somewhat. New lines were built and new vehicles were bought. Since 1982, the iconic Škoda 14Tr appeared in the city. Between 1960 and 1990 there were approximately 10 lines (No. 210 – No. 220).

During the 1990s, Škoda 15Tr trolleybuses appeared, and replaced the Škoda Sanos vehicles. In 1999, a new line to Národný ústav srdcových chorôb (NÚSCH) and Národný onkologický ústav was opened. The last line to date was short section from Patrónka junction to Vojenská nemocnica built in 2013.

Most of the trolleybus services are now covered by new Škoda 30Tr and Škoda 31Tr trolleybuses delivered between 2013 and 2015.

Ticketing

Single tickets are available at pre-sale points such as newsstands, ticket machines and DPB offices and customer has to validate them in stamping machine on board the vehicle at the beginning of his journey. Customers can choose between 15-minutes ticket (€0,70) or 60-minutes (€0,90) tickets with 15-minutes ticket being non-transferable (it's valid only in vehicle where it was validated), while 60-minutes ticket is transferable. Validity of 60-minutes ticket is extended to 90 minutes on weekends and bank holidays. 50% discount is offered to children, students, pensioners, while some other groups of customers (while some passengers, such as passengers over 70 years) can travel for free. These tickets are valid on all DPB lines within Slovakia, except night services (N21-N99). Fare for night services is €1,60 (valid for 90 minutes including transfers) with no discounts available (free travel is, however, available to applicable customers). Tickets can't be bought on board.

So called tourist tickets are available with validity of 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours or 168 hours. Tickets can be purchased at ticket machines, DPB offices and other pre-sale points such as hotels or tourist agencies with prices ranging from €4,50 for 24 hours ticket to €15,00 for one week ticket. These tickets are issued on a same stock as single tickets and must be validated at beginning of first journey. No discounts are available. Tickets are valid on DPB service within Bratislava (fare zones 100 and 101), including night services.

SMS tickets are available to customers of Slovak mobile providers. SMS ticket can only be used on DPB services within Bratislava, including night services, and is offered in two modifications: 70-minutes ticket for 1,00€ or 24-hours ticket for 4,50€.

Travelcards are available for 30, 90 or 365 days and are issued within Integrovaný dopravný systém v Bratislavskom kraji (IDS BK; literally Integrated transit system of Bratislava region) - therefore are valid not only on DPB services but also on regional buses of Slovak Lines and regional trains of Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko. IDS BK is currently in trial and available in Bratislava and Malacky district (further expansion to other districts of Bratislava Region is planned for upcoming months). When purchasing IDS BK travelcard, passenger can choose its territorial validity - for this purpose, area of IDS BK is split into fare zones. Price is calculated based on number of fare zones purchased. Travelcards are valid also on night services.

To purchase IDS BK travelcard, customer needs smartcard accepted by IDS BK operators. These are smartcards issued by DPB, Slovak Lines and Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, student card issued by selected Slovak schools and universities as well as Bratislavská mestská karta which is Maestro PayPass card issued only to residents of Bratislava by participating banks. Customer can then load travelcard at ticket offices of participating operators, some DPB ticket machines or via websites of IDS BK operators. Online purchase is only available at least one day before first day of travelcard validity - this is to ensure enough time for all operators' control devices (such as regional bus cash registers, or train conductor's control devices) to synchronize data about online tickets. Such synchronization is necessary since online tickets are not physically loaded into smartcard's chip when purchased. Instead, all control devices have database of tickets purchased online and compare loaded card's ID with this database. When purchasing travelcard on Bratislavská mestská karta, 10% discount from price of Bratislava zones is provided by City of Bratislava.

Tickets for animals and baggage must be purchased and are only available as single tickets. Notable exception is bicycle transportation which is free of charge on DPB services.

Some other special offers are also available, most notably discounted tickets available to customers of Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko together with train ticket to Bratislava, or free use of DPB services for customers arriving to Bratislava on selected EURegio tickets of Österreichische Bundesbahnen.

There is no ticket inspections when boarding DPB vehicles (except regional lines in some situations). Instead, random inspections by plain clothes ticket inspectors are being conducted.

International services

On international services operated by DPB (routes 801 and 901), special fare applies when crossing border. Ticket costs €1,50 with 50% discount available to some groups of customers (such as youth or seniors) and is valid for one journey without transfer, irrespective of length of journey. These tickets are purchased from driver. Minor discount is available when buying return ticket. When boarding in Hungary, fare can also be paid in Hungarian Forint.

For domestic journey in Slovakia made on 801 services, standard domestic fares described above apply. All other kinds of domestic journeys (domestic journey in Hungary or any domestic journey on 901) are forbidden.

Special offers are available on 901 service such as weekly tickets or discounted tickets including use of S7 route of Vienna S-Bahn.

Transport junctions

Transport junctions include Trnavské mýto, Račianske mýto, Patrónka, Bratislava hlavná stanica, Zochova and Mlynské Nivy.

Vehicles

Škoda 25Tr, a modern trolleybus in Bratislava today, Bratislava ordered 30 new Škoda 30Tr trolleybuses in 2013

Three types of transportation are provided:

Routes

Operating hours is from 4:00 am to 11:30 pm every day. Operating hours night lines is 11:30 pm to 4:00 am every day, too.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Z histórie (History)" (in Slovak). Dopravný podnik Bratislava. 2004. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  2. ↑ http://www.dpb.sk/historia-dopravy-v-meste
  3. ↑ "Trasy liniek (routes)" (in Slovak). Dopravný podnik Bratislava. 2007. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  4. ↑ "Pilotný projekt nočných liniek MHD od 1. júla 2007" (in Slovak). Dopravný podnik Bratislava. 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
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