Twin City Liner

The Twin City Liner at Schwedenplatz

The catamaran Twin City Liner has been a connection between the city centers of the Austrian capital Vienna and the Slovak capital Bratislava on the Danube since June 1, 2006. Vienna and Bratislava are the capitals in Europe with the shortest distance, connected by the Danube. The journey time is 75 minutes.

Ships

First generation

The first catamaran was built in Norway between autumn 2005 and spring 2006. The transfer trip took him across the Skagerrak , the North Sea and then across the Main-Danube Canal to the capital of Austria . The second so-called Twin City Liner was ordered in 2007 and delivered in May 2008.

Especially for this purpose, the Norwegian shipyard Båtservice Mandal, founded in 1948, developed a high-speed catamaran with jet propulsion made of aluminum for reasons of weight , which can also be used in summer when the water is low . The draft is contractually guaranteed 80 centimeters. In order to minimize the runout of the waves, extensive model tests were carried out in the Austrian Shipbuilding Research Institute . The fully air-conditioned catamaran offers space for 106 passengers plus crew (a captain, two sailors and catering staff).

On May 14, 2007, the Twin City Liner Höhe Erdberger Lände stranded on the right bank of the Danube Canal and had to be rescued by the Vienna Fire Brigade . On May 16, after repairs and a test drive had been carried out, the supreme shipping authority granted approval for operation again. A similar accident occurred on July 28, 2009 near the Erdberger Steg when the captain tried to avoid a drifting tree trunk.

The second Twin City Liner "2" , built in 2008, at the City ship station in Vienna (2014) round spotlight, 30000212, smiley

In the so-called Mayor Media Talk on August 20, 2007, Vice Mayor Renate Brauner announced the purchase of another Twin City Liner.

The new “Twinny”, as it is also called in some media, was built by Båtservice Mandal like its predecessor and also transferred to Austria on the same route (around 800 nautical miles / 1480 km on the open sea and around 1600 km on European inland waterways ).

On May 13, 2008, the second Twin City Liner docked on the Danube at the shipping center below the Reichsbrücke. The maiden voyage took the new catamaran with the registration number A-40631 immediately after the ship was christened by Margit Fischer (wife of Federal President Heinz Fischer ) and cathedral priest Anton Faber as part of a state visit to Bratislava.

It was the first state visit that Federal President Fischer arrived by ship. During a stop in Devín , the President of the Slovak Republic Ivan Gašparovič and his wife were taken on board and then the journey to Bratislava continued.

Twin City Liner shortly before the pier on the Vienna Danube Canal (2012) round headlights, 30000112

Technically, the new Twin City Liner corresponds to its model. In addition to small changes to the technical equipment and the design, it now offers space for up to 126 passengers: 106 seats as before in the passenger cabin, eight seats in the so-called VIP cabin on the upper deck behind the steering position and twelve seats on a sun deck for trips in the warm season. The second Twin City Liner went into scheduled operation on May 31, 2008.

There are also plans to expand the express connection to Budapest or even Belgrade using Twin City Liners if a third ship is purchased . In the Bratislava area itself, the health resort Pieš Kurany as well as the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Čunovo, east of the Slovak capital on the south bank of the Danube, could be integrated into the route network.

Second generation

In October 2017, the British shipyard Wight Shipyard commissioned the successor model, which can hold around twice as many passengers, and is scheduled to take over operation from the end of March 2019. From 2019, fewer journeys are to be made than before, making them more economical and fuel-efficient.

Route, landing stages & timetable

Twin City Liner in Bratislava (2007) square headlights, A-4063x

In contrast to most other ships that sail on the Danube, the Twin City Liner does not dock at the shipping center at the Reichsbrücke , but at the City ship station. This is reached via the Vienna Danube Canal and is located between Schwedenplatz and Marienbrücke. This bypasses the time-consuming 30-minute drive through the lock system of the Freudenau power plant . In July 2010 a new landing stage was opened.

The pier in Bratislava is also only a few minutes' walk from the old town.

The ships travel (as of 2018?) The route between May and September four to five times a day in each direction, in April and October three to four times. The ships can be chartered outside of the regular operating hours (evenings and from mid-December to April).

With the introduction of the new generation of ships from the end of March 2019, a ship that is almost twice as large is to replace the previous two and fewer trips are to be made.

target group

As a target group, the operators primarily focus on tourists and residents of Vienna and Bratislava with the respective surrounding area, who can take a day trip of several hours with this fast means of transport, but also on business people with appointments in the neighboring capital.

However, the need to book the limited number of seats does not allow spontaneous excursions, and the link between fare and departure time means that the journey Vienna – Bratislava – Vienna is considerably more expensive than that from Bratislava to Vienna and back (departure in the morning and return home in the evening ). In addition, the fare depends on the day of the week.

Passenger numbers

2006: around 80,000 passengers
2007: around 88,000 passengers (by August of the year, 110,000 to 120,000 are expected by the end of the season)

Since its commissioning, both Twin City Liners (from 2006 and 2008 respectively) covered a total of 1,760 journeys around 106,000 kilometers and carried over a million passengers. 1.6 million passengers were reported by August 2018.

From the start of the season at the end of March 2019, a newer, larger type of ship with almost twice the passenger capacity is to replace the two previous models and handle fewer trips per day in order to be more economical and fuel-efficient.

Owner

The ship owner is the Central Danube Region GmbH , which initiated and developed this project. The partner as operator is DDSG Blue Danube Schifffahrt GmbH as a company of Wien Holding .

Technical specifications

First generation

Hull: aluminum
Year of construction: 2006
Length: 33 meters
Width: 8.5 meters
Maximum draft: 0.85 meters
Height: 6 meters
Weight empty: 40.5 tons
Maximum weight: 54 tons
Passengers: 102 people
Crew: 1 captain, 1 helmsman with a license (as second captain), 1 seaman, 1 stewardess
Propulsion: 2 MTU diesel engines + 2 Hamilton water jet propulsion
Output: 1440 kW (1960 PS) total
Speed: max. 38 knots (70 km / h), cruising speed 32.5 knots (60 km / h)
Power connection: 230 V / 400 V
Flat screens and music system