The catamaran Twin City Liner has been a link on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

river between the two capitals,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

since 1 June 2006. The path between the two European capitals takes approximately 75 minutes.

History

The first catamaran was built in Norway between the autumn of 2005 and the spring of 2006. The routing was across

Skagerrak The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea. The ...

, on the Northern Sea after the channel Rhine-Main-Danube to Vienna. For this and due to the weight, the

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

of Norwegian ''Båtservice Mandal'' developed a high speed

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

with a hydrojet which can also be used in summer at low tide. The sinking depth in water guaranteed by the contract is 80 cm. To minimize the impact of the waves, complex model tests of the Austrian Institute for Maritime Technology (Schiffbautechnische Versuchsanstalta) took place. The catamaran is totally climate-controlled, and can accommodate 106 passengers and crew (a captain, two sailors and catering staff). On May 14, 2007, the Twin City Liner failed in Vienna, in the district of Erdberg, on the right bank of the Danube Canal and had to be rescued by firemen from Vienna. After repair and administrative authorization, it was returned to service. A similar accident occurred July 28, 2009, when the captain tried to avoid a floating tree trunk near the gateway Erdberg. During a press conference on August 20, 2007, the Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs and Finance Vienna Renate Brauner discussed the acquisition of the second Twin City Liner. This second "Twinni," as nicknamed by the media, was also built by ''Båtservice Mandal'' and made the same journey. On May 13, 2008, the Twin City Liner docked in the central port of Vienna below Reichsbrücke. The maiden voyage of the new catamaran, with the registration number A-40631, was conducted immediately after its christening by President

Heinz Fischer Heinz Fischer GColIH OMRI RSerafO GCollSE (; born 9 October 1938) is a former Austrian politician. He took office as President of Austria on 8 July 2004 and was re-elected for a second and last term on 25 April 2010, leaving office on 8 July 2 ...

and his wife Margit Fischer, and the priest of the Cathedral of Vienna Anton Faber, as part of a state visit to

. During a stopover in

Devín Devín (, hu, Dévény, german: Theben) is a borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, located in the Bratislava IV district. Originally a separate village at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers, Devín maintained its rural cha ...

, Slovak President

Ivan Gasparovic Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

and his wife boarded the ship and then continued the journey. Bratislava 2007-07-21 09

Besides minor changes to the technical equipment and form, the new Twin City Liner can accommodate up to 126 passengers: 106 seats forward in the passenger cabin, eight seats in the "VIP" cabin on the upper deck and twelve outdoor seats for travel during the summer. The commercial operation of the second Twin City Liner began 31 August 2008. There have been studies conducted for the purchase of a third vessel to develop a fast connection based on the Twin City Liner to Budapest or Belgrade. From Bratislava, travelers might go to Piestany or contemporary art museum Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum to

Čunovo Čunovo ( hr, Čunovo, hu, Dunacsún, Duna-Csún, ) is a small part of Bratislava, Slovakia, in the southern area near the Hungarian border. It is located close to the Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros Dams. History Čunovo was first mentioned as a vil ...

. In January 2019, it was announced that a new, larger Twin City Liner would begin operating on March 29, 2019. This Twin City Liner was built in England by Wightshipyard. It took 62,000 working hours, 25 tons of aluminium, and 60 square meters of window glass to complete the 7 million euro vessel. It is powered by four Di16 V8 Scania 4400BHP Ehardt engines, and four Kamewa Rolls-Royce jets. Twin City Liner 3 Length : 39.9 meters Width : 11 meters Height : 5.9 meters Draft : 0.8 meters Dead weight : 70 tons Seats : 250 Captain's Lounge: 35 Top speed : 81 km / h Cruise speed : 60 km / h Power : 4400 hp

Route and timetables

Unlike most other ships sailing on the Danube, the Twin City Liner does not leave the port of

Reichsbrücke The Reichsbrücke (German for ''Imperial Bridge'') is a major bridge in Vienna, linking Mexikoplatz in Leopoldstadt with the Donauinsel in Donaustadt across the Danube. The bridge is used by 50,000 vehicles per day and carries six lanes of tra ...

but the station in the city center, on the

Danube canal The Donaukanal ("Danube Canal") is a former arm of the river Danube, now regulated as a water channel (since 1598), within the city of Vienna, Austria. It is long and, unlike the Danube itself, it borders Vienna's city centre, Innere Stadt, ...

between Schwedenplatz and Marienbrücke (Vienna) to bypass the dam of the power plant Freudenau. In July 2010, a new wharf was opened. The arrival point in Bratislava is only a few minutes walk from the old town. The ships sail from May to September four to five times a day in each direction, and in April and October, three to four times. Besides the planned operating hours (evenings and from mid - December to April), ships can be chartered.

Users

Users are mainly tourists and inhabitants of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

, mostly businessmen. As seats are limited booking favors roundtrips between morning and evening. In addition, the ticket price depends on the day of the week.

Owner

The ship owner is the ''Central Danube Region GmbH'', which initiated and developed the project. The partners are as operators DDSG Blue Danube, belonging to the Wien Holding which includes the businesses run by the city of Vienna.

Image gallery

File:Wien 01 Donaukanal Twin City Liner a.jpg, Twin City Liner at Schwedenplatz File:DDSG-TwinCityLiner5.jpg, Front view File:Twin city liner Vienna.JPG, Side view File:Wien 01 Twin City Liner 2019 a.jpg, The New Twin City Liner

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.twincityliner.com/
DDSG Blue Danube Schifffahrt GmbH
Transport in Bratislava Transport in Vienna Passenger ships