Passenger trains to begin crossing Bratislava’s harbour bridge

People living in the Petržalka borough of Bratislava will soon be able to get to the other side of the Danube River by train from June onwards, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported on Tuesday. The Transport Ministry is preparing restoration of the passenger rail transport over Prístavný most (Port Bridge), which is currently used only by freight carriers. A feasibility study of the Bratislava railway junction has been in preparation by the joint stock company Reming Consult for years, with the first passenger train over the Danube scheduled to take place on June 10, 2018. The ministry says that the innovation will not require any fundamental investments into the technical condition of the track. A rail transport expert says that passenger rail transport in Bratislava will be worthwhile only when it stands on an elaborated concept. "We can't expect that one route from Petržalka to Nové Mesto [borough of Bratislava] will reduce the load from road transport" Rastislav Cenký, the head of the Transport and Economy Institute, told the paper. Moreover, trains should run only once an hour.