The Danube sailing dream has failed: the scheduled BKV vessels will not start again this year either, you write in the days based on the fact that after 2021 the BKK decided to temporarily suspend the service in 2022 as well. Although there will be a boat tour in the capital, in cooperation between BKK and MAHART, for which the ticket is HUF 1,500, this is no longer the service that the capital launched in 2013.

There are several reasons for failure. In 2011-2012, BKK renovated the ports of the capital with HUF 500 million in EU support and organized a serious, scheduled small boat service. But the money was more like a patch of beauty, the new ports were not organically connected to the nearby public transport hubs (there was one that took a long walk to reach), and the boats remained the old, sluggish, diesel-pounding.

The fact that even refurbished BKVs are not competitive with other modes of transport, according to the staff of the former Index already shown in 2012 in a video. As it turns out in the racing race, the Snooze small boat covered the distance between Haller Street and the Árpád Bridge in an hour and a half, which others completed in 37-41-45 minutes by bike, car or tram-metro. The boat produced only an average speed of 7 km / h, which was surpassed by a mid-speed jogger. Even though he was faster with the flow of water down, he had to face the drift at every mooring because of the safe mooring, with what he won at customs, he lost on the ferry.

Due to EU support clauses, BKK was obliged to operate the flights for 7 years, even in winter, when people were only allowed to freeze on board. The the only good solution was tested in an earlier video. As the mandatory operating time expired in 2020, followed by an epidemic, government withdrawals, and war and rising fuel prices, BKK understandably decided to stop all loss-making and less and less attractive services.

It broke down, the Bubi fleet went

According to Samu Balogh, Mayor of Gergely Karácsony’s transport development cabinet, scheduled shipping in the capital was a bit like MOL Bubi before the renewal of the public bicycle fleet. It is good that it was established ten years ago, but it was slow, outdated, not even used by many. The current one doesn’t make much sense to operate, but it really does make it worth developing, he added.

But while renovating a Bubi fleet isn’t that expensive, the capital has no money for a new, state-of-the-art, Balogh said, especially now that buses are costing billions more. According to the politician, if there was money, the ships would not be the first in line, ahead of new buses, trams or the subway. We need to look at where the development of shipping is on the priority list, and for as long as it takes place, they are happy to have the Mahart agreement, and these ships can still be used with a Budapest charter.

But is it at all possible to operate scheduled river public transport efficiently in large cities? One According to a 2018 study, which the city of Stockholm has commissioned for its water developments, may have succeeded, at least in several places. However, several conditions must be met for this to happen.

Fast catamarans integrated into public transport

The study compares the water transport of 23 cities, but of these, similar regular river services in Budapest are essentially in London, Copenhagen and Brisbane, and the Vienna-Bratislava Twin CityLiner can also be expected here. Almost all have local BKK operations, and the port network has been integrated into the coastal public transport network for easy transfer and common, combined ticketing. State-of-the-art, agile catamarans are used due to the passenger capacity (80-150 passengers, bicycle seats) and the fast (average 1.5 minutes) passenger change.

In some cities, scheduled urban services are complemented by express agglomeration services with small boats carrying them from the neighboring coast. Cruises appear as an alternative on the shore in several places alongside metros and heaters. The ship’s study finds that where shipping is successful, cruises offer a kind of premium, calm, pleasant, airy, well-served (buffets, toilets, free wifi) ride during peak hours compared to land public transport, so passengers are willing to accept any slower progress or the more expensive fare. A good example of a return is the Thames Clippers system in London, which, although initially supported by the state, is now largely self-sustaining.

In operation, the two biggest cost elements are usually fuel and labor, and several cities are trying to cut them down. In Hamburg, for example, the captain alone controls the boat and the hydraulic ramp to help passengers disembark. They have gone even further in Amsterdam and are already testing self-driving boats, but their practical application is still the music of the future.

Its propulsion technology is also evolving, with several positive initiatives being launched in waterborne transport. In Hamburg and Stockholm, for example, older ships have been modified to run on hybrid electricity. Hybrid ships are operating in Sydney, some ships in San Francisco are already using solar energy in addition to conventional energy, and a hydrogen fuel cell ferry has been introduced in Hamburg. Experience has shown that switching from diesel increased start-up costs by 60%.

BKK knows that scheduled shipping in the capital could be operated efficiently, as a In a feasibility study completed in 2014 this is precisely described. Calculated for one meter per forint, the return on investment is higher than the sufficient eligibility limit. The feasibility study was not published, then its existence was revealedwhen BKK was restructured.

The study examines a number of route variants, and finally proposed an urban version as well as a version of its urban versions supplemented by an agglomeration line.

By connecting the agglomeration, it would really be the capital’s shipping

In the urban version, there were four lines (2 basic and 2 express routes) along the entire length of the Danube section of the capital, with a density of 20 minutes during the peak period, and every 60 minutes in addition. The lines affected 18 ports. A total of 18 ships with 110 berths and a speed of 40 km / h would have carried 21,200 to 30,800 passengers a day. The investment cost of this variant would have been HUF 14 billion at that time.

The agglomeration variant that would have supplemented this would have handled traffic on the 74 km long Danube section between Nagymaros and Százhalombatta – Dunafüred, plus two expressways. This would have required the acquisition of six additional high-speed vessels with a capacity of 165 people and a speed of 60 km / h. Daily traffic was estimated at 24,000 to 35,700 passengers. The network would have built 100 P + R parking spaces in Budapest and 450 in the agglomeration, as well as 850 bicycle storage spaces. This version would have cost HUF 19.9 billion in 2014 with ships, ports, infrastructure, a vehicle yard and an information system.

According to the cost-benefit analysis of the study, the economic performance indicators of the agglomeration variant were adequate for both diesel EURO VI and LNG propulsion. The analysis calculates a net social benefit of HUF 10.8 billion for diesel vessels and HUF 16.2 billion for LNG-powered vessels, in the first case the social benefit cost ratio was 1.14 and in the second case 1.24. That is, the agglomeration system exceeded the eligibility threshold for both shoots, while the indicators of the urban version rubbed it from below.

In the new system, the aluminum catamaran would have been connected to each port with a semi-automatic coupling device. The study noted that Hungarian ship design and manufacturing expertise is available for the production of catamarans. An example is the CAT 30 catamaran called Táltos, which was launched on 21 March 2013 in Budapest and now operates as an event and excursion boat. Moreover, they were already informed about the prices, according to which the slower (speed of 40 km / h), 110 berths would have been HUF 440 million, the faster, 16 – berth agglomeration would have been HUF 550 million – at that time.

The funding was planned from sources, BKK wanted to submit an application for EU funds to open between 2014 and 2020. According to preliminary estimates, the first part of the project would have required a net amount of HUF 9.6 billion, which BKK would have spent on the purchase of 13 new vessels, a maintenance base and the modernization and construction of 25 ports. The idea was to set up a capital-owned hotel ship inn and two own hotel ship terminals: CET in the south, next to the former Public Warehouses, and St. Stephen’s Park in the north.

In the end, there was no catamaran fleet, no port construction or modernization, no more than one hotel ship hosting company, as well as no hotel ship terminal. Instead, the Hungarian Tourism Agency belonging to Antal Rogán at the time swept Mahart Passnave Kft., which operates hotel ship ports, which is also joined by one of Europe ‘s largest hotel cruise companies, Viking Cruises. (The latter company’s ship is also the Viking Sigyn, which turns the Mermaid under it.) The development plans for the capital have been dusting in the branch ever since.