Public transport in Bratislava

The transport system is known as Mestská hromadná doprava (MHD, Municipal Mass Transit), and the network is the largest in Slovakia.

The history of public transportation in Bratislava began with the opening of the first tram route in 1895, when the city was in the Kingdom of Hungary, part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

At the end of the 19th century, Bratislava (then Pozsony in Hungarian and Pressburg in German) was still suffering after losing its status as the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary.

Now merely a provincial city of middling political and economic importance, its development lagged behind its European neighbours.

It was supposed to be connected to the Bratislava – Trnava wagonway, belonging to the Hungarian royal state railways.

[2] In the 1990s, traffic jams became a routine occurrence in Bratislava, with public transport vehicles becoming stuck at places like Patrónka or Prístavný most.

[citation needed] A major contributing factor was the lack of a ring road, which today consists of parts of the D1 and D2 motorways in Bratislava.

[3][4] The first trolleybus service in Bratislava was established 19 July 1909; thus it is the second oldest such system in the country after the one in the High Tatras.

This first line ran from the Roth bullet factory on Pražská Street to Vydrica Valley.

Line M connected the Slovak National Theatre and Bratislava main railway station.

In 1953, trolleybuses reached Trnavské mýto, and two years later began serving Šafárikovo námestie.

The last line to be opened was a short section from the Patrónka junction to the Vojenská nemocnica built in 2013.

DPB offer additional late night services during certain holidays, such as New Year's Eve.

A 50% discount is offered to children, students, pensioners, while some other groups of customers such as passengers over 70 years can travel for free.

Online purchase is only available at least one day before the first day of the 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.

It is mandatory for a ticket inspector to identify themselves by a company badge and an employee ID when asked to do so.

The penalties for failing to comply with the transport rules are as follows: €50 when paid by card or cash at the time of the inspection or within 5 workdays, €70 when paid within 30 days from the time of the inspection, €5 in case of forgotten prepaid ticket or discount document, €5 in case of unpaid transport of animals, baggage or bicycles.

If this is not possible, the inspector will cooperate with the City or National Police with the goal of discovering the passenger's identity.

On international services operated by DPB (routes 801 to Rajka in Hungary and 901 to Hainburg an der Donau in Austria), special fares apply when crossing the border.