St. Nicholas is sending out a fleet the likes of which Bratislava has never seen before. Two Christmas trams, a bus and a trolleybus will light up the streets of the capital

The flagship of the entire DPB Christmas fleet is the Musical Christmas Tram with visuals prepared by the talented designer Saki Matsumoto. Scenes from well-known Christmas songs and a playful colour palette have been put on the vehicle in the form of decals, which in combination with the decorative lights will stand out especially after dark. The tram’s interior provides an even stronger experience, as passengers will smell the scent of a live tree and also have the chance to become co-creators of the decoration with their own Christmas wishes. The festive atmosphere will be complemented by the popular Children’s Christmas Gallery, which offers drawings by children of DPB colleagues. Also, well-known Christmas carols and songs will be played from the speakers during the rides.

Said the mayor of the capital city of Bratislava, Matúš Vallo:

“I’m looking forward to the fact that this year, not one, but two Christmas trams and a decorated trolleybus and bus will top up the Christmas atmosphere of our city. The Christmas tram is now a city tradition, without which I guess we cannot even imagine Christmas in Bratislava. The fact that this year a bus and a trolleybus will also be added to it is excellent news. I believe that these Christmas vehicles will be used by as many Bratislava residents as possible, as well as visitors to our city, and that they’ll make travelling through the decorated streets of our Bratislava even more enjoyable. This will be a delightful experience not only for parents with children, but for everyone."

Said Martin Rybanský, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DPB:

“This year, we’ve expanded our Christmas fleet to bring a genuine holiday atmosphere to even more passengers. At the same time, I am very pleased that we are expanding the Musical Christmas Tram project with a charitable dimension, and I believe our passengers will appreciate the opportunity to combine an enjoyable experience with supporting people in need. I want to thank all my colleagues from DPB who took part in the preparation of the vehicles. They have once again created something that can bring people joy and bring them together. I cordially invite our passengers, families with children and anyone who wants to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city to come and enjoy our rides with us."

Chamber concerts on a tram with a charitable undertone

Every Sunday in December, the Musical Christmas Tram will be transformed into a mobile concert hall. After the success of last year’s author readings, this year we’re bringing real Christmas melodies to the streets through four musical performances. Passengers can look forward to chamber concerts by the Canens Women's Choir, Katarína Koščová with Daniel Špiner, Tamara Kramar, and at the conclusion Otec Mirec will offer his special New Year’s Eve warm-up set. Like last year, all the concerts will require reserved seats, so that every passenger can enjoy the ride in comfort while sitting down. Tickets for the concerts will be on sale for a symbolic amount, and all proceeds from their sale will be donated by Dopravný podnik Bratislava to support the Javorinská Social Services Centre. Clients of that facility develop independence and a relationship with nature, for example, by cultivating an herb garden or raised flower beds.

This year, up to four Christmas vehicles

The musical Christmas tram is not the only attraction of this year’s season, however. As has become customary in recent years, we’ll be sending out the historic T2 tram, which many nostalgia buffs and fans of public transport still have vivid memories of, on several special trips. However, to bring the Christmas spirit to other parts of the city, we have this year also prepared for the first time a Christmas trolleybus in blue and white with the dominant features of Bratislava and a Christmas bus with embroidery on red and green knitwear. Both of these vehicles will be deployed on regular lines across the city with a standard fare, and the holiday spirit will also be presented to passengers by Christmas bells and jingling sounding during the announcement of stops. We’ll regularly publish information on which lines we will deploy these vehicles on the website DPB ↗︎.

You’ll find the trams under the snowflake pictogram

The route of the Christmas tram runs around the city centre, starting at the Jesenského stop. The vehicles will then serve the stops Centrum, Kapucínska, Chatam Sófer, Vodná veža and Most SNP before returning to Jesenského. The Christmas tram will operate from 5 December 2025 to 6 January 2026 on every weekday from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM and every weekend from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The only exception will be Christmas Eve, when the Christmas tram will not run. Riding the Christmas trams during standard runs will be free of charge.

Additional winter adjustments to timetables

Winter season for line 144

Starting on Saturday, 6 December, Dopravný podnik Bratislava will operate line 144 during free days and holidays when conditions are favourable for winter sports. The line will operate every 30 minutes on the Koliba – Kamzík route. Passengers can comfortably reach Koliba by line 44.

Reinforcing selected lines during pre-Christmas weekends

During the next three weekends, until Christmas, we will reinforce lines 9, 70, 88 and 98. We will deploy capacity vehicles on the lines to cover the demand for travel to shopping centres served by the mentioned lines. What’s more, line 80 will have special connections in the direction of Kollárovo námestie during public holidays after the arrival of trains from Vienna.