Hamburg is one of the few big cities where you can step onto a ferry with a normal public transport ticket. In the HVV system the harbour ferries are treated like any other line, with their own route numbers and regular timetables. Why this works here is geography and jobs. The Elbe and the port basins are real barriers, and the working waterfront is not a “tourist edge”. Ferries become the simplest way to connect places like Landungsbrücken and the south bank without forcing everyone onto a small set of bridges and tunnels. The history is older than most people assume. Hamburg granted a conc…
