Mechelen Boat Shuttles Expand Route to Bruul Shopping Street

Mechelen's popular electric boat shuttle service has expanded its reach, now offering direct access to the Bruul shopping street. This enhancement aims to make the city center more accessible and appealing to visitors and shoppers alike.

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The success continues to grow.

The expansion includes the addition of a third electric boat, named Malinska 5, and a new stop at Fonteinstraat, specifically catering to those wishing to shop on Bruul. This move responds to a long-standing request from the local business community.

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This is a unique concept for visiting the city. Other cities have tourist boats, but for us it is more than that. It is also a very pleasant means of transport that provides a mobility solution for the city of the future.

Mayor Bart Somers expressed his satisfaction with the growing success of the shuttle service, highlighting its unique appeal as a tourist attraction and a sustainable mobility solution for the future. Geert Milis, chairman of the Mechelen MeeMaken traders' committee, emphasized the importance of the new stop for bringing more people into the city center.

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For us, this is very important to get more people into the city center. We have been asking for a stop at the Fonteinbrug for a long time, so we are very happy about this.

The service operates every 20 minutes on Saturdays and every half hour on Sundays. Each boat can carry up to 40 passengers, though capacity is limited to 30-35 for comfort. With 19,000 annual users and consistently positive feedback, the boat shuttles are proving to be a successful initiative for Mechelen.

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Annually, 19,000 people use this service, and that number continues to grow. The reactions are also unanimously positive.