About the Authority
Run by the harbour, for the harbour
Maruvessa Transit Authority — in Vessic, the Maruvessa Sulvennat — has carried the people of Ilvaren Isle since 1 May 1938. We are a public body created by the Harbour Charter, owned by the city and the isles, answerable to every passenger who taps a Sulkort.
How we are run
The Authority is governed by a board of nine: four appointed by the City of Maruvessa, three by the Councils of the Tern Isles, and two elected by the Riders' Union of Maruvessa — the oldest passenger association on the Myrren Sea, founded in 1949. The board meets in public on the first Tuesday of each month at Tiracala Huset, and the minutes are posted on the wall of every station, in Vessic and in English, as the Charter requires.
Day to day, the network is run from the control room above Vesskai pier, where the duty controller can see every tram, train and ferry on one board — the same board, in older and dimmer technology, that hung there in 1968. Our operations speak a simple doctrine, written on the control room door: run the timetable, tell the truth about delays, and never let the last ferry leave without checking the pier for one more passenger.
Eleven centuries, five lines
- 861
Fishers and pearl-divers settle the eastern shore of Ilvaren Isle and found the market harbour of Maruvess. The Vessic language takes root around the quays.
- 1317
Maruvessa joins the Myrren League. Pearl money builds the bell towers of Gamstaden — and the first stone piers that ferries still call at today.
- 1864
The Sound Steam Packet Company runs its first scheduled crossing of the Myrsund. The ferry rota has run, in unbroken succession, ever since.
- 1897
The Maruvessa Tramways Company opens horse-drawn cars along the old town route. Electric traction follows in 1902 — the wires were the first on any island in the Myrren Sea.
- 1938
By the Harbour Charter of 1 May 1938, the city and the isles merge their tramways and packet companies into one authority: Maruvessa Sulvennat, the Maruvessa Transit Authority.
- 1968
Vessbanen, our first metro, opens from Nuvessa to Lyrmerr along the western shore. The city paints its first line diagram — teal, and it still is.
- 1994
Korrbanen opens with the Deep Line: nineteen metres beneath the sound, from Council Square up to the lighthouse hill of Lyrrisa.
- 2009
The step-free programme begins. Since then every metro station and every pier has been rebuilt for level boarding, one by one.
- 2026
The network carries 118 million journeys a year across five lines, and the Harbour Charter enters its eighty-ninth year. The last paper punch machine retires in August.
The mark and the language
The roundel of the Authority: Sel, the greater moon of the Myrren Sea, rising over two waves of the Myrsund. It was drawn in 1938 by the charter committee and has hung at every pier since. Simplified, it reads at the size of a fingertip — look at your browser tab.
Our stations speak two names because our city does. Vessic is the old language of the quays, spoken at home by roughly three in five islanders; English is the language of the sea trade. Every station sign, every ticket and every announcement carries both, as the Charter's fifth clause has required since 1938.
| Vessic | English |
|---|---|
| myrr | the sea |
| vess | harbour |
| banen | the line (metro) |
| strallen | the line (tram) |
| ferrjen | the ferry |
| tir | square |
| gate | street |
| kell | bell |
| sael | salt |
| lyr | lantern, light |
| sel | moon |
| sulven | to ride, to travel |
Accessibility
A network you cannot board is not a network. Every metro platform has level boarding, every tram of the current fleet has a ramp and a kneeling step, and every ferry has a step-free gangway. Two tram stops — Saelgat and Rustvag — remain only partially step-free while the rebuilt ramps finish in spring 2027. Staff are trained to assist, and a passenger needing help at any staffed station will always be walked, not directed, to the platform.
| Station | Lines | Step-free | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuvessa · New Harbour | M1 | Full | Northern terminus of Metro 1. Park & ride with 420 spaces. |
| Hjelmark · Elmfield | M1 | Full | — |
| Norrgat · Northgate | M2 | Full | Northern terminus of Metro 2, high on the Northgate ridge. |
| Selbvann · Seven Wells | M2 | Full | — |
| Tiracala · Council Square | M1 · M2 · T3 | Full | The heart of the network: Metro 1, Metro 2 and Tram 3 meet beneath Council Square. |
| Kellmark · Bellgate | M1 · T3 · T4 | Full | Named for the harbour bell of 1712. Metro 1, Tram 3 and Tram 4. |
| Saelgat · Saltgate | M1 · T4 | Partial | Step-free via the western ramp only. |
| Lyrmerr · Lantern Quay | M1 · F5 | Full | Southern terminus of Metro 1 and home pier of the Sea Ferry. |
| Vesskai · Harbour Pier | T3 · T4 · F5 | Full | Tram 3, Tram 4 and the Sea Ferry share one island pier. |
| Skolatir · College Green | T3 | Full | Serves the University of Maruvessa and the Symphony Hall. |
| Norrbro · Northbridge | T3 | Full | Northern terminus of Tram 3 at the Northbridge market. |
| Ostvess · East Harbour | M2 · T4 | Full | Metro 2 rises from the Deep Line tunnel to meet Tram 4 on the causeway. |
| Merrgat · Seagate | M2 · T4 | Full | Eastern interchange of Metro 2 and Tram 4. |
| Rustvag · Weavers' End | T4 | Partial | Southern terminus of Tram 4. Step-free via the northern entrance. |
| Selholm · Sela Isle | F5 | Full | Served by the Sea Ferry only. Cars are not permitted on Sela Isle. |
| Lyrrisa · Lightrise | M2 · F5 | Full | The old lighthouse hill of Karr Isle. Metro 2 terminus and Sea Ferry pier. |
Need assistance with a journey? Call the assistance line on +898 40 12 30 45 up to two hours before travel, or ask at any staffed station. For feedback on accessibility, use the contact form and choose Accessibility — those messages go directly to the accessibility officer and are answered within one working day.