From Springwood to Carseldine: 22 new stations pitched for Brisbane Metro
By William Davis
The Brisbane Metro rapid bus service would be expanded further into the suburbs and out to the airport in time for the 2032 Olympic Games under a joint push from the council and the state government.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, Premier Steven Miles and the South-East Queensland Council of Mayors have launched a plan to extend Brisbane Metro services to Carseldine in the north, Capalaba in the east, Springwood in the south and out to Brisbane Airport.
The council and state government have now joined forces to expand the Brisbane Metro.
Brisbane City Council had previously flagged plans to extend the bus service to Chermside and Springwood, but Miles and Schrinner have since written to the federal government seeking funds to launch a feasibility study into 22 new suburban stations.
The $1.4 billion Brisbane Metro was designed to deliver rapid bus services across the city with a new fleet of high-capacity electric buses.
Under the existing project, 60 high-capacity buses would run along Brisbane’s existing busways, as well as a new tunnel beneath Adelaide Street in the CBD, connecting 18 stations from Eight Miles Plains to Roma Street and the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital to the University of Queensland.
The first stage from Eight Mile Plains to the UQ would open on October 21.
The Brisbane Metro will integrate with existing busways.Credit: Brisbane City Council
The state government long resisted backing the council bus project, but recently signed up to an agreement to split the operational costs for the Metro.
Transport Minister Bart Mellish said modelling by his department indicated the corridor north to Chermside and Carseldine was “the priority”.
The estimated costs of expanding the project and a timeline were yet to be confirmed.
How the plan would be affected by the Airtrain exclusivity agreement, which bars other public transport links to the airport until 2036, was also not clear.
Schrinner said $450 million earmarked for a new Metro bus station at Woolloongabba under the federal government’s South East Queensland City Deal could be reallocated.
He said the federal government had been “receptive” to early discussions.
“I think the stroke of a pen from the federal government can get us going on this. So, I think we’re pretty close, and the [Federal Infrastructure] Minister Catherine King has been receptive to those discussions,” Schrinner said.
“I think she understands what we’re pitching here, and has been open to that.”
During the Sydney 2000 and London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, overall public transport patronage increased by almost 1 million trips a day.
Brisbane grew faster than any other Australian capital city over the past 10 years, with another 1.55 million people expected to move to the city by 2041.
Brisbane public transport advocate Robert Dow, from lobby group Rail Back on Track, supported the expansion plans but reiterated calls to rename the project.
“Correct descriptions are important, ‘Brisbane Metro’ is bus rapid transit. Go to Sydney to see what a real Metro is. BERT is good bus rapid transit but let’s not pretend it is something it is not,” Dow said.
Logan City Council mayor Jon Raven said the expansion plan was “huge” for his region.
“Rapid public transport from Springwood to Brisbane would be an absolute game-changer for both our residents and our roads,” he said.
The independent Brisbane councillor for Tennyson Ward, Nicole Johnston, questioned why the proposed extensions ran “mainly parallel to existing train lines” and ignored the western suburbs – a criticism also levelled by the Greens.
Map showing extensions to the Brisbane Metro network
The proposed expansion of the Brisbane Metro.Credit: Brisbane City Council
The dotted green line shows the expansion out to Carseldine, from the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital through Kedron, Chermside and Aspley.
The dotted pink and orange lines show where services would be extended out to the airport, via the DFO.
The dotted purple line illustrates where Metro services would run out to Capalaba, via Camp Hill, Carina and Carindale.
And, the dotted blue line shows an extension from Eight Mile Plains to Rochedale and Springwood.
With Matt Dennien