City Hall apologises to those ‘misled’ over Metro trial – but digs in

The news

Brisbane City Council’s transport figurehead has conceded the administration might have “failed in communicating” its expectation that the much-hyped start of its $1.55 billion Metro bus project was only a trial.

But a former state government figure and the drivers’ union have added further weight to the council’s earlier contradicting statements that the vehicles’ use would continue until the full rollout began.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and then premier Steven Miles with their signed July funding deal featuring a “rapid deployment” of Metro vehicles on the 169 bus route from October.Credit: Annette Dew

The council insists services on the existing 169 bus route from Eight Mile Plains to the University of Queensland stopped on Sunday as planned – a claim now also drawing opposition accusations of lying.

“Perhaps we’ve failed in communicating that clearly, I accept that, and I apologise to anyone who feels that they’ve been misled,” council’s transport chair, Ryan Murphy, told 4BC Radio on Tuesday morning.

Why it matters

The long-delayed project was first announced in 2016 and its 60 vehicles had been expected to start running from late 2023 – later changed to a “soft launch”, which also failed to go ahead at that time.

A July funding agreement between the LNP council and Labor state government saw Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner tout full operation by year’s end and an earlier 169 route service from October.

After that launch turned into a “preview”, then quietly described by council transport chair Ryan Murphy as a four-week “trial” mentioned nowhere else, Murphy has flagged further change.

The full rollout of the formal Metro routes is now not expected until early in 2025, Murphy said this week – but key infrastructure elements of the project are not slated for finish until mid-year.

What they said

State Labor transport spokesman Bart Mellish, the former transport minister, issued the now-opposition’s strongest comments to date on Tuesday – directly disputing the councils claim.

“In July, it was agreed between the state government and Brisbane City Council that Brisbane Metro vehicles would commence on the 169 route from October – not trialled or previewed,” he said.

“This was the basis of our funding arrangement. David Crisafulli and the [state] LNP must step in and ensure Metro can operate.”

Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Tom Brown said he had understood Metro vehicles would continue on the 169 route until December, when they were to begin on the actual Metro routes, alongside wider bus network changes.

“They can’t do one but not the other,” he said. “It caught us out, and caught the drivers out.”

Brown also spoke of issues discovered with the door electronics, fixed before the recent services, and others that emerged in recent rain.

At a media conference on Tuesday, council’s Labor opposition leader Jared Cassidy went furthest: “I think Adrian Schrinner has been lying to the people of Brisbane … they need to come clean.

“I think the real reason that we’re seeing the early removal of these Metro buses is the Metro system is not ready to go.”

Another point of view

On Tuesday’s 4BC Radio Breakfast program, host Peter Fegan noted the word “trial” didn’t seem to appear in any council statements and pressed Murphy on whether the council had lied.

Murphy insisted the council always expected Metro vehicles’ use on the 169 route would end before Metro’s full launch, noting he mentioned this at an October 21 media event.

“Our intention was always to use this as a bit of a beta test with real customers,” Murphy said.

He said patronage on the route “falls off massively” outside of university semesters and the council wanted to use the time for fixes arising from public feedback rather than run the vehicles “empty”.

“We now need to take the Metros off that route, make those changes, and be ready for launch of services very early next year.”

Speaking during the later council meeting, Schrinner said the 169 service had been a “raging success”, but someone did not “have to be a genius” to realise it would end with the university semester.

As evidence, he tabled what was described as the August proposal from the council to network operator Translink which described a “customer services trial” in its background section, but no end date.

“We’re looking forward to a pending announcement with the state government on when the next part of the staged rollout of Metro will occur,” Schrinner said.

Premier David Crisafulli was contacted for comment, but said earlier this week that such talks were going “good”.

Responding to earlier questions from this masthead, a council spokesperson said recent rain-related door issues were not a “technical issue”, but would not be drawn on whether any broader fix was needed.

“During a big storm, water was coming in sideways from the busway roof … and this triggered a vehicle safety feature. The driver closed the door manually, which is standard procedure,” the spokesperson said.

With William Davis and Catherine Strohfeldt

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