Take an early ride on 24/7 Brisbane Metro
A lucky 100 Brisbane locals were able to experience a trip on the yet-to-open Brisbane Metro with a surprise celebrity unveiled as the voice of the service.
Brisbane City
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A lucky 100 Brisbane locals were able to experience a trip on the yet-to-open Brisbane Metro on Saturday with a surprise celebrity unveiled as the voice of the service.
The news service featured real-time trip information display alongside with the announcement, reminding passenger where they are, what the stops are and the current time.
It also included a ramp that automatically pops out when the door opens for people in a wheelchair.
Brisbane greeter Annemarie White, who offers tours to visitors, said she loved the big windows and the on-board announcement.
“I like the actual communication of stops, because if you’re going on an area that you don’t know, I know that the new stop is going to be Greenslopes.
“I don’t travel to this area at all, so for me, it’s a little bit of a tourism experience.”
Brisbane City Council Transport Chair, Councillor Ryan Murphy said the Metro will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week – even on the weekends and public holidays.
“The network will never turn off, and that’s a really big step change for Brisbane,” he said.
“This is the start of the 24/7 city of Brisbane.”
Cr Murphy also said it will enable Council to have the service arriving every three minutes.
“The Metro allows us to ramp up frequency on the busway, during off peak and the peak,” he said.
“At the moment, trips along the routes that we’re replacing only arrive every five minutes.
“This means that passengers don’t have to have a timetable. They just need to turn up and go.”
Brisbane actor Melanie Zanetti, who has been the voice behind the worldwide famous animated character Bluey’s mother Chilli Heeler since the series went on air in 2018, will be announcing real-time travel information including stops, the location’s points of interest and interchange for other services.
Cr Murphy said there was a very high chance you’ve heard her even thought you might not know who she is.
“We are so excited that visitors to Brisbane will be able to hear her voice, a warm, engaging and familiar voice on Brisbane Metro each and every time they step on board,” he said.
German tourist Mahesh Buettner, 19, who won a social media campaign to get on the ride, was impressed by the vehicle.
“It was pretty smooth.”
The Metro will bring an additional 30 million seats on the busway a year after the first phase rolls out from UQ Lakes to Eight Mile Plains on October 21.
But Brisbane residents can have an early peek at the Rochedale depot open day on Sunday.
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