Future Brisbane: Airtrain the only airport mass transit for 2032 Games

The only mass public transport to and from Brisbane Airport during the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the Airtrain, due to an exclusive deal with operators.

The Airtrain service at Brisbane Airport on Sunday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

• Editorial: Dud deal then, and now

The only mass public transport to and from Brisbane Airport during the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the Airtrain, due to an exclusive deal with operators.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey has confirmed negotiations to potentially cut short the 35-year contract – which prohibits public buses being run to either the domestic or international terminal – have broken down.

It also poses a problem for Brisbane Airport as it gets ready to expand its workforce from 20,000 to 30,000 employees in time for the Games.

“TMR (Transport and Main Roads) and the owners of Airtrain CityLink are no longer in discussions about incorporating airport services into the Translink network,” Mr Bailey said.

“These discussions were commercial in nature and no further comment can be provided.”

The state government reiterated its committed to fulfilling its contractual obligations to Airtrain – which charges almost $20 per person to go to Central Station – until it expired in 2036.

Brisbane Airport, based on population projections, is estimating 30 million passengers a year will filter through by 2032 up from the 20 million travellers currently.

And it will need to significantly boost its workforce for the 600 businesses that keep the place running, with pressures growing on how to get employees in and out of the precinct with just one public transport link.

“Forty per cent of the morning peak traffic on the roads to Brisbane Airport is workers … the problem is if you don’t have a car, you have very limited chances to work out here,” Brisbane Airport spokesman Stephen Beckett said.

Airtrain, under a deal inked in 1998, involved a consortium of private businesses paying to build an 8.5km line for about $200m before owning and operating it until 2036, when the asset will be handed over to the state government.

Brisbane locals Maddie Butterfield and Kyle McDermott return from a weekend away in Melbourne on Sunday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Airtrain, now owned by London-based Universities Superannuation Scheme, has a monopoly on public transport services to and from Brisbane Airport as part of the contract — preventing Brisbane City Council or Translink from running buses into either terminal.

It is more economical for two or more people to use a taxi or rideshare services like Uber.

And services run only every 15 minutes during peak hours and 30 minutes outside those windows, with the first service from the airport starting at 5am and the last leaving at 11pm.

Brisbane City Council transport chair Ryan Murphy said Airtrain was a “complete disaster” and was too costly and inconvenient for local travellers and the thousands of people who worked at the airport.

“Mark Bailey has washed his hands of this as if it isn’t his problem, meanwhile Airtrain and its pitiful patronage will limp on,” Cr Murphy said.

“Our message to Queensland’s strife-prone transport minister is simple, do your job and fix the Airtrain.”

Airtrain chief executive Chris Basche said the company would not comment on commercial discussions with the department about its concession arrangements.

He said Airtrain was performing well, with overall passenger volumes above pre-pandemic levels. In 2019 more than 1.4 million passengers took the train.

First-time Airtrain passengers Kyle McDermott and Maddie Butterfield shared their frustrations with the privatised service, comparing its inaccessibility to that of Melbourne airport from which they had flown in.

“It doesn’t sit well with me,” Mr McDermott said.

“It seems inaccessible for people on a budget. Having options that people can choose would make sense.

“Economically, you should probably just go and get an Uber.”

Ms Butterfield added: “It does seem a bit excessive.

“In Nice in France, $5 gets you straight into the city and it’s a half an hour bus.

“You could reduce the cost or introduce other transport systems like buses.”