Minister rebuffs mayor's 50-cent bus plan to connect Toowoomba and Brisbane
Toowoomba's mayor has called for 50-cent buses to connect the city to Brisbane's rail network, but the transport minister has rejected the proposal citing existing private coach services.
A proposal to start connecting Toowoomba to Brisbane’s rail network now by bus has been rebuffed by the transport minister, as opinion remains divided over whether a new 50-cent fare proposal will actually work.
The Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley councils’ new push to create a passenger rail link to Brisbane has sparked thousands of responses from locals.
Along with demanding the release of a $15m business case into the proposal from 2024, mayor Geoff McDonald has called for the state government to consider linking Toowoomba to Rosewood with 50-cent buses, which would then feed into the train network.
A bus ticket to Brisbane, currently available through coach services like Murrays and Greyhound, can cost upwards of $30 one way.
“You can go from Gympie into Brisbane on a TransLink bus or a train for 50 cents — so is it not unreasonable in a connected SEQ to think that a conversation shouldn’t take place about having Toowoomba into Brisbane (connected) with 50 cents?” Mr McDonald said.
Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg made it clear the route was already being serviced by private coaches.
“We’re proud to have introduced the LNP’s permanent 50 cent fares for public transport across the whole state, including Toowoomba, which is delivering real cost of living relief for locals,” he said.
“The former Labor government had a decade to boost public transport across the Darling Downs but instead left the region behind.
“The Crisafulli government is getting on with the job of better connecting the community and is working closely with Toowoomba Regional Council, through council’s own Public Transport Levy to plan and deliver public transport improvements, like additional bus services, to meet the community’s needs.”
Mr Mickelberg’s team also reiterated passenger rail to Toowoomba would only be contingent on the development of the beleaguered Inland Rail.
In response to the minister’s comments, Toowoomba deputy mayor Rebecca Vonhoff said the council was happy to play the long game on advocacy for passenger rail.
“We get more ‘nos’ than ‘yeses’ (in general), we’re used to this so we need to make sure we show this makes sense and why this is a priority,” she said.
“We have more people living west of Brisbane, and it’s not stopping — that trend is increasing, not pausing.
“People’s experiences (using the Warrego Highway) speak for themselves — you’ve got people who are driving for personal and business reasons, people trying to move services and freight.
“They know this is an issue, we’re the ones stuck in the traffic, so we’ve got to plan for this infrastructure.”
Several readers said the discourse had highlighted how substandard the region’s public transport was, while others questioned whether another study was needed on the matter.
Some readers also argued the slowness of the overall trip would outweigh the reduced cost.
Here’s what you said:
Commute time outweighs cost savings
John
So if you live in Westbrook you catch a bus into the CBD wait for a bus to Rosewood then wait for a train there to then get dropped off in the city but your end destination is somewhere in Brisbane with no train service.
Terrence
Absolutely agree, 90 minutes from rosewood to central station as per current train timetable, add the 50 minutes for travel to Rosewood.
Samantha Webb
Erm, you can drive it quicker ….
Existing infrastructure limits speed
Adrian Cutts
A tilt train would most likely be speed capped if it is using existing track once you got past Ipswich into the wider Brisbane network: in much the same fashion our existing Tilts already have to turn off tilting once they get past Caboolture heading into Brisbane.
Ray Robinson
The existing line was great for the steam age when Qld was a relatively pauper colony. Today it is farcical to believe it is suitable for high speed passenger trains.
Brad Leis
I recently caught the Spirit of Queensland (the non tilting Cairns tilt train) to Mackay. It was an hour late getting to Mackay because of track conditions/ Speed restrictions.
Patrick Kajewski
In actuality, the Tilt Train services barely operate at their top speeds of 160/km/h. I think the average speeds of those services are around 80 km/h so this doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence for me.
Political manoeuvres over practical solutions
John
This is all smoke and mirrors stuff while he still flounders around with his day job. I notice he has not told us how much he is literally giving away in his big time study.
Michael Wiseman
We hear this every 20 years. When they finally divide to make it happen it’ll be 30 from that point!
Matty Greenfield
Coming to Toowoomba in the year 3068!
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Originally published as Minister rebuffs mayor's 50-cent bus plan to connect Toowoomba and Brisbane
