Inner-city, Ferny Grove rail lines closed on same day as AFL elimination final at Gabba
The closure of two key Brisbane rail lines will force thousands of people on to buses for tonight’s sold-out AFL elimination final at the Gabba.
Thousands of people will be forced on to buses for tonight’s sold-out Lions vs. Suns elimination final at the Gabba because of the closure of two major rail routes.
The disruption comes on top of multiple protest rallies in Brisbane from midday on Saturday. The shutdown also have the potential to disrupt the transport of thousands of Bridge to Brisbane participants throughout the day on Sunday.
CBD and Ferny Grove lines shut from early Saturday morning and will not return to normal services until midnight on Sunday.
Affected stations and lines include: CBD lines; Bowen Hills; Fortitude Valley; Central; Roma St; Ferny Grove line; Bowen Hills; Wilston; Newmarket; Alderley; Enoggera; Gaythorne; Mitchelton; Oxford Park; Grovely; Keperra; Ferny Grove.
Railbuses will replace trains on the Ferny Grove line, with some train services from Roma St to Bowen Hills also diverted to buses.
The historic Gabba clash, starting at 7.30pm, is expected to attract 35,000 fans from across the southeast.
Many northsiders who had planned to catch a train would have to take railbuses for their entire journey, with others having to transfer to railbuses at Albion station or Bowen Hills.
The Roma St to Bowen Hills lines closed from early this morning and would not reopen until midnight on Sunday.
Some trains would run express between Roma St and Albion stations, bypassing Bowen Hills, Fortitude Valley and Central stations.
Timetabled railbuses will replace other trains between Roma St, Bowen Hills and Ferny Grove stations. Ferny Grove trains will not run at all.
The public transport closure was also likely to add frustration to the travels of hundreds of people attending multiple rallies in Brisbane’s Central Business District.
They included the Australia Unite protest led by The People’s Revolution in the City Botanic Gardens, part of a nationwide series of demonstrations supporting assassinated US rightwing figure Charlie Kirk.
Anti-fascist group Sovereignty Never Ceded planned to march from King George Square, over Victoria Bridge, to Musgrave Park.
Queensland Rail said the Ferny Grove closure was needed to safely carry out maintenance at the Arbor St level crossing in Ferny Grove.
There would also be a traffic diversion via Glenariff St, McGinn Rd, Tramway St and Samford Rd, with those streets closed from 6am-8pm today.
RAIL CLOSURES/CHANGES IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
Rail closures are planned almost every weekend for the next two months, plus during the week, starting from Caboolture to Landsborough on September 16 and September 17.
That closure would allow critical upgrades to the Sunshine Coast rail line to be undertaken.
Buses would replace trains during the closure.
It comes amid widespread anger and confusion over Translink’s new planner mobile app which hundreds of people have complained about on social media.
They claimed it was even more difficult to navigate than the mytranslink app it replaced.
Customers could also visit translink.com.au or call 13 12 30.
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Originally published as Inner-city, Ferny Grove rail lines closed on same day as AFL elimination final at Gabba
