Brisbane Metro is a planned high-frequency bus rapid transit system that will service Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It will consist of two routes that will run through the Brisbane central business district (CBD) every five minutes during peak times (12bph), transporting up to 1,800 passengers per hour in each direction.[1][2]
It will be serviced by 60 electric, bi-articulated buses that can carry 150 passengers, or 170 passengers in 'event' mode.[3] The system will largely use Brisbane's existing busway network infrastructure and stations, but there are a number of smaller infrastructure upgrades being built as part of the project. These include a new short tunnel underneath Adelaide Street in the CBD, an upgrade to the Cultural Centre bus station, the removal of car traffic from Victoria Bridge, and various streetscape upgrades.[4] The expected total cost of the project is $1.7 billion.[5]
Together with Cross River Rail, the project is intended to boost public transport reliability in Brisbane and alleviate congestion.[6]
History
In January 2016, the Brisbane City Council (BCC) announced the Brisbane Metro to address the current constraints and challenges facing the city's current busway network, which had reached capacity at many inner city sections.[7] This proposal incorporated the conversion of the busway from Woolloongabba to Herston into a rubber-tyred Metro with a single track to provide power and enable driverless operations.
In March 2017, while keeping the same name, the project was redefined with the project shifting to operating high capacity bi-articulated buses on the existing busway, reducing the cost by one-third.[8] The new buses would operate two routes which replace the 66 and 111/160 services.[1] In November 2017 the BCC released its business case, detailing the benefits, costs and impacts of delivering the project. In November 2017, the project was budgeted to cost $944 million.[9]
The BCC released a draft design report for the project in April 2018 with a project concept displayed publicly for community feedback, following the announcement that Brisbane Metro has been confirmed as a high priority project on Infrastructure Australia's priority list.[9][10] In April 2018, the Federal Government agreed to contribute $300 million.[11][12]
In June 2020, the project reduced the Cultural Centre upgrade from an underground station to an upgrade of the existing above ground station with an additional platform for local services heading towards West End.[13] This was due to a disagreement between the State Government, who owns the Busway, and the Council over what the optimal configuration of the underground station would look like. This disagreement resulted in the state government delaying approval to modify their property.[13]
Subjects to approvals, the BCC expects the detailed design and construction of the project to commence in 2019 with services commencing by 2023.[9] This was later revised to 2024.[9] In October 2018 five consortia were shortlisted to bid for the building of stage 1.[14]
ADCO Constructions began work on a 10-hectare (25-acre) depot at Rochedale in October 2021.[15]
In 2022, 5 years after the project was shifted to BRT the project's name was criticised by a rail lobby group for having a misleading name that implied it was a rail system, but Brisbane City Council rejected the idea of changing its name.[16] In late 2023 further complaints about the name were raised.[17] A poll by the Brisbane Times revealed 71% of respondents thought that Brisbane Electric Rapid Transit (BERT) was a better name.[18]
By February 2023, the cost had increased to an expected $1.7 billion.[5][2] A contributing factor was the inclusion of a new $450 million bus station to built at Woolloongabba, in line with the existing busway.[19]
Brisbane Metro will consist of two routes covering 21 kilometres, linking Brisbane's outer suburbs with the CBD.[21] The network uses the existing busway infrastructure and is planned to provide high-frequency services with three minutes headways during peak times.[22][23]
Metro 1
Metro 1 will replace the route 111 and 160, connecting Eight Mile Plains with Roma Street, with 11 stations via the South East Busway. The route is designed to provide a new trunk route from the southern suburbs to the inner-city, servicing key destinations and providing interchanges to other Translink services.
Stations
Inside a Metro bus
Below is a list of proposed stations that Metro 1 will service and its available transport connections.[24][1]
The project will introduce 60 bi-articulated buses based on the HESS lighTram 25[25] with the capacity to carry up to 150 passengers in comfort mode and capable of using the existing busway infrastructure alongside regular bus services.[9] In "event mode" the buses were announced as carrying up to 180 passengers, however this was subsequently revised to 170.[3] The Metro buses will be 24 metres long and visually resemble a tram or light rail buses.
On 24 November 2019, the BCC announced a consortium of Hess, Volgren and ABB had been awarded a contract for 60 buses. The buses will be fully electric and will charge at the end of each route for six minutes. The buses will be fully low-floor and have next stop displays and audible announcement of the next stop. In addition, they will also have USB charging points and four large double doors. A pilot bus was be built and tested in Europe in 2021. Originally planned by 2020, the pilot bus arrived in Brisbane for testing in early 2022.[26] Following successful testing an order for the further 59 was placed with delivers scheduled to start in late 2023 for operations in 2024.[27][28]
Depot
A depot will be built adjacent to the South East Busway at Rochedale.[14]
