Overview
As every Brisbanite knows, the city's public transport leaves plenty to be desired. If you're not waiting for buses that don't show up or being routinely forced to catch overcrowded trains, you're wondering why there's no buses at all or why half the city's railways are out of action over a weekend. Or, you're simply dreading the impending Commonwealth Games rail nightmare.
One of the solutions that's been bandied around over the past few years is the Brisbane Metro, and it's getting closer to coming to fruition. Promising services every three minutes during peak periods, it will comprise two high-frequency lines linking existing busway stations and spanning 21 kilometres. That's the original proposal, with an extension also mooted — not only running from Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street on one line, and between the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the University of Queensland on the other, but also including Chermside, Carindale and Springwood. A new underground station at the Cultural Centre at South Bank is part of the plans as well.
This week, the project was given high priority status on Infrastructure Australia's priority list, "which is used by governments to guide future infrastructure investments," the Brisbane Metro website explains. It's the only Queensland proposal in that category, and it boosts its chances of securing the funding it needs.
More news is due in April, when the Brisbane City Council is set to reveal its Brisbane Metro draft design report. Don't start expecting to speed around the city just yet, however — as long as funding and approvals are received, formal procurement activities are expected to commence mid-this year, but construction isn't slated until 2019 to 2022, with services commencing in 2023.
Still, with a high-speed Brisbane to Sunshine Coast train route also part of a separate proposal, the city's public transport options might soon get quite the boost.
For more information, head to the Brisbane Metro website.