Brisbane Metro
Brisbane Metro is a future high-frequency bus rapid transit system, servicing Brisbane, Australia. It will consist of two routes that will service the Brisbane central business district every three minutes during peak times, transporting up to 3,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
It will be serviced by 60 bi-articulated buses that can carry 150 passengers, or 180 passengers in 'event' mode. Together with Cross River Rail, the project widely claims to boost public transport reliability in Brisbane and alleviate congestion.
History
In January 2016, the Brisbane City Council 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.Originally planned to be operated by driver-less trains, in March 2017 it was revised to operate with high capacity bi-articulated buses reducing the cost by one-third. In November 2017 the BCC released its business case, detailing the benefits, costs and impacts of delivering the project. As at November 2017, the project was budgeted to cost $944 million.
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. In April 2018, the Federal Government agreed to contribute $300 million.
Subjects to approvals, the BCC expects the detailed design and construction of the project to commence in 2019 with services commencing by 2023. In October 2018 five consortia were shortlisted to bid for the building of stage 1.
- Brisbane Move Consortium: Acciona and Arup
- Lendlease Consortium: Lendlease and WSP
- MetroConnect Consortium: Laing O’Rourke, AECOM and Aurecon
- Metro4Bne Consortium: CPB Contractors, Seymour Whyte, Vinci and SMEC
- TransForm Bne Consortium: McConnell Dowell, John Holland and GHD
Routes
Metro Line 1
Metro Line 1 will connect the Eight Mile Plains with the Roma Street with 11 stations via the South East Busway. The line 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
Below is a list of proposed stations that Metro Line 1 will service and its available transport connections.| Station name | Public Transport connections |
| Eight Mile Plains | Local bus services |
| Upper Mount Gravatt | Local bus services |
| Griffith University | Local bus services |
| Holland Park West | |
| Greenslopes | |
| Buranda | Buranda railway station and local bus services |
| Mater Hill | Metro Line 2 |
| South Bank | South Bank railway station and Metro Line 2 |
| Cultural Centre | South Brisbane railway station, local bus services and Metro Line 2 |
| King George Square | Local bus services and Metro Line 2 |
| Roma Street | Roma Street railway station, Metro Line 2 and Cross River Rail |
Metro Line 2
Metro Line 2 will provide a key education, knowledge health corridor by connecting the University of Queensland with the Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Boggo Road transport hub and Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove Campus via the Eastern and Northern busways.Stations
Below is a list of proposed stations that Metro Line 2 will service and its available transport connections.| Station name | Public Transport connections |
| UQ Lakes | University of Queensland ferry wharf |
| Boggo Road | Park Road railway station, local bus services and Cross River Rail |
| PA Hospital | Local bus services |
| Mater Hill | Metro Line 1 |
| South Bank | South Bank railway station and Metro Line 1 |
| Cultural Centre | South Brisbane railway station, local bus services and Metro Line 1 |
| King George Square | Local bus services and Metro Line 1 |
| Roma Street | Roma Street railway station, Metro Line 1 and Cross River Rail |
| Normanby | |
| QUT Kelvin Grove | |
| Herston | |
| RBWH | Local bus services |
Vehicles
The project will introduce 60 special designed bi-articulated buses that have the capacity to carry up to 150 passengers that will be capable of using the existing busway infrastructure alongside regular bus services. During major events, the vehicles can be modified to allow up to 180 passengers. The Metro buses will be 24 metres long and visually resemble a tram or light rail vehicle.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 test vehicle will be delivered in 2020, with the remaining 59 to be delivered in 2023.