Brisbane: Bus Electric Rapid Transit (' Brisbane Metro ')

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/976642823087833088

[SteelPan]

Brisbane needs a REAL Underground Metro RAIL Proposal   

Neither CRR or the banana-bus empowered "metro" are anywhere near the scope of what's required.

CRR DOES offer growth for heavy rail in SEQ
Quirk's METRO will enhance SE Bus Way

Where's this leave the rest of Brisbane. For example, if you're in parts of downtown Brisbane, ie, Eagle St....nothing's going to change!

[#Metro]

Hi SteelPan,

Do you have Google Maps? Would you perhaps draw up some lines of where you think this steel wheel metro should go and the rationale for that?

[kram0]

Hi SteelPan,

Do you have Google Maps? Would you perhaps draw up some lines of where you think this steel wheel metro should go and the rationale for that?

I agree we need a proper metro to complement other transport modes and we also need to cover the areas of the inner city with high population density. See below link to a great plan I saw a couple of years ago. We just need government leaders with vision now. (Let's not hold our breath).

https://brisbanedevelopment.com/brisbane-needs-an-east-west-mass-rapid-transit

[techblitz]

After todays effort.....i support anything that keeps BT/BCC buses away from the rail network.....send it all into metro and be done with it...

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Brisbane Metro fast-tracked to 2019 ease commuter pain

THE Brisbane Metro has leapfrogged the Cross River Rail project and been given the green light to go ahead.

Infrastructure Australia has approved the mass transit system across the Victoria Bridge, declaring that it is of national significance, leaving securing funding the last ­hurdle it will face.

IA bosses said that it was "one of the best projects in Australia" in terms of productivity gains, economic benefit, and getting more out of existing infrastructure.

The $944 million Metro, which was the signature project of Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk in the 2016 election campaign, would save commuters up to 10 minutes during peak times.

But Cross River Rail still needs more detail before getting approval, with its business case falling short.

The details will be revealed as Infrastructure Australia's priority list for 2018 is released today.

Also receiving approval will be the $722 million Beerburrum to Nambour rail line upgrade business case, which will see the duplication of 20km of rail between Beerburrum and Landsborough.

A State Government spokeswoman said the CRR was still its number one priority.

"In fact, the Brisbane Metro and Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrades will only be effective with the extra capacity Cross River Rail allows for," she said.

The Brisbane Metro will provide "high-frequency, high-capacity" services from Eight Mile Plains and Herston to the CBD, aimed at easing the bus bottleneck at the Cultural Centre Station.

The council has said it will pay for two-thirds of the Brisbane Metro, while seeking the remaining cost from the Federal Government.

Construction could commence as early as 2019 with a forecast completion in 2022.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

27th March 2018

Green light for Brisbane Metro and Sunshine Coast Line upgrade

Good Morning,

Some good news!  Infrastructure Australia has approved the Brisbane Metro project and the duplication of Sunshine Coast rail between Beerburrum and Landsborough business cases.  Couriermail --> Brisbane Metro fast-tracked to 2019 ease commuter pain

We have always supported the bi-articulated bus Brisbane Metro as it capitalises on the existing busway infrastructure and takes it to the next level.  The fact that much of the infrastructure already exists (the busways) helps make this project stack up strongly.

We have advocated relentlessly for many years now to get the Sunshine Coast Line upgraded.  This is great news that the next stage Beerburrum to Landsborough duplication has been approved by Infrastructure Australia. It stacks up as we have always maintained.
The improved train capacity and reliability is desperately needed.  Cross River Rail will ultimately complement better services however in the same way that the duplication between Coomera and Helensvale on the Gold Coast improved services (without Cross River Rail) the same benefit will accrue for the Sunshine Coast Line now.

Both projects need to proceed immediately in our view.

Best wishes,
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

Jeff Addison
Sunshine Coast Region Spokesperson for RAIL Back On Track

References:

1. Brisbane bi-articulated bus ' Metro ' Plan > https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=12687.msg188913#msg188913

2. The Sunshine Coast Case : Rail duplication Beerburrum to Nambour > https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6647.0

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/978305581025865728

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Brisbane Metro is the right solution to problem of bus congestion


A map showing Brisbane Metro and Cross River Rail alignment.

INFRASTRUCTURE Australia's decision to list the proposed Brisbane Metro as one of the nation's high-priority projects is certainly a welcome development.

The city's dedicated busway network, which was built under the Beattie government, was a visionary project that commuters have voted to support through enduring patronage growth.

Yet the busways have become a victim of their own success in recent years, with bottlenecks that are severely harming the efficiency of bus travel.

This problem is driving people back into their cars. It is particularly bad for commuters from Brisbane's southern suburbs who are forced to queue for extended periods in the tunnel before the grossly inadequate Cultural Centre station, which reached capacity in 2013.

The genesis of Brisbane Metro was far from a textbook example of planning to future-proof the city.

An artist's impression of the Brisbane Metro system.

Amid a concerted election challenge from energetic Labor mayoral candidate Rod Harding in 2016, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk rushed out an ill-defined subway system to counter his opponent's light rail plan.

That project has morphed into the $1.2 billion Brisbane Metro, which involves revamping the existing busways to integrate elongated buses and building a new underground Cultural Centre station.

Unlike either of the two proposals first outlined amid the maelstrom of the council election, Brisbane Metro is the right solution to the right problem.

Recognition by Infrastructure Australia, the Commonwealth's independent assessor of public projects, should be a harbinger for a funding deal between all three levels of government.

According to IA, the Metro shot straight from the drawing board to high-priority status because of a predicted public transport boom.

"Demand for public transport is increasing, driven by employment growth centred on the inner city, while most population growth is occurring in middle-ring and outer suburbs," IA's latest report stated.

"In 2016, an average of 368,000 passengers boarded buses each day in Brisbane. This is projected to grow to 581,000 passengers each day by 2031, a 58 per cent increase."

This will come as no surprise to anyone who commutes regularly around Brisbane or the wider southeast corner.

What a shame IA didn't accept the same argument last year when assessing Cross River Rail, which will provide a second southern rail crossing into Brisbane's CBD and prevent a choke point when demand exceeds the system's ability to supply.

The body surmised the benefits of the $5.4 billion inner-city rail project had been "significantly overstated" because they included predicted patronage growth never achieved anywhere in the world.

Never mind that IA's assessment included several comical errors, including a map that put the Brisbane CBD on the wrong side of the river and the invention of a new suburb called "Hill Gate".

What was most irksome was the claim that CRR wouldn't produce a positive benefit/cost ratio because it gave the Turnbull Government the perfect excuse not to financially back the project.

This has forced the Palaszczuk Government to go it alone on CRR, a move that will strip vital funding from other infrastructure projects across the state and force up the state's already burgeoning debt.

While IA's support for Brisbane Metro is welcome, it should be pointed out that the project's benefit/cost ratio is only so positive because it solves a problem that's been allowed to escalate for years.

If the same approach was taken with CRR, the project's already formidable costs would soar and the flow-on price of crippling congestion would be enormous.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/978369746625118208

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane Metro a 'high priority' on national infrastructure list

The Brisbane Metro has been listed as one of just six projects listed as a "high priority" in Infrastructure Australia's latest priority list, boosting its chances of receiving significant federal funding.

It was the only Queensland project in the top tier list, with the Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrade appearing in the "priority projects" list.

Both the metro and the Sunshine Coast rail upgrades were, according to Infrastructure Australia, national priorities and "investment-ready".

They were among $1.7 billion worth of Queensland projects slated as national priorities in the latest Infrastructure Priority List, released on Tuesday.

It came after Infrastructure Australia approved the business cases for the $940 million Brisbane Metro and the $750 million Sunshine Coast rail duplication.

Infrastructure Australia chief executive Philip Davies said the list prioritised opportunities which would relieve the pressure on major bottlenecks and reduce congestion.

Mr Davies described the Brisbane Metro as a "transformative project", and it was listed as a high priority project.

"Currently, Brisbane's South East Busway is subject to significant delays and long queues of buses awaiting access to Victoria Bridge," he said.

"Passengers are experiencing travel times of up to 50 per cent longer than scheduled, something which will be exacerbated as the population of the inner-city is expected to grow by around 2 per cent per year to 2041."

The Beerburrum to Nambour rail upgrade was listed as a priority project, after being moved up from the list of initiatives, following approval from the Infrastructure Australia board.

Two M1 Pacific Motorway proposals - Eight Mile Plains to Daisy Hill and Varsity Lakes to Tugun - were added to the list as priority initiatives.

"These proposals will be critical to providing significant additional capacity between the Brisbane CBD and population growth areas in the southern Gold Coast and northern New South Wales, and resolving safety issues along the route," Mr Davies said.

He said there was a big focus this year on supporting public transport connections in cities and regions.

"One such proposal is the new initiative to improve rail network capacity on the Brisbane to Gold Coast rail line," Mr Davies said.

Infrastructure Australia said Brisbane Metro would complement the Queensland government's Cross River Rail project, by providing an interchange between the bus and rail networks south of the CBD and at Roma Street.

However, Cross River Rail continued to languish as a high priority initiative, but not a priority project, with the "next steps" listed as business case development.

"Projects" are advanced proposals that have had a full business case assessment by Infrastructure Australia and have been positively evaluated to address a nationally significant problem.

"Initiatives" are proposals that have been identified to potentially address a nationally significant problem, but require further development and assessment and determine if they are the most appropriate solution.

In mid-2017, Infrastructure Australia argued the benefits of Cross River Rail were "significantly overstated" and its $5.4 billion cost was likely to exceed its benefits.

But Deputy Premier Jackie Trad hit back, slamming the draft evaluation summary as flawed.

"We have been backwards and forwards with Infrastructure Australia since they've had the business case and supplied additional information at their request," Ms Trad said last year.

"None of that information has been included in their analysis of the business case. This is incredibly disappointing."

The Palaszczuk government has vowed to fund Cross River Rail without federal government help.

The other high priority projects on IA's high priority list were the Western Sydney Airport, M4 Motorway upgrade, Sydney Metro: City and Southwest, and WestConnex (all Sydney) and Melbourne's M80 Ring Road upgrade.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/978378570127912961

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/9NewsQueensland/status/978503595623571456

[ozbob]

Brisbane Metro latest project newsletter > https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/20180327-metro-newsletter-march-2018.pdf

[300LA]

Does anyone know how they get 22,000pax/hr with 3min headways and a capacity of 150-250 per bus?

I'm assuming it's actually 11,000pax/hr/direction.
Based on 250pax x 2 lines x 2 directions x (60/3)

Isn't this capacity achievable with the existing busway already?

[ozbob]

Claimed capacity of 22,000 passengers per hour - higher than existing busway (note: BrizCommuter is yet to verify this claim).   

Assume that we have a vehicle with a capacity of 256 passengers (Fraunhofer IVI Autotram Extra Grand).

22 000 divided by 256 = 85.93 (round up to 86).

That's 86 buses per hour.

There are 3600 seconds in one hour (60 min x 60 sec/min)

Therefore

3600 seconds / 86 buses =  ~ A bus every 42 seconds.

===============================================================

Buses run every 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 60 seconds or 30 seconds give the following theoretical line capacities:

Every 3 minutes: (60 min / 3 min) x 256 = 5120 pphd

Every 2 minutes: (60 / 2 min) x 256 = 7680 pphd

Every 60 seconds: (60/1) x 256 = 15 360 pphd < ---- This is around the current busway capacity

Every 30 seconds: 120 x 256 = 30 720 pphd. <---- metro capacity

The vehicle choice and ultimate design will be absolutely critical. Having one or two doors will not cut it, nor will any kind of on board payment. Any kind of delay like that is likely to cause massive bunching or delays. The overall capacity is very sensitive to the frequency when it is below 60 seconds.

It will also be essential that these buses can reliably run every 30 seconds on the busway. Two buses need to dock at a platform at any one time to avoid having to wait (~ 60 m platforms seem likely).

Buses that have capacities less than 256 passengers/vehicle will obviously need to run at higher frequency to maintain any given line capacity OR will have a lower line capacity overall.

Footnote:  The SEB can achieve 18K pphpd at present, though sustainable at around 15K pphpd.

[#Metro]

BCC has been naughty in its marketing and stated the total busway capacity of the Metro + Existing buses...

Boosts the capacity
of the busway to 22,000
carry up to PEOPLE PER HOUR

The capacity of the Metro alone will be 5120 pphd. If the two lines run at 3 minutes individually, it will be double this, so 10,240 pphd.

It, however, represents an efficiency as it will up to quadruple driver productivity during peak hour (assuming 1 bus holds 256 pax, versus a standard bus of 65). A second efficiency will come from consistent loadings as 'air' is expelled from connecting buses at interchanges.

This means two things in the medium to longer term:

- drivers can be paid a little more $$
- the possibility of more services elsewhere on the network

Calculation

Fraunhofer IVI 256 pax (A)
Standard BCC bus 65 pax (B)

divide (A) into (B) = 256/65 = 3.93 times the passengers

The assumption is also made that the bus fills to capacity during peak hour.

Brisbane Metro March Newsletter 2018
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/20180327-metro-newsletter-march-2018.pdf

[hU0N]

A second efficiency will come from consistent loadings as 'air' is expelled from connecting buses at interchanges.

This won't happen.

At current, the buses all run full between Mater Hill and Buranda. So 4 buses arrive at Mater Hill carrying 250pax between them, maybe 22pax get off each bus there. Another 8pax get off each bus at Southbank. By the time these buses reach cultural centre, they are half full.

How would this work with biartics? Presumably four regular buses arrive at the transfer point, say Buranda (because it's the station I'm familiar with). If everything is the same as at present, there will be 250pax on these buses. (As someone who rides from Buranda every morning in peak, I can assure you that this is how peak hour buses arrive at Buranda). These 250pax get onto a biartic, filling it. The biartic travels via mater hill where 90pax get off, then Southbank where another 30pax alight and by the time it reaches cultural centre, it's half full.

Or imagine that the transfer point is further out at say Mt Gravatt. Maybe the four buses arrive here with 45pax each. We know that each bus currently collects another 20pax between Mt Gravatt and Buranda, so the biartic needs to leave Mt Gravatt with at least 80 empty seats so that there's space for passengers at Holland Park, Greenslopes etc. And by the time it reached Mater Hill, it'd bee full, but by cultural centre it'd be half empty.

In fact even if you insisted that the biartic leave Mt Gravatt full (and left all the passengers at Greenslopes etc stranded), it would STILL be half full by the time it reached the cultural centre.

The point is that (counterintuitively) the reason buses are carrying so much air at the cultural centre is because they're at capacity (and are therefore unable to bring in enough people to keep the buses full past the mater), not because the buses are under capacity.

The only solution would be for half the buses to short turn at Southbank and transfer pax to the through running buses. The problem with doing this is that buses going as far as Southbank need to continue to GOMA or, after metro is built, QS to turn around. Which entirely wipes out your efficiency gain.

[#Metro]

There is a bus every 12 seconds through the Woolloongabba junction.
That's 300 buses x 65 pax = 19,500

A reasonable amount of pax is 12000 - 15000 pphd actual bums on seats.
That gives at least 20% - 40% air on average.

We also know that some buses are capable of carrying more pax but instead more seating was put on.

I do think that more buses are required, every 3 minutes is likely not enough. I would also like to see these buses run off busway in the Western Suburbs so that the gross duplicating on Coronation Drive can be dealt with. It might be the only thing that convinces BCC to bring back the bus lane there.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Residents need more information about Brisbane Metro: Lord mayor

Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk has admitted residents still needed to be informed about what the $944 million largely ratepayer-funded Brisbane Metro was.

On the back of Tuesday's announcement that the metro had been listed as one of the six "high-priority" projects by Infrastructure Australia, Cr Quirk said the project was well placed and would hopefully receive an additional $300 million in the federal budget.

The almost $1 billion Brisbane Metro project is a high-frequency public transport system that would link Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital to the University of Queensland.

The 60 metro vehicles, each with a capacity of 150 people, would run across 21 kilometres of existing busway infrastructure at a frequency of every three minutes in peak periods.

A Brisbane Times reader poll from February revealed 51 per cent of residents supported the Brisbane Metro project, while a further 30 per cent didn't know if they supported it and 19 per cent said they did not support the project.

When Cr Quirk was asked on Tuesday if he believed residents truly understood what the project was he said an education process was still required for residents.

"But, the important thing is that they do understand it will mean a significant improvement in travel time on public transport along those corridors," he said.

"All cities start with a position around a single metro from there they can develop and that's what I'm saying about Brisbane, this is the start of a significant public transport journey."

It has been more than two years since Cr Quirk first announced the council's Brisbane Metro plan.

In that time the project has evolved from a $1.54 billion single route subway system to a $944,000 bi-articulated bus fleet that would service two-routes by way of existing infrastructure.

The ever-changing project was the only Queensland project on the top-tier Infrastructure Australia list.

Infrastructure Australia chief executive Philip Davies said the Brisbane Metro was a "transformative project".

Brisbane Metro timeline:

January 2016 - Graham Quirk announced $1.54 billion high-frequency subway system which would be rubber-tyred and run on tracks and link Woolloongabba to Herston

November 2016 – The council considered a driverless Brisbane Metro

February 2017 – Council's public transport chairman Adrian Schrinner admitted in a committee meeting the council was looking at a high-capacity bus system instead

March 2017 - The metro system was now two routes and the overall cost has reduced from $1.54 billion to less than $1 billion. Metro 1 is between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street and Metro 2 is between the University of Queensland and Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. It was revealed the vehicles were not limited to tracks and would run across 21 kilometres of existing busway.

March 2017 - Graham Quirk described the vehicles as not being limited to set tracks but refused to call them buses.

March 2017 – Council looked at two concepts as it finalised its business case – the "metro" seems more likely to be a 30-metre electric powered bus

April 2017 – Council's public transport chairman Adrian Schrinner said metro could eventually extend to Chermside, Carindale and Springwood

May 2017 – Metro business case revealed the services would be non-stop on weekends and at least 20 hours on weekdays.

October 2017 – Council announced they would buy land in South Brisbane and Rochedale to move the Brisbane Metro project to the next step

March 2018 – Land purchases at South Brisbane and Rochedale delayed

March 2018 – The Brisbane Metro was listed as one of six "high priority" projects by Infrastructure Australia

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/980120592174034944

[SurfRail]

A second efficiency will come from consistent loadings as 'air' is expelled from connecting buses at interchanges.

This won't happen.

At current, the buses all run full between Mater Hill and Buranda. So 4 buses arrive at Mater Hill carrying 250pax between them, maybe 22pax get off each bus there. Another 8pax get off each bus at Southbank. By the time these buses reach cultural centre, they are half full.

How would this work with biartics? Presumably four regular buses arrive at the transfer point, say Buranda (because it's the station I'm familiar with). If everything is the same as at present, there will be 250pax on these buses. (As someone who rides from Buranda every morning in peak, I can assure you that this is how peak hour buses arrive at Buranda). These 250pax get onto a biartic, filling it. The biartic travels via mater hill where 90pax get off, then Southbank where another 30pax alight and by the time it reaches cultural centre, it's half full.

Or imagine that the transfer point is further out at say Mt Gravatt. Maybe the four buses arrive here with 45pax each. We know that each bus currently collects another 20pax between Mt Gravatt and Buranda, so the biartic needs to leave Mt Gravatt with at least 80 empty seats so that there's space for passengers at Holland Park, Greenslopes etc. And by the time it reached Mater Hill, it'd bee full, but by cultural centre it'd be half empty.

In fact even if you insisted that the biartic leave Mt Gravatt full (and left all the passengers at Greenslopes etc stranded), it would STILL be half full by the time it reached the cultural centre.

The point is that (counterintuitively) the reason buses are carrying so much air at the cultural centre is because they're at capacity (and are therefore unable to bring in enough people to keep the buses full past the mater), not because the buses are under capacity.

The only solution would be for half the buses to short turn at Southbank and transfer pax to the through running buses. The problem with doing this is that buses going as far as Southbank need to continue to GOMA or, after metro is built, QS to turn around. Which entirely wipes out your efficiency gain.

You do realise buses run outside peak hour, yes?

[matlock]

If buses are full up until Mater and then half full after Cultural, then the obvious solution is to run more buses or bi-artics between Mt Gravatt and Cultural so those who otherwise couldn't fit can find a spot.

At this point we should be considering adding extra lanes to the busway along the M1 to the Mater. There are three busways (coming from UQ, from Mt Gravatt and from Langlands Park) which all merge before Mater so the obvious problem is a lack of space at stations and a lack of lanes. Creatively this could be solved by having two lanes each direction and two platforms for each direction (four platforms, one on each side and two on an island floating in the middle) for busway/Metro stations from Mater to Cultural.

Inbound the UQ service (Metro 1) would use the outside lanes and platforms, with bi-artics from Eight Mile Plains and buses from south using either the outer or inner inbound platforms (depending on which has the least traffic). Buses heading through Stones Corner can use the inner platform inbound. Outbound would be reverse (UQ using inner island platform, 8MP using either, Carindale using the outer). The reason for this would be that then a bus heading toward Carindale along the Eastern busway wouldn't have to turn across any buses and wait for other buses or Metro services to pass.

The busways in Brisbane are a pretty huge success. They're suffering now because of congestion and Metro will help alleviate this, but more platforms to allow pax to board and disembark faster (and more easily identify which services they want to catch) will also go quite some ways to improving the capacity issues. The huge queues at Cultural across Grey Street could be drastically reduced if there was a platform 3 and 4 to allow more buses to stop and/or bypass the station completely if full. Added lanes could then be used to segregate bus and Metro services into their destinations. Admittedly this makes more sense on the outbound trips than trips into the city (where everyone is wanting to go).

[#Metro]

Key questions about the buses will be:

- Which bus will the BCC buy, and what will the capacity of the bus be? If I were BCC I would aim for getting the largest bus possible that works on the network. At least 250 pax, possibly higher than this.

- Will some buses be allowed to run on roads like Coronation Drive? Larger buses to key interchange points such as Indooroopilly would be a massive improvement and end duplication along Coronation Drive or Old Cleveland Road.

[aldonius]

Well, there's no reason that the Centenary BUZ can't be run with our current artics, surely.

And more of them will be freed up once Metro takes over the 66, 169 and 111...

[James]

- Will some buses be allowed to run on roads like Coronation Drive? Larger buses to key interchange points such as Indooroopilly would be a massive improvement and end duplication along Coronation Drive or Old Cleveland Road.

No need - use the railway line instead of Coronation Drive. Simple.

For OCR, we'll get a busway out that way eventually - perhaps Metro 2 will run Carindale - UQ via Buranda one day? Sort of like the planned extension to UBC on the Evergreen Line in Vancouver.

[techblitz]

No need - use the railway line instead of Coronation Drive. Simple.

nice april fools joke.....

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/983145291133022208

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/984265614641344512

[ozbob]

This image was tweeted by Cr Schrinner in response to someones comment that ' you never show the wheels ' ... 

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/986153084647702528

https://twitter.com/Schrinner/status/986154072112689153

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/986711005580247040

[ozbob]

The Guardian --> How 'short-term politics' is putting the brakes on Brisbane's public transport

The two public transport projects are designed to work together, unlike the federal and Queensland governments

Together they are Brisbane's most significant public transport projects – two plans to prevent river bottlenecks for city buses and trains.

The Brisbane metro and cross-river rail projects are even designed to work together. If only the federal and Queensland governments could get on board and agree on a direction.

Guardian Australia understands the federal government will allocate roughly $300m in funding for the Brisbane metro bus project in the upcoming budget. The rest of the $1bn total cost comes from the Brisbane city council, which manages the bus network.

On Monday, federal Labor promised $2.2bn for cross-river rail, a project the Queensland government is already committed to financing without federal help. So far, the Turnbull government won't help pay for the rail plan, which involves building four new underground stations and alleviating a key choke point, citing problems with the state's business case.

In 2012, a version of the cross-river rail plan was assessed as "ready to proceed" by Infrastructure Australia. But IA now instead ranks the metro project among its top priorities nationally and says "the benefits of [cross-river rail], as set out in the business case, are significantly overstated, and the costs of the project as currently presented are likely to exceed its benefits".

The metro project scores higher than cross-river rail on a cost-benefit analysis. Largely because the cost is relatively low, work could start immediately, and a bus interchange at the South Brisbane cultural precinct is long overdue.

Brisbane is also a bus city. Dedicated busways allow for short and efficient trips. The city's rail network is not as extensive as in Sydney or Melbourne, and buses are a more convenient form of travel for many residents.

The deputy premier, Jackie Trad, says the state is very supportive of the metro, which will ultimately compliment cross-river rail.

Trad says the rail project, which she has consistently championed, has a full and peer-reviewed business case, and would allow the government to expand the network, which is likely to become overcrowded within a decade.

"Without [cross-river rail], rail services will be completely unable to keep up with growth," Trad says.

Trad points to the recent federal decision to fund the $5bn Tullamarine line in Melbourne, which is listed in the lowest-priority category by IA, as evidence that federal funding decisions had been hijacked by "short-term politics".

    This project is way more than the $5.4bn Labor keeps spruiking.
    Deb Frecklington, Queensland opposition leader

She says "successive LNP governments have ensured it was put on the backburner".

Unable to get federal funding, the Queensland government announced in 2017 it would fund the cross-river rail project itself. The state opposition has maintained a soft position – not outright opposed to the project but publicly unconvinced it has merit for the cost.

The opposition leader, Deb Frecklington, points to the business case that listed capital costs as $5.4bn, with another $9bn required in operational and auxiliary costs.

"Annastacia Palaszczuk and Jackie Trad said they could deliver cross-river rail by themselves," Frecklington says. "The fact [federal Labor] has promised 50% of the operational costs shows that this project is way more than the $5.4 bn Labor keeps spruiking."

The LNP holds the federal seat of Brisbane by about 6% but the electorate is a top target of both Labor and the Greens, and both parties believe it can be won. Public transport is, unsurprisingly for the inner-city, near the top of voters' list of concerns.

Coalition sources say the government's re-election pitch to city voters will likely be around funding the metro.

Last week, Brisbane MP Trevor Evans was polling voters on the metro, with a preamble that reinforced that the bus project was among infrastructure Australia's top-six priorities. Evans has also set up a petition for metro funding.

The federal LNP member appears more positive about cross-river rail than his state counterparts. But he says the metro should be the priority for funding and that he is "fighting hard" to have the project included in this year's budget.

"It's important that we get the politics out of infrastructure decisions and that the experts give governments advice on which proposals are best," Evans says. "That's actually why Infrastructure Australia was created and why it exists.

"Infrastructure Australia has listed Brisbane Metro as being in the nation's top six high-priority projects and my view is that it should be funded accordingly."

Evans says the metro should not be seen an alternative to cross-river rail.

"Both projects will be critical to Brisbane's future because there are emerging bottlenecks for both the train network and the bus network," he says. "But I'm also conscious that twice as many people uses buses than trains in Brisbane.

"I want to see both projects developed in a collaborative and cooperative way because of the huge benefits for Brisbane, but both projects should proceed on their own timelines and on their own merits.

"The business case for the cross-river rail is not yet as advanced or ready."

[#Metro]

Apart from courts, I'm only aware of two ways to "remove politics" from something:

- Remove it from the public sector
- Have a one-party legislature

Neither are applicable in this case. As long as state governments cannot fully fund themselves via taxes, there will always be major tensions between Federal and State.

[techblitz]

Brisbane is also a bus city. Dedicated busways allow for short and efficient trips. The city's rail network is not as extensive as in Sydney or Melbourne, and buses are a more convenient form of travel for many residents.

Personally I like the direction mapped out......keep BCC/BT areas busway/metro focused while new heavy rail infrastructure is prioritised in the outer regions and of course much needed CRR. Obvious downside is the timeframe to bring the inner Brisbane rail network up to scratch(Lx removal,platform heights/pwd access)....which will now take a lot longer....due to the new priorities.
More funding or better productivity required to make it happen sooner rather than later.

[achiruel]

Apart from courts, I'm only aware of two ways to "remove politics" from something:

- Remove it from the public sector
- Have a one-party legislature

Neither are applicable in this case. As long as state governments cannot fully fund themselves via taxes, there will always be major tensions between Federal and State.

And this is the problem.

The Feds should reduce their personal income tax rates and allow the States to collect most of it, and then the Feds could keep the GST. That way States could be fully responsible for their own finances, and stop all this petty arguments.

[#Metro]

Brisbane is not a bus city. More rail stations than busway stations and covering more of the city. It's just that off peak service isn't there.

[matlock]

Brisbane is not a bus city. More rail stations than busway stations and covering more of the city. It's just that off peak service isn't there.

Quality, not quantity of stations. I can rock up at a busway and know I'll get a bus into the city within five minutes. No such luck at Yeronga Station.

[Cazza]

Brisbane is not a bus city. More rail stations than busway stations and covering more of the city. It's just that off peak service isn't there.

I disagree. The coverage of rail is so much smaller than the coverage of bus routes. You can't except someone from Stafford Heights or Mansfield to be catching a train to the City.

Not to mention the fact that 2/3 of journeys in Brisbane are made on buses. Sure, the state of the current rail system doesn't help, but until this is fixed, CRR/Trouts Rd corridor built plus more rail infrastructure constructed across the City, I don't think your claim is correct.

[achiruel]

Brisbane is not a bus city. More rail stations than busway stations and covering more of the city. It's just that off peak service isn't there.

Quality, not quantity of stations. I can rock up at a busway and know I'll get a bus into the city within five minutes. No such luck at Yeronga Station.

This is a problem of course, ideally suburban stations, particularly those within 15km or so of the CBD, should have services every 15 minutes until 9:30pm or so. Unfortunately I doubt there'd be sufficient crew to undertake such a venture at the moment.

[techblitz]

With a higher number of buses per capita heading directly to the CBD than other cities eg: perth.
That alone seperates Brisbane from other cities.Perth you can 'genuinely' call a non-bus but rail centric city...

[HappyTrainGuy]

Metro. Ideally trains should be the routes transporting the masses to/from the city. Buses should be feeding people into the railway/busway and to major bus interchanges/hf routes that go to the city. Currently it's a bus city because nearly every single bus route goes to the city. Until there is a total redesign of Brisbane's bus network and more spending on proper infrastructure and services brisbane will always be a bus city rather than a proper intergrated public transport network. There shouldn't even be a bus city or train city for Brisbane.