
Part of the long-awaited Brisbane Metro is opening today, January 28, with Metro Line 2, which runs from RBWH to UQ in St Lucia, welcoming passengers for the first time, with tickets costing only 50 cents!
Despite its name, the Brisbane Metro is actually a bus service linking the suburbs to the city. What sets it apart from normal buses is its speed and capacity. The metros have quicker acceleration and top speeds and, while a regular bus can carry 76 passengers, the metro fits up to 170.
More importantly, thanks to its frequency — every 5 minutes during peak and every 10 off peak — and once a new tunnel freeing up the Victoria Bridge bottleneck opens up later this year, the service is expected to alleviate some of the traffic, with the hope that one third of the buses congesting city streets can be redirected into the suburbs instead.
The new metro boasts important accessibility features such as extra room for wheelchair users, better lighting and wide entries that tip down, plus amenities like extra aircon, USB ports and a voiceover by Queensland-native actress Melanie Zanetti, of Bluey fame.
The rest of the service will roll out along this year, with Metro Line 1, running from Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street, set to open halfway through the year, and the final stage, the Adelaide Street tunnel, later on. You can check the metro’s interactive map here and plan your journey here.