Brisbane Metro hits one million passengers

Brisbane’s newest form of public transport – the Brisbane Metro, has already hit one million passengers after the M2 service started in January this year.

More than two-thirds of all public transport trips in Brisbane are made on a bus, with the Metro service increasing the daily capacity of the former bus 66 route by 9200 passengers per day.

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“We are the only council in Australia delivering major congestion-busting and city-shaping transport projects for residents and our  Metros and New Bus Network will ensure Brisbane can keep pace with our rapid population growth and allow us to deliver additional services where they are most needed,” Brisbane City Council councillor Vicki Howard says.

“I am so pleased to see Central Ward residents voting with their feet and embracing our leap from public transport to mass transit in our inner city.”

The M2 service is currently running high-frequency services from the University of Queensland to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital every five minutes in peak.

Since January there has been 12 per cent increase in patronage numbers on the route, the M2 moving an extra 145,000 passengers from March 15 to April 3 – a 44 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

Metro will be expanded mid this year to include a brand new M1 route running between Eight Mile Plains and Roma Street. The M1 and M2 are forecast to deliver an extra 30 million additional seats a year.

Several critical infrastructure developments supporting Metro will also be completed over the coming months, including the extension of platforms at Buranda station, new electric passenger information displays new bus shelters and more.

Metro services will transition to the new Adelaide Street tunnel once construction has finished later this year.