Brisbane’s bus rapid transit showpiece – the Eastern Busway – opens on Monday, six months ahead of schedule
By David Goeldner | August 26, 2011
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh will cut the ribbon on Brisbane’s Eastern Busway tomorrow prior to a community open day to launch the $465 million infrastructure BRT showpiece.
Before the launch, the Premier will host a large media contingent travelling through the new section of busway, arriving at the Coorparoo open day site at 10am.
Following Saturday’s launch the busway starts route service operation on Monday between Brisbane suburbs Buranda and Coorparoo.
Bligh says Brisbane’s Busway network was rapidly expanding with 27km of busway opened across Brisbane in just 10 years.
“This new section of busway will cut up to eight minutes off bus trips through the most congested section of Old Cleveland Road,” she says.
“It will bypass four sets of traffic lights saving regular commuters from Coorparoo to the city 1.5 hours in travel time per week.”
Bligh says the project provides two new signature busway stations at Stones Corner and Langlands Park, improving connection services to and from Brisbane’s eastern suburbs.
“Our Government is absolutely committed to enabling fast, frequent and reliable public transport and our busway network is the perfect example of that,” she says.
Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk says the project team had worked hard to build the 1.05km section of Brisbane’s busway network, generating about 2500 direct and indirect jobs over the life of the project.
“Opening this section of the busway is an exceptionally exciting time for Brisbane’s eastside residents and for the bus services using it,” Palaszczuk says.
“This section of busway includes a combination of tunnels and bridges, two new stations and will vastly improve connection services to and from the eastern suburbs.”
The Eastern Busway also links with the world-class South East Busway, connecting to Coorparoo.
The two new busway stations at Stones Corner and Langlands Park are also expected to improve connecting bus services to and from Brisbane’s east side.
More than 2000 bus services a week will stop at the new Stones Corner Busway station and more than 1700 bus services will stop at Langlands Park.