Brisbane Metro is changing the city bus network. Here’s what you need to know
By Catherine Strohfeldt
January 24, 2025 — 3.35pm
Brisbane City Council is bringing the NBN above ground – the public transport overhaul it has dubbed the “New Bus Network”, that is.
The updates come with the launch – or relaunch, depending who you ask – of the Brisbane Metro, with megabuses set to start on the M2 route, which takes over from the 66 service, from Tuesday.
At the same time, the council is set to tweak eight public bus routes and make broad changes across school bus routes in a joint initiative with the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR).
The Brisbane City Council is coupling its official Metro launch on Tuesday with the early introduction of several services from its new bus network.CREDIT: FELICITY CALDWELL
Here’s what you need to know about what’s happening to the bus network after the long weekend.
Metro services will run every five minutes from Tuesday along the M2, covering 12 stops from the University of Queensland to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
The council said last year the bi-articulated vehicles would carry twice the occupancy of a regular bus, and were hoped to cut traffic, particularly in the CBD.
As a result, there will be significant changes for inner-city stops and routes.
Seven routes will be permanently shifted above ground, from CBD busway stations to street-level stops along Adelaide and Ann Street.
Further minor changes to public buses included stop changes for the 444 to accommodate the Metro megabuses stopping at King George Station.
The council will also tweak the routes of 10 school services for the start of the school year, and add nine new routes, while axing two it said had low numbers of passengers.
TMR said it made almost 900 changes to school services across the state as part of an annual review process, and worked with Brisbane City Council to tailor route changes to community needs.
The rest of the new bus network is expected to come midyear, when the M1 line – which follows the 169 bus route and ran for a limited period last year – would also come online.
The megabuses will continue to use Brisbane’s existing underground busway infrastructure, relying on the Queen and Roma Street tunnels, until the third quarter of 2025, when the new Adelaide Street tunnel is expected to open.
The 139 and 169 services will also change stops at UQ Lakes station once the M1 comes online.
The council intended to terminate several bus routes from Tuesday, including the 66 – replaced by the M2 – and the free South Brisbane bus loop, route 86.
Despite a petition launched to maintain route 86 last year, the council said the route was a temporary stand-in while the Metro was under development and was never intended to become permanent.
In stage two the council would also end the 28, 145, and P151 services. Additional changes were not expected for school bus routes.