Does anyone know the history of the interchange? Why are there 7 bus bays, yet only 1 hourly service (the 360) that uses the interchange? Also where is stop A
It seems like quite a waste of good infrastructure tbch. The Ferny Grove line has a good base frequency during the week, so this interchange could be utilised far better to service the surrounding suburbs rather than all buses along South Pine Road/Wardell Street going to the city.
My grandparents used to live at Everton Park. Enoggera interchange has looked like that as long as I can remember (so at least as far back to the early 90s).
There is Alderley station a station up the line, and it is probably the more popular choice for a rail-bus transfer point because it connects with the 345 BUZ route that goes on a trunk road to Aspley.
Perhaps having another BUZ that goes through Metroad 5 could provide Enoggera Interchange some better use, and to possible fill a PT gap west of the 345 (just one more BUZ bro).
It is the legacy and result of ‘co-ordination’ between a dedicated PT Authority where the existing agencies (BCC, QR) have not been incorporated into the new agency.
There is a plaque at the station. It was built by the Metropolitan Transit Agency (a Translink predecessor).
The Enoggera Interchange is a case study in why a new PT agency should be a singular executive agency and not a co-ordinating one. These outcomes come down to … governance.
The facility opened in April 1981. According to a detail of a 1982 map I’ve seen, it was served by eight council routes, plus Brisbane Bus Lines services.
Enoggera shows why there needs to be careful prioritising of which railway stations are turned into bus interchanges. The more attractive options are those with major retail facilities around it (like Mitchelton), major radial arterial roads (like Alderley) or express train stations. Enoggera has none of these things, Wardell St being orbital rather than radial, and that’s why it will always be less attractive as an interchange point.
Perhaps this could be fixed by a lot of investment in the surrounding area, but that requires buy-in from the council, the state and the business sector. In any case, we should try to avoid creating more Enoggeras going forward. I’ve spoken about this more here.
I tend to think the issue is more governance. There are plenty of interchanges in Perth that don’t have much around them. And some of the busiest ones are located in freeway medians. Transperth still sends buses to most train stations as feeder services, and patronage is generally good.
Another example, Indooroopilly as a bus-train interchange location has been talked about for 40+ years. The 1984 PA Management consultants report notes that there was BCC opposition to feeding buses to such an interchange there. Despite Indooroopilly being a logical interchange point for buses (assuming the infrastructure and works are paid for) and Coronation Drive is one of Brisbane’s most congested roads… but yet almost all of BCC’s buses skip past the train station (and BCC puts on rocket buses too).
That said I do agree there does need to be assessments for which services get turned into frequent feeders. Its not going to work for every case. An assessment needs to consider that shortening a bus route also provides an opportunity to reinvest savings in improved frequency, so the right case has to be assessed.
The squashed bus reforms of 2013 had at least one frequent route from the Northwest terminating at Enoggera for connection with the train. Of course it was one of the reasons the BCC hated it and killed it.
Change starts from the top. This means BCC and Translink.
And we need those feeder buses to build load on trains so that the 15 min all day train frequency sticks.
The 2013 bus review basically had it not being a detour but a terminus. There was one frequent route from the northwest that terminated there, and another frequent route that went down Wardell St towards the city that started there. It was designed to strongly encourage transfer to rail.
If the Ferny Grove line ever becomes turn up n’ go, I can definitely foresee at least route 359 Albany Creek to City Express being truncated to Enogerra station. And with it, giving it a BUZ-like frequency (every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm), from its current hourly frequencies.
But much to the dismay of everyone living in Albany Creek/Eatons Hill, whom value that one-seater journey into the City.
The thing is, you still good bus service down Wardell Street I think. It could be a separate bus, however. There’s a lot to be said for splitting up very long bus services.
Very few people are interchanging at Enoggera, generally under 2.5% of alightings and boardings. (All data March 2023 because, uh, I haven’t done a big analysis run for a few years.)
