It’s not often I post here but i’m working on a larger campaign for cross-city services through SEQTA. We’re making progress internally for many of the routes, but others we’re still iffy about.
Particularly, i’ve privately been vocal (irrespective of my work @ SEQTA) of my objection to the idea of reopening the Tennyson Line whilst believing connecting Ipswich to the Gold Coast line is vital.
Thus, i’m here today fishing for feedback on one of the more controversial and early-stage proposals before making a push to get it launched.
It’s important to note that when i’m referring to a “Glider” it’s a Metro-style/CityGlider-esque service similar to RACQ’s take on “MetroGliders”. These are not all-stops, they run on terminals and would be intended as a trunk system.
What i’m considering is a glider corridor from Wacol Station to Altandi Station, stopping at: Wacol, Richlands, Inala, Durack, Pinelands Rd (at Hellawell Rd) then going up to Altandi.
Whether this would terminate at Wacol and Altandi is undecided, in my Notes I had both considered a fuller Ipswich to Upper Mt Gravatt Metro Station service, but again, am still iffy.
Lastly, this is a terrible proposal and I do understand this — It’s not had any checks done to it, nor has it been workshopped with anybody, but i’m posting it here to test the waters and see if more time should be allocated to it.
A southside orbital route would be great, but as a terminus Altandi isn’t really practical as I’m not sure where you’d layover or have driver relief facilities. Just keep it going up Mains road and terminate at Griffith busway station. Plenty of services terminate there now
Could I recommend a western terminus at Goodna station? There’s plenty of buses going there, it’s pretty close and doesn’t require backtracking (I was thinking of making it do a run similar to the 463 from Wacol to Goodna)
Love this idea btw, Brisbane really needs more crosstown routes that are fast
Agree, Goodna is probably better than Wacol. Only problem with Goodna is the bus stop is starting to be crammed with buses. There is the possibility of improvements with a proper bus layover down the track.
I think long-term, we need a railway line from Goodna to Loganlea via the M2/M6 corridor, with 130 km/h+ speeds. This would be a game-changer for transport between Ipswich and Logan/Gold Coast by public transport. I’m very much of the opinion that, currently, the only people who would consider such a trip are public transport diehards, or those with no other choice.
Yes we need more cross town services and an enhanced Great Circle Line running every 15-20 mins 7 days from 6 am-10 pm.
I think to get from Ipswich to the coast there should be all day express pattern services that stop at Darra and Indooroopilly post commissioning of CRR. Then from Indooroopilly to Boggo Road there should be a metro connection via UQ.
Transferring at Boggo road rather than Roma Street would speed things up a lot for people from Ipswich and the Brisbane Western suburbs wanting to go south to the coast.
Two corridors would be good, but I think Wacol/Goodna to Victoria Point is far too long a journey.
Wacol to Garden City via Richlands, Inala Plaza, and Altandi Station. The only part that overlaps with the GCL is between Turton Rd and Garden City, which is relatively short and unconcerning IMO.
Gooda to Loganholme via Richlands, Browns Plains, and Loganlea.
I know it looks a bit odd to go that close to Wacol station without servicing it, but it could add considerable time to any already long route, especially in peak hour. Of course, if an Ellen Grove station existed, the loop up to Richlands wouldn’t be necessary.
I think the the Wacol to Garden City route is a pretty good one, although I do worry about the bus getting caught in the traffic on Kessels Road, which can get pretty gridlocked at times. I wonder whether continuing to Griffith University might be a better option from an operational standpoint.
With regards to the Goodna to Loganholme route, I do have a few questions:
First, regarding the dogleg to Richlands Station, is this really necessary when considering that the first stage of the Logan and Ipswich bus upgrades increased the frequency of connections between Browns Plains and Springfield (albeit still via that agonisingly long route through Forest Lake). I wonder whether it be forgivable to forego the connection to Richlands, if there is both better connections between Springfield and Browns Plains, and also the Wacol to Garden City link?
Secondly, is the section between Loganlea and Loganholme Station really necessary? That adds about 15 minutes to the journey time, and effectively duplicates both the half-hourly 560 and the hourly 562. Given that Loganlea is becoming more of a terminus location for routes from Yarrabilba (and in the future routes from Park Ridge and Logan Village), I don’t see an issue if the cross town route also terminated there.
The 560 only runs half-hourly on weekdays. Hourly on weekends, and the span of hours is terrible.
First eastbound service weekdays doesn’t arrive at the Hyperdome until 6:55 am, and the last at 6:56 pm.
Saturdays is 7:57 am and 5:56 pm, respectively. Sundays is 8:57 am and 4:56 pm. Hourly operation on both days.
562/564 (Sundays only) is even worse.
If we’re expecting the 560 to be a major trunk route, it needs a serious upgrade.
Weekdays:
Every 30 minutes 5 am - 7 am
Every 15 minutes 7 am - 7 pm
Every 30 minutes 7 pm - 10 pm + extra 11 pm service Fridays
Saturdays:
Every 30 minutes 6 am - 10 pm + 11 pm service
Sundays:
Every 30 minutes 7 am - 7 pm then hourly until 10 pm.
ETA: as a reasonably-frequent user of the 560, the reliability is also often terrible, even on weekends. The first service eastbound is regularly late.
I’m not saying that the 560 is perfect, but running a non-stop service between Loganlea and Loganholme is still a case of adding a wholly unnecessary, duplicate service (and a pretty useless one given that it misses Griffith Uni and the woefully underutilised Slacks Creek Park n Ride) to the corridor.
Instead, it would be better to simply address the 560’s flaws. A number of these flaws are a direct result of Translink stripping services during the now infamous Bus Network Review (the one BCC ignored).
Back in July 2008, the first three weekday 560s left both Loganholme and Browns Plains at 6:00am, 6:30am & 7am, while the last services from each location departed at 6:00pm, 6:30pm & 7:00pm. None of this early service in one direction but not the other, except for on Sundays.
With talks of the eastern part of the 560, I was thinking of (if this road bridge is built in the first place), of rerouting it along Murray Road and an extended Evans Road
EDIT: As explained below by nathandavid88, this bus routing would run through a very important ecosystem, and a very flood-prone area, so I changed my mind. I wouldn’t advise this routing anymore due to this.
I would be very wary of considering Murray Road for a bus route. If you aren’t familiar with Murray Road, it is slow (50km/h with several 20km/h speed bumps along the way), winding and very narrow in parts - some sections are very reminiscent of the drive up Mt Tamborine. On top of this, it is a very flood-prone road and it runs through an area of extremely high ecological importance, being the largest known original location of endangered Angle-Stemmed Myrtle (Austromyrtus gonoclada).
It makes for a great cycling route (your map being one of cycling routes), but not a public transport corridor.
As for extending Evans Road, aside from Evans Road appearing to be a university-controlled campus road, extending it to Murray Road means plowwing it through the Griffith Uni Arboretum, a major reforestation and riparian restoration project undertaken by the university in conjunction with LCC over a number of years. I don’t think you would get any support for that from either the uni or LCC. And beyond that, you’re then running roads across a very flood prone creek and plains.
If such a road connection was built across Slacks Creek, I would recommend access via Sewell Road instead of Murray Road.
Is it? We have motorways, main roads and side streets for cars. Why should public transport not have a similar hierarchy? Travelling from e.g. Browns Plains to Hyperdome by public transport takes over 1 hour by public transport, and 20 minutes by car. The current fastest way is 150 to Upper Mount Gravatt, then transferring to a 555. The 560 is 1 hour 12 minutes.
I’m not saying it can be made as fast as by car, but we can do better.
The Logan campus doesn’t seem to be growing much (if it all). Last I checked they had about 2,000 students and ~50 academic staff. That’s about the size of a moderately large high school.
