That is Polly BS for “we building more roads but need to claim a public transport improvement to look good”. Buses stuck in congestion are not reliable!
I only beaten by claiming “bus stop indents to remove bus from general traffic lane are public transport improvements”
Buses aren’t ideal at all, but it’s what can be put on now. A train is at least 20-30 years away it seems. It’s likely to come after Sunshine Coast line.
Another approach that might work in this situation is incremental delivery.
You could imagine up to three stations built at Acacia Ridge, Parkinson (Nottingham Road) and Browns Plains, and then running your feeder buses off that.
However, this would require a firm decision on alignment - via the current corridor or via the mains rd corridor.
The benefit of the incremental approach is that stations at Acacia Ridge, Parkinson and Browns Plains can be justified now.
Stations at Greenbank and Flagstone can be justified now. I know people from those areas who commute to work in the city by driving to Springfield to park n ride. It’s crazy
You’re right, but this isn’t Perth. The Queensland Government moves rail projects along at a glacial pace, it’s very much slower than say WA or NSW.
I know there are other issues to address before this line is possible, but had a thought.
I know there is next to no political will for this line to be constructed, so I was trying to think about a solution that might potentially generate some political will.
What about a line constructed down the interstate line with a spur to Browns Plains. Stations would be located at Acacia Ridge and Algester. At Browns Plains there would be a bus interchange with BRT connections to Greenbank, Flagstone, Loganlea and Springfield Central. I’d also advocate for BRT from here down the Mains Road corridor to Garden City so people can change at Altandi for Gold Coast services and Upper Mount Gravatt for ‘metro’ and other bus routes.
This could be a lower cost solution instead of constructing the line all the way to Beaudesert. It would also provide a well connected region, allow more potential for development at Browns Plains and also remove bus routes that go all the way to the CBD which would free up resources for cross town or other services, and help address congestion on the South East Busway.
I know it’s not perfect, but I do think it could be an option.
I bet the connection from the Beaudesert line to Browns Plains would be better as a bus connection (preferably a dedicated busway). The busway would then extend across SR94 Browns Plains Rd, and will then connect with Loganlea station, providing a good orbital bus route linking the Beenleigh/GC and Beaudesert lines. The busway would also link up with the 140BUZ as well.
If the connection was built as a rail line, then the rail line would have to be tunnelled, as the area between Loganlea and Browns Plains is packed with housing. The two portals would be at the forested area north of Hillcrest and the the fields between Loganlea and Bethania.
