The first official Brisbane Metro permanent service has kicked off today, with the pre-exisiting route 66 now renamed to route M2.
The service will see buses replaced by the new high-capacity electric metros, running high-frequency services from the University of Queensland to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital every five minutes in peak.
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“This is the first phase of welcoming Brisbane Metro to our network ahead of more changes to Brisbane’s bus network later this year,” a statement from Translink says.
Brisbane residents and visitors will get high-frequency, high-capacity services to universities and key city locations on the M2 route, improved school access with district services in time for the school year and more seats on Route 66.
The new vehicles have a passenger capacity of 150 (with the potential to increase to 170 in event mode), with the 24.4m long and 2.6m wide HESS vehicles being double the length of a standard city route bus.
With three passenger compartments and a separate driver cabin, accessibility is key, with real-time travel information screen being combined with onboard WiFi and USB charging points.
Passengers in the Brisbane area will soon see the roll-out of these services to other areas, with new and updated school services set to be implemented, getting operationally ready with scheduling and timetabling, and M1 trial operations.
To find out more about the roll-out of the Brisbane Metro, visit ABC’s coverage.
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