Fwd: [TramsDownUnder] Metro buses revealed as alternative to axed stage 4 light rail

[Richard Youl]

Sometimes readers’ comments make interesting reading. Some were from me as ‘Richard Y’.

Diagrams suggest the replacement buses are ordinary single artic diesel buses with a fancy looking body which will fool very few. 

Tate is Mayor.     BBleijie the smug Deputy Premier.    Christafulli Premier

Richard

From: 'TP' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdo...@googlegroups.com>
Date: 22 June 2026 at 19:16:38 AEST
To: TramsDownUnder <tramsdo...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] Metro buses revealed as alternative to axed stage 4 light rail
Reply-To: tramsdo...@googlegroups.com



A bit of misleading language in the coverage here. The "metro-like" buses would be referring to the Brisbane "Metro" double artic buses. These are illegal on the road in the eastern states under the NHVR regulations and are only allowed on the Brisbane busways because they're entirely isolated from operating on public roads. The academic quoted seems to think they are double artics because he referred to them having half the capacity of Gold Coast trams. 

So the "metro-like" reference would be to conventional artics, which have a capacity of about 110, or not much more than a third of the capacity of the Gold Coast trams. So, if you have a packed tram arriving Broadbeach South and everybody wanting to be carried on, you need three artics to collect from each tram. So at 7.5 minute interval trams you need buses less than every 2.5 minutes. For 15 minute interval trams, you need buses every 5 minutes.

Good luck with all that.

Tony P

(who has casually observed over the years that buses can't do the job of trams)

On Monday, 22 June 2026 at 15:45:31 UTC+10 Mal Rowe wrote:

On 22/06/2026 13:00, 'Greg Sutherland' via TramsDownUnder wrote

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-22/metro-buses-alternative-to-axed-stage-four-light-rail-gold-coast/106825972

It will be interesting to see what the capacity of these buses will be in terms of people with luggage.

Mal Rowe in a city with just buses and motor cars serving a large airport

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[TP]

So the maths of their proposed "metro-like" timetable are fascinating during, say, an event scenario. Three hundred passenger tram arrives on 7.5 minute schedule at Burleigh Heads, 110 of the passengers board bus, leaving 190 passengers waiting for the next bus. Another 300 passenger tram arrives 7.5 minutes later, disgorging its load to join the 190 still waiting. Next bus comes 2.5 minutes later, taking 110 passengers and leaving 490-110=380 passengers waiting for the next bus, during which wait another tram arrives and 380+300=680 passengers are now waiting for the next 110 passenger bus. And so on and so forth, to infinity and beyond! 

It ain't going to work without a nose to tail conga line of articulated buses and then it won't work for that reason. I know, because we've had to live with such crap in Sydney for decades.

Tony P

(sceptical of bus "solutions")

[Brian Blunt]

There has been some media attention in gh elast couple of days about a north bound extension to Harbour Town?  

Brian 

Bblun...@yahoo.com

On 22 Jun 2026, at 20:33, 'TP' via TramsDownUnder <tramsdo...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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