Great news! The rollout of the extension of bus route 126 to Pallara will commence on 12 December 2022.
Just in time for Christmas, the route 126 extension to Pallara will commence in December to support the growing need for public transport options for Pallara residents. Councillor Angela Owen confirmed that Council Officers have completed the installation of three pairs of bus stops to facilitate the service and announced the official rollout date which will be on 12 December 2022. Member for Algester Leeanne Enoch also made a similar announcement in her social media post on 14 November 2022.
The route 126 extension will extend the service from Sunnybank Plaza to Pallara (Stockland Estate and Ritchie Road) and then to Heathwood. It will link with the city 118 service and 460 service at Heathwood as well as other transport services that are connecting at Sunnybank.
Moreover, the bus route 126 extension will provide rail connections at Altandi Station, including express connections (Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines) whilst buses will continue to service Acacia Ridge shops and Acacia Ridge TAFE.
Cr Owen is likewise calling for additional 803 school bus services which support students at Pallara State School.
“In recent weeks, I have personally travelled on the school bus in the afternoon with over 60 students travelling on the bus most days. A number of students did not have go cards which is resulting in disparity to statistical data representation of patronage. Of great concern is that the majority of the students on the bus are under the age of 12 and due to patronage numbers, not all are able to sit on a seat to travel safely,” her letter to Translink CEO, Sally Stannard reads.
Hence, she requested for additional school bus services between Palllara and Pallara State School, and between Heathwood and Pallara State School, to complement the existing school bus service currently available for students from these areas.
Council is currently undertaking a Bus Network Review with a series of public consultation sessions already underway until 10 December 2022.
Under the proposed new bus network, two new fully electric, high-capacity Brisbane Metro lines will be introduced into the network. The two new lines will connect 18 stations along dedicated busways from Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street, and Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital to The University of Queensland.
Subject to the delivery of busway infrastructure, available funding and government approvals, future stages of Brisbane Metro could include service extensions to other areas including Chermside, Brisbane Airport, Carindale to Capalaba and Springwood.
Other key changes include the addition of three new routes Route 26 (Griffith University station to RBWH station), Route P109 (Acacia Ridge to City) and Route 182 (Upper Mt Gravatt Station-Garden City to Holland Park West) and the combining of 27 routes and removal of two routes, particularly Routes 145 and P151, due to duplication and low patronage.