Brisbane Metro Expands All-Electric Rapid Transit Fleet as Cross River Rail Unveils Albert Street Station Canopy

Brisbane City Council and Translink Unleash High-Capacity Zero-Emission Transit on Dedicated Busways

BRISBANE, Queensland — Driving a transformative overhaul of public transport infrastructure ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Brisbane City Council, Translink, and the Queensland Government have achieved watershed operational milestones on the Brisbane Metro electric mass transit network. Centered on high-frequency dedicated busways insulated from congested surface traffic, the multi-million-dollar initiative deploys a custom fleet of 24.4-metre, fully electric double-articulated HESS lighTram 25 vehicles manufactured in Switzerland.

Following rigorous network validation trials, Brisbane Metro is scaling permanent revenue operations across high-capacity trunk routes, led by the conversion of key arterial spines connecting the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), the central business district, and the University of Queensland (UQ Lakes). Operating with automated flash-charging overhead pantographs engineered by Hitachi Energy, each whisper-quiet vehicle charges in under six minutes at terminal layovers, carrying up to 170 passengers in zero-emission comfort.

Cross River Rail Unveils 153-Tonne Canopy at Landmark Underground Albert Street Station

In parallel with the surface busway revolution, Queensland's 10.2-kilometre Cross River Rail underground heavy rail megaproject has unlocked pivotal structural achievements across the inner city:

• Albert Street Station Plaza Canopy: Riggers and structural ironworkers completed the installation of a striking 153-tonne architectural canopy over the outdoor public pavilion and pedestrian green spine at Albert Street, marking the first new downtown rail station in Brisbane in over 120 years.
• Queensland's Longest Escalators: Civil contractors completed the heavy mechanical placement of massive 37-metre underground escalators that connect surface passenger concourses to the subterranean 220-metre-long platform cavern 31 metres below ground.
• M1 and M2 Metro Route Integration: Brisbane City Council's synchronized bus network reorganization activates routes M1 (Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street) and M2, slashing CBD busway choke points and redirecting regional lines into modern intermodal hubs.
• Subterranean Station Fit-Outs: Mechanical, electrical, and architectural teams across Roma Street, Woolloongabba, and Boggo Road stations are finalizing platform screen door synchronizations, acoustic baffling, and real-time transit telemetry.

Long-Term Decarbonization and Olympic-Ready Metropolitan Transit

The combination of Brisbane Metro’s zero-emission rubber-tired mass transit and Cross River Rail’s high-capacity underground heavy rail creates a unified, resilient transit backbone for South East Queensland. Together, the systems remove thousands of cars and hundreds of diesel buses from central bridges each day, dramatically improving urban air quality and commuter reliability across the Brisbane river basin.

Through visionary capital investment, Swiss-engineered electric fleet technology, and monumental subterranean tunneling, Brisbane is positioning itself as a world-leading smart city equipped with an accessible, sustainable transit network ready for the global stage.