King George Square busway station

King George Square
Location	Albert Street, Brisbane
Coordinates	27°28′07″S 153°01′27″E / 27.468603°S 153.024136°E / -27.468603; 153.024136Coordinates: 27°28′07″S 153°01′27″E / 27.468603°S 153.024136°E / -27.468603; 153.024136
Owned by	TransLink
Platforms	2
Construction
Bicycle facilities	King George Square Cycle Centre
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	1
History
Opened	May 19, 2008 (2008-05-19)
Services
Preceding station   TransLink   Following station Cultural Centre Terminus Northern Busway Roma Street toward RWBH (current) and Bracken Ridge (proposed)

King George Square is a busway station located underneath King George Square in the heart of Brisbane CBD; it also marks the start of the TransLink's Northern Busway. The station has twelve stops on two platforms; access to these platforms is via an underground concourse which can be accessed from Ann Street or Adelaide Street. Unlike other bus stops and stations, passengers do not hail down the bus, instead passengers wait behind automatic doors on the stop that is assigned to their bus, similar to the Queen Street bus station.

The station was announced in 2005 to complete the then Inner Northern Busway; construction started in early 2006 with the station opening to buses on 19 May 2008.

Construction

Segment of the Wheat Creek Culvert on display in the King George Square busway station, 2015

The King George Square Busway Station was announced in 2005.^[1] Construction commenced in early 2006 and the Station became operational on 19 May 2008. The lower two levels of the King George Square Car Park were also demolished to make way for the Busway Station. The heritage-listed Wheat Creek Culvert (built in 1861) which ran from under King George Square out into Adelaide Street was also demolished. A short segment of the culvert has been preserved as a display in the bus station.^[2]

A bus tunnel has been constructed under Albert Street to link the station with Queen Street Bus Station. The bus tunnel replaced one of the tunnel exit ramps to the Queen Street Bus Station on Albert Street (see photo below). As part of construction, the space in Albert Street above the new tunnel has been converted into a pedestrian mall extending the Queen Street Mall.

Adelaide Street entrance to the busway

In conjunction with the building of the Station, there was a national design competition for the redevelopment of King George Square. The winning entry was entitled A Space in Transition by UrbisJHD.^[3] Construction of the Square was completed in October 2009.^[4] The re-design of the square and its busway entrances attracted criticism from professional urban designers and the public.^[5]

Facilities

The King George Square Busway Station has 12 stops on two platforms (6 Stops each labelled 1A-1F and 2A-2F). Similar to the Queen Street bus station passengers wait behind automatic doors at allocated stops rather than hailing buses. ^[6] Passengers enter the Station from either Ann Street or Adelaide Street and then select the desired platform via an underground concourse at each end.

The Busway Station also features a bike station, cycle2city, located in the Ann Street Concourse. However, bicycles are not allowed on the Station's platforms.

When the station originally opened, it included a Transport Information Centre at the Ann Street entrance, this however was closed on September 29 2012, and the space has been advertised for lease ever since.

King George Square busway station

Services

The King George Square Busway Station primarily services routes travelling to the Northern and Western Suburbs (departing from Platform 1). A small number of routes travelling to Southern and Eastern Suburbs, including the South East Busway depart from Platform 2.^[7]

UQ/PAH/Roma Street Station/QUT/RBH Shuttle Services

Co-inciding with the opening of the King George Square Busway, Translink introduced a high-frequency shuttle bus (Route 66) originally connecting Woolloongabba Busway Station with QUT Kelvin Grove via all central stops on the Northern and South East Busways. The route has since been expanded to include stops at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Boggo Road, Dutton Park and University of Queensland (Lakes). As a result of this expansion, the Route 66 service no longer services the Woolloongabba Busway Station. The Route 66 service connects four of Brisbane's major teaching hospitals: Princess Alexandra Hospital, Mater Hospital, Lady Cilento Children's Hospital and Royal Brisbane Hospital.

Connection to Queen Street

As of 2009, no Northern Busway services directly connect King George Square Busway Station with the Queen Street Bus Station. After stopping at King George Square (Platform 2), a number of inbound (Southbound) services bypass the Queen Street Bus Station and stop or terminate at the Cultural Centre on the southern side of the Brisbane River, and vice versa. However, King George Square Busway Station and the Queen Street Bus Station are only a short walking distance apart.

Peak Hour Services

Following successful trials as other Busway Stations, Translink has introduced a Peak Hour Prepaid restriction in order to improve efficiency of buses departing from the Station. During the evening peak passengers must use a Go Card or pre-purchase tickets from operators located on the Ann Street and Adelaide Street concourses prior to boarding buses.

Gallery

• 
  The former Albert Street / King George Square exit from the Queen Street Bus Station, which has been converted into a tunnel to connect Queen Street Bus Station with King George Square Busway Station
• 
  Albert Street, showing the now covered area of the bus tunnel leading to the King George Square Busway Station
• 
  King George Square and the two Adelaide Street busway station entrances (shown at each side of the photo)

See also

• Eastern Busway
• South East Busway

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to King George Square busway station.

• TransLink - Busways
• Translink - King George Square Station
• Queensland Government