Anyone commuting into Brisbane CBD by train can attest to the crowded platforms and the long queues to get on to the escalators during peak times at Central Station, which is simply not large enough to cope with commuter numbers as the metropolitan population approaches two million. I am even more convinced of the need to upgrade Central, despite the significant cost and the disruption to city traffic it will cause, after reading this article in the Courier-Mail this morning (Extra 100 million trips expected to be made on southeast Queensland public transport by 2018):

GETTING up close and personal with fellow public transport commuters is only going to get worse in coming years with an extra 100 million trips expected to be made in southeast Queensland by 2018.

The annual TransLink report tabled in State Parliament last week predicts 288 million trips will be taken annually seven years from now – up from 178.6 million in 2010-11.

“The majority of these new journeys will occur on what are already our busiest peak routes, particularly those leading in and out of Brisbane City,” read the report.

Already 86 buses a day in Brisbane are forced to ignore waiting passengers because they are full and commuter group Back on Track fears the daily crush will soon be unbearable.

“It would seem this ambitious patronage target is quite unachievable on present policies,” said Robert Dow from Back on Track.

“Firstly it would need Cross River Rail to be expedited to have the capacity in the rail system to support the growth.”

I agree that Cross River Rail or a light rail system are needed, too. Otherwise we may need to consider widening the price differential between public transport fares in peak and off-peak hours to encourage people to travel in off-peak times if they are able to do so.