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Translink Brisbane
Some Tips to help you use the Transport System
Translink Brisbane is the public transport system that operates in
south-east Queensland from Noosa in the north on the Sunshine Coast to Coolangatta in the south on the Gold Coast. It covers the Brisbane CityCat and ferries, trains and buses.
The
Brisbane CityCat runs from the University of Queensland to Apollo Road,
opposite Portside, with about eleven stops along the way including
South Bank, Riverside and Bulimba. Even if you don't need to use the
CityCat for transport you should take a trip on it just for the
experience. It is great fun and you get to see the Brisbane River and
the sights along it such as the Queensland Museum, the Brisbane Wheel and the Regatta Pub in Toowong.
There
are three cross river ferries, the most useful one for tourists is from
Eagle Street Pier across to Holman Street to have a drink or a meal in
the Story Bridge Hotel. There is also the inner city ferry which runs
from North Quay at the bottom of Queen Street to Sydney Street. The
ferries are very old fashioned looking in comparison to the modern
CityCats and are obviously a lot slower but using them is a bit like
stepping back in time.
The train service offered by Translink
Brisbane is very good at least around the city centre where there are
plenty of stations and regular trains. There are four or five
lines between Bowen Hills, Brunswick Street, Central, Roma Street,
South Brisbane (Cultural Centre) and South Bank so trains come quite
often. The trains go out as far as Robina on the Gold Coast and Gympie on the Sunshine Coast then you would have to get a bus to the resorts.
Bus
services on Translink Brisbane are also good but obviously affected by
the traffic so can be a bit slow especially at peak hours.
Translink Brisbane TicketsTickets
for Translink Brisbane can be used on any of their services and can be
transferred between them. This means that you don't need to buy
different tickets for buses, trains and ferries.
When buying a
ticket for Translink you must consider how many zones you will
be travelling in. For example if you are travelling from a zone 3 train
to a zone 1 station then you need to buy a three zone ticket as you are
travelling through zones 3, 2 and 1.
There are various ticket
options such as single, daily which allows unlimited travel throughout
the day, daily off-peak where you can only travel between 9am and
3.30pm and after 7pm, weekly and monthly tickets. There are also
different tickets for different age groups with concessions for
children, students and seniors so make sure you buy the correct ones.
If
you are going to be in Brisbane for a lengthy period it could be worth
buying a Go Card. These were introduced in 2008 and are cards which can
be topped up to as much as AU$200 and can be used on all routes within
Translink Brisbane. Advantages of these cards are that you don't need
to buy a ticket each time, you simply touch it to the card reader as
you get on and OFF the transport and the fare is deducted from the
balance on your card. Also you don't have to think about how many zones
you are travelling through and you get discount on fares.
Like standard tickets there are different cards for different age groups and concessions.
Go
Cards can be bought at most train stations, on Translink buses and at
Go Card retailers and they can be topped up in the same places and
online and by phone.
An important thing to remember when using
the Go Card is that as well as touching it against the machine on the
way on to the transport you must touch it against the machine on the
way OFF or you will be charged more than the correct fare.
If
you are going to a sporting event in Brisbane and you have a ticket for
it then the public transport to get to it should be free. It is
definitely true if you are going to SUncorp Stadium.
Translink Brisbane InformationYou
can get more information about Translink from their office
next to the Visitors Centre in Queen Street Mall. The staff there are
very helpful and can give you timetables for all of their bus, train
and ferry services as well as giving you a leaflet with ferry, CityCat
and train lines. Alternatively you can phone 13 12 30 for information
or visit the Translink Brisbane website where there is a huge amount of helpful information such as timetables, maps of routes and ticket prices.
The
Brisbane Airtrain is not a part of the Translink Brisbane group
but you can find more information using the link given.
Return to our Brisbane Transport page.
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