A breakdown ground Brisbane's bus network to a halt on Monday evening, with outbound commuters left sitting on stationary buses for up to 40 minutes.

Brisbane underground bus stations resembled carparks and puzzled passengers were not told what was going on and not given the option to get off.

A broken down bus at the Cultural Centre station in Southbank caused gridlock across the inner-city bus network. (FILE PIC) Credit:Tony Moore

A TransLink spokesman said the cause of the gridlock was a broken down bus at an outbound platform in the Cultural Centre station.

The stranded vehicle was towed away at 5.30pm and buses got moving minutes later.