By Elijah Pommy and Caitlin Maloney
The Sydney Metro’s historic 15.5-km city extension of the M1 line from Chatswood to Sydenham was opened on Monday, the first public transport system crossing underneath the city centre and the harbour.
The $21.6 billion infrastructure brings eight new state-of-the-art metro stations along the corridor of Sydney CBD and lower north shore, connecting to the North West Line, the city’s first Metro service opened in 2019, in Chatswood.
Commuters can now travel through the city’s heart on rail at up to 100 kilometres per hour, enjoying the transformative travel efficiency. Getting to Martin Place from Central Station now only takes around seven minutes.
A fleet of 45 new metro services will now run through the city’s heart every day, with each metro train carrying 1,150 people, providing numerous improvements for commuters travelling through the busiest parts of Sydney and relieving pressure on the current transport networks.
The city section of the Sydney Metro M1 line opened its doors to passengers on Monday. Photo: Rex Siu/CN.
Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said 190,000 commuters used the new Sydney metro line on opening day, with Central Station being the busiest and 71,000 people using it at peak time between 3 – 7 pm.
Premier Chris Minns said: “This will see hundreds of thousands of people get to work in a different way.”
The reaction from commuters to the new line was generally positive.
“I’m really excited because this is actually gonna bring me close to my house tonight instead of having to take two forms of transportation from here,” Fiona, 36, a nurse, told Central News.
“I’m a little bit anxious that there’s no driver in there, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Francis Gonzalez, 18, a student, said: “It looks like it is going to be genuinely very useful for our city…I think generally the world is very excited to see where it will take Sydney.”
Danny Crowe, a 65-year-old retiree, said: “It’ll work well for me as far as transport’s concerned getting into town. It’ll take a lot of people off the roads as well, so I think it’s going to be a good thing.”
Ben Church, a 16-year-old high school student who isn’t a regular commuter and wouldn’t be using the Metro daily, said: “I think it will encourage me to explore different parts of Sydney more than usual. Maybe spend some more time up near Chatswood or across the harbour, just because it’s a lot easier to access now.”
Both Minns and Haylen urged everyone to be patient with the new line’s roll-out.
The $21.6 billion infrastructure brings eight new metro stations along the corridor of Sydney CBD and lower north shore. Photo: Rex Siu/CN
The metro was due to open on August 4. However, an industrial action raised by the Fire Brigade Employees Union, a critical signalling issue that halted services weeks prior and the need for the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator to sign off on necessary safety exercises forced the Minns government to push back the opening date.
Private operator Metro Sydney Trains has now resolved its issues with the Union and completed all its safety checks, announcing completion on August 15 and the Metro’s opening on Monday.
Sumi, a 24-year-old rail enthusiast from Liverpool, said: “With the Metro’s new opening, people will eventually forget about the delays [the metro had] and become used to having one.”
Martin Place Station in the CBD saw government officials, members of Metro Sydney Trains, Transport NSW officials, and the fire brigade alike walk around, meeting and congratulating on a so-far successful opening. A majority of commuters in the peak morning left the station here from the northwest and North Shore, commenting on Martin Place’s grandiose design, although expressed confusion as to where the walkway for the other platforms of Martin Place – which service the Illawarra and Bondi areas – were.
A Metro Trains Sydney spokesperson also commented on Martin Place’s grandiose design, calling it “necessary for the future when Sydney’s population continues to grow.”
190,000 commuters travelled on the new Metro on opening day, with 71,000 commuters using Central Station at peak time between 3 – 7 pm on Monday. Photo: Rex Siu/CN
The metro’s opening will cut down travel time via rail to and from the CBD via the Lower North Shore from areas such as the northwest Hills Shire, the Upper North Shore and the City of Ryde. When opened, metro trains will run every four minutes at peak and every seven at inter-peak.
The metro’s opening has led to opportunities for suburbs such as Crows Nest, Barangaroo and Waterloo to gentrify with new housing being built in those areas, and has created new job opportunities in these areas. The Metro’s opening has also led to bus routes along the Lower North Shore seeing either timetable or route changes to terminate at metro stations or being scrapped altogether to make way for the rail system.
However, Margaret Steel, 22, a commuter of the now-scrapped bus route 294 from Lane Cove, expressed frustration.
“Yeah, the metro’s faster, but my bus was a direct route to the city from home,” she said. “At least we have new options.”
There was confusion at some stations despite volunteers giving out pins and helping lost commuters with directions, such as how to get on and off the platforms and where facilities such as toilets and the lift were located.
“It’s so confusing,” said Sam, a 19-year-old at Victoria Cross, located in upper North Sydney in reference to the escalators that led up to Denison Street and Miller Street. “I don’t know which one is which, but I’m happy that we finally have a Maccas here.”
The stations in the city centre, in particular, proved to be particularly confusing. Gadigal and Barangaroo were questioned about the lack of underground access to either Town Hall station or the work precinct, respectively.
The Metro line is in hope to become a game-changer to Sydney CBD’s heavy traffic. Photo: Rex Siu/CN
Barangaroo’s work precinct can also be accessed via underground walkways from Wynyard station on the Sydney Trains network.
The future of Sydney’s Metro lines is going to be the Southwest extension coming next from Sydenham to Bankstown, which is expected to be built in 2025, the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport from St. Marys to the Western Sydney Airport, scheduled to open in 2026, and the Sydney Metro West line from Hunter Street in the CBD to Parramatta, in 2032. Commuters are hopeful about more new extensions of these lines to areas such as Randwick in the Eastern Suburbs from Hunter Street and the Southwest region of Sydney to link the area to the Western Sydney Airport, due to open in 2026.
The M1 line, currently operating from Tallawong to Sydenham, is set to be extended to Bankstown, with the train line between these two stations to close for its conversion to a metro line. The Minns government has not announced an official date for such closure. However, commuters are aware of this and have been slowly making alternative travel patterns for when the line finally closes. The line is expected to finish conversion by 2025.
With Sydney Metro to be extended to Bankstown in 2025, the T3 between Sydenham and Bankstown will be closed for its conversion to a metro line. Photo: Caitlin Maloney/CN.
Sydneysiders will need a while to acclimatise to the new metro before the confusion dies down and becomes a norm across the city.
Main image by Rex Siu.
Reporting: Elijah Pommy
Interviews and additional photography: Caitlin Maloney
Additional reporting: William Luthje
Audio Production: Charli Derrig
Commissioning editor and photography: Rex Siu
