August 19, 2024, marks an historic day in NSW’s transport history as the doors officially open on new metro services extending from the city’s north west, under the harbour and through the Sydney CBD, to Sydenham.
Commuters have woken up to an additional 15.5-kilometres of new metro rail to get them around the busiest parts of the city, with access to fast and reliable services via six brand-new underground stations and new metro platforms at Central Station and Sydenham Station.
This new section of railway is the next stage of the M1 Northwest & Bankstown Line, which now extends 51.5-kilometres through Sydney with stops at 21 stations between Tallawong and Sydenham. The remaining 13-kilometres of the M1 Line will open after the conversion of 10 existing stations on the T3 Bankstown Line.
The newly expanded metro network provides unrivalled connectivity to Sydney’s employment, financial and retail districts; unlocks the Barangaroo harbourside precinct by delivering its first railway station and has capacity to move more people across Sydney Harbour in the busiest hour of the peak than the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel combined.
The inaugural passenger journey under the harbour departed Sydenham Station’s Platform 1 at 4:54am this morning.
From today the weekday timetable will be in play across the integrated network, with a train arriving every four minutes during the peak and every seven minutes throughout the day during the interpeak period. After a few weeks, the 7-minute interpeak service will move to a 5-minute interpeak service on weekdays.
A total of 445 new metro services will run through the heart of the city each weekday, with room to move around 34,000 people every hour during peak periods, significantly alleviating pressure on existing transport options and road networks.
Passengers can plan their metro trips by visiting transportnsw.info
Over the coming days and weeks, while commuters become familiar with their new city services, extra Metro staff will be present at each station and on trains during operating hours.
Audio and video help points located at each station also connect directly to friendly staff at Metro’s Operations Control Centre who will be available to answer enquiries.
While all city stations are now open, commuters will notice hoarding and minor ongoing work in the precinct areas at most new stations. This work largely involves improvements to roads, footpaths and traffic intersections and will not impact customer journeys.
The new buildings above Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Gadigal and Waterloo stations remain under construction and will progressively open as they are finished.
New turn up and go metro services are the fastest way to get from Sydney’s north into the Sydney CBD, with a trip on the metro from Chatswood to Martin Place taking 11 minutes, while a journey along the full alignment, from Sydenham to Tallawong, taking under 60 minutes.
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