The bid to get the new Sydney Metro line up and running has taken a major step forward, with safety regulators clearing trains to start running from Monday, August 19.
“I’ll see you on the train.”
The project marks one of the biggest shake-ups to Sydney transport in the city’s history, unlocking a major new line for commuters, and propping up several new Metro stations including those in Barangaroo, Waterloo, and North Sydney’s Victoria Cross.
It’s all geared towards changing how locals and tourists experience Sydney, bringing more suburbs into the fold as the city pushes forward in its plan to become a vibrant global city. The Metro stations will also lead to more affordable housing, new lifestyle precincts, and more jobs as the infrastructure attracts more investment.
A game-changing 2,645 new metro services will travel through the heart of the city each week, moving more than 37,000 people in the AM peak.
This represents a 160 per cent patronage growth on Sydney Metro services in the AM peak when compared to the existing Tallawong to Chatswood section.
More than 264,000 trips are expected to be taken on the line from Tallawong to Sydenham on a typical weekday.
Information on services will be clearly signposted at stations and available at www.transportnsw.info▪ external siteprior to opening.
Sydney’s new M1 Line includes:
- A train every four minutes in the peak, seven minutes in the interpeak (gradually increasing over the first few months to ultimately achieve a train every five minutes during interpeak on weekdays) and every 10 minutes during off peak and on the weekends.
- 445 services a day
- Six fully accessible new stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Gadigal and Waterloo, along with new platforms at Central and Sydenham.
- Seamless interchange with multiple transport modes at all stations, with direct interchange with Sydney Trains services at Martin Place, Central and Sydenham
- More than 900 bike storage spaces.
- Uninterrupted network mobile coverage.
- Each new station is equipped with platform screen door technology to keep people and objects safely away from tracks.
- Safe journeys monitored by a state-of-the-art control centre, with approx. 100 CCTV cameras at every station and 38 cameras inside each train.
Passengers will have fast metro travel times including from Victoria Cross in North Sydney, under the harbour to Barangaroo in 3 minutes, between Martin Place and Central in 4 minutes and from Sydenham to Chatswood in 22 minutes.
The T3 Bankstown Line will close later this year for up to 12 months to complete the final metro conversion works and in 2025, Southwest Sydney will have turn-up-and-go metro services every four minutes in the peak directly into Sydney CBD.
A comprehensive and integrated transport plan will be in place to keep people moving, including Southwest Link– dedicated, high-frequency bus services between Sydenham and Bankstown train stations.
Sydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project.
Building, operating and maintaining a network of four metro lines, 46 stations and 113km of new metro rail.
Sydney Metro is revolutionising how Australia’s biggest city travels, connecting Sydney’s north west, west, south west and greater west to fast, reliable turn-up-and-go metro services with fully accessible stations.
Chatswood to Sydenham
This project covers the construction and operation of the Sydney Metro rail line from Chatswood to Sydenham. This 15.5-kilometre section of the rail line is almost entirely comprised of underground rail tunnels –including beneath Sydney Harbour – and new stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street, Waterloo, and new underground platforms at Central.
The Environmental Impact Statement was on public exhibition from 11 May to 27 June 2016 and received more than 300 submissions. Sydney Metro collated the responses and released a Submissions and Preferred Infrastructure Report (available in the document library▪ external site). This report included a number of key changes made as a result of the feedback.
The Minister for Planning approved the project on 9 January 2017.
Using five tunnel boring machines, tunnelling finished in early 2020 on new 15.5-kilometre twin railway tunnels between the end of the Metro North West line at Chatswood and Sydenham.
New stations will be delivered at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street and Waterloo, along with new underground platforms at Central Station.
Sydenham to Bankstown
Sydney Metro received planning approval on 19 December 2018 to upgrade the T3 Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Bankstown to metro standards. Customers will benefit from a new fully-air conditioned Sydney Metro train every four minutes in the peak in each direction with lifts, level platforms and platform screen doors for safety, accessibility and increased security.
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