Sydney’s mega Metro City line is set to be a game changer and transform the way commuters travel in the Harbour City. An opening date for the ambitious project has now been announced with fast and reliable metro services set to kick off in just a few weeks. August 4 has been revealed as the opening date subject to trial running exercises, system performance tests and final regulatory approvals.
Touted as Australia’s biggest transport project to date, the city section of the metro, or the M1 Northwest and Bankstown Line, extends the existing Metro from Chatswood to Sydenham. Some of the additional 15.5km of metro line will go below the harbour and through the CBD. Once open, travel times will significantly reduce including from Martin Place to Central in 4 minutes and from Sydenham to Chatswood in 22 minutes.
Some highlight features of the Sydney metro include:
- Train services every four minutes during peak times, seven minutes during the week, and every 10 minutes on the weekends.
- New stations at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Gadigal and Waterloo, and new platforms at Central and Sydenham.
- Over 900 bike storage spaces.
- Uninterrupted mobile network coverage.
- Each station equipped with state-of-the-art technology including platform screen door technology, 100 CCTV cameras and cameras inside the trains.
- 445 services a day and 45 metros in total.
“Metro will be the fastest way to travel in and around Sydney CBD and north of the city, including across the harbour, when passenger services on the M1 Line start next month,” Transport Minister Jo Haylen said.
Additionally, the T3 Bankstown Line is set to close for 12 months later this year for metro conversion works.