First passengers ride on Sydney’s new Metro train
Frustrated commuters from Sydney’s northwest thought it would never happen but after eight years and $7.3 billion the once-in-a-generation Sydney Metro took its first public passengers on a trip into Sydney’s future on Sunday.
Frustrated commuters from Sydney’s northwest thought it would never happen but after eight years and $7.3 billion the once-in-a-generation Sydney Metro took its first public passengers on a trip into Sydney’s future on Sunday.
More than 250 readers of The Daily Telegraph were given a glimpse of the new driverless trains that will arrive every four minutes from Sunday, May 26.
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“I didn’t think I would live to see this day,” said 93-year-old great grandmother Nancy Stevens, who rode the one-off “Tele Express” from Rouse Hill to Chatswood with four generations of her family.
“It is so smooth and it feels a bit strange that we are going so fast without a driver,” she said.
The trains reach speeds of up to 100km/h along the 36km route from Tallawong to Chatswood.
Tunnelling under the harbour is due to begin within months to complete the full 66km route to Bankstown by 2024.
Delighted NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said: “Sydney will remember 2019 as the Year of the Metro, the point in our history when getting around our great city started to become faster and easier.
“Not since the Sydney Harbour Bridge has a public transport project captured our imagination,” he said.
The Bridge was pioneered by John Bradfield. The Metro’s visionary is Rodd Staples, Secretary of Transport for NSW, who ran the project for its first seven years.
He proudly took children Jack, 9, and Anna, 11, on the “Tele Express” to share his passion.
“I am very excited to finally open the doors and show it to the community,” said Mr Staples, whose keen sense of Sydney’s history stretches back to his grandfather’s time working as a riveter on the Harbour Bridge.
The attention to every detail spans 21st century technology — such as CCTV coverage for the entire length of the train — to old fashioned common sense.
“We made the space for prams at either end because we knew the kids would want to look out of the front and back windows,” Mr Staples said.
It is the first driverless train in Australia and eight-year-old train fanatic James Hurst was among the dozens of children to crowd to the front and watch as it flashed through tunnels that were bored by 900 tonne machines stretching the length of two A380 super jumbos back-to-back.
“I love it here at the front,” said James, whose grandfather drove steam trains in Sydney decades ago.
Among the hundreds of readers of The Daily Telegraph who entered the competition for a coveted spot on the “Tele Express” was State Rail’s former chief inspector of passenger services, 90-year-old Victor Underwood.
“Look at where technology has come,” Mr Underwood said. “You can see the advancement in rail since the days when I used to travel the country.”
One of the key advances is the use of platform screen doors which keep people and objects such as rams from falling onto the tracks and allow the trains to zip into the station much more quickly.
That is going to save time for people including Nick Williams, 40, who regularly commutes to the city.
He took children Penelope, 7, Abigail, 11, and Joseph, 13, on the train as a Mother’s Day treat for wife Miechele, who stayed at home and had a lie in.
“This will cut at least 30 minutes off my journey each way which means I am going to get more time at home with these guys,” he said.
The Metro travels on Australia’s first stayed railway bridge built on a curve and flashes over the traffic snarls on Windsor Rd before dropping into one of the twin railway tunnels that are the longest ever built in Australia, which run 15km from Bella Vista to Epping.
Mother-of-three Heidi Morrison said: “We have been watching the construction for such a long time and the boys have been very, very excited to actually get on board.”
As sons Charlie, 7, Oliver, 5, and Alfie, 2, pressed their noses to the glass windows she marvelled: “It also has a new train smell. It’s a thing.”
“Their great-grandmother walked across the Harbour Bridge, it was one of the greatest moments of her life and one day our boys will remember this moment too,” she said.
IT consultant Prem Mascarenhas, 38, and wife Amulya, 38, moved to the Hills District just as construction work began and their son Daniel was born.
“I told Daniel I would bring him on the train when he was seven years old and here we are,” Mr Mascarenhas said.
“He has been counting the days until it opens and when we won a ticket for the Tele Express he was overjoyed.”
Louise Pollard, 44, who boarded the train with husband Paul and sons Lachlan, 11, and Callum, 8, said: “This is going to make a big difference to people in the Hills.”
It is Australia’s first true Metro and brings Sydney on par with other global cities with Metro trains including London, Paris, Singapore and Dubai.
Retiree Ken Sherwood, 67, worked for the company that provided the rail fixings and said: “I never thought anyone would fund it. I was sceptical but now here it is and it is so good.”
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