Sydney Metro Northwest ushers in new era of train travel for commuters

When it opens in two weeks, the Sydney Metro Northwest will mark a new era in rail transport in Australia, bringing one of the most advanced Metro systems in the world on line. Here’s what passengers can expect.

Sydney Metro CEO Jon Lamonte at the marshalling yard at Rouse Hill in front of the new metro trains that will come into operation this month. Picture: Toby Zerna

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THE Sydney Metro Northwest will be one of the most advanced Metro systems in the world when it opens in less than two weeks on May 26.

The 22 trains built by French multinational Alstom are based on the international Metropolis train platform, which currently operates in more than 25 cities around the world, including Singapore, Barcelona and Amsterdam.

The driverless trains have been designed to offer maximum safety and comfort to passengers, and feature the latest in passenger information systems, as well as areas for prams, luggage, bicycles, wheelchair spaces and separate priority seating for those with reduced mobility. Once inside, passengers can circulate freely throughout the entire length of the train.

There are three doors per carriage, which make boarding and departing the train faster and easier.

“It’s a very different train to Sydney Trains’: Inside the Metro train, there are no compartments or doors, you can walk right through the train with ease.

Sydney Metro chief Jon Lamonte told The Daily Telegraph in February that the trains — which were built near the Indian city of Chennai — are world class.

“Alstom is one of the global suppliers of metro trains, provides trains all over the world and they all have slight differences but this is very similar to the one in Amsterdam,” Mr Lamonte said in previously unpublished comments.

“This is the latest of the trains, it is part of the cutting edge offering that we are bringing here,” Mr Lamonte said.

“It’s a very different train to Sydney Trains, if you get on board you can see right the way through it, there are no compartments or doors closing you off, you can walk right the way through.”

Platforms have floor to ceiling safety screen doors, which will open when the train has arrived, preventing anything from falling on the track. Pictures: Tracey Nearmy

The Hills Showground train station in Castle Hill, Sydney. Picture: Tracey Nearmy

He said the driverless trains are programmed to stop at each station for a predetermined amount of time, before warning lights and audio sounds alert passengers that the doors are closing.

“There is a dwell time, so as the train comes in, it opens for a certain time and then it closes, it will take everyone a little bit of time to get used to because they haven’t had that before,” Mr Lamonte said.

“The dwell times are tuned to having the maximum number of people (during peak hour).”

Mr Lamonte said the platforms have floor to ceiling safety screen doors which will open when the train has arrived, preventing anything from falling on the tracks.

“Things like platform edge doors are a first for Australia, the fact that they are driverless is a first for Australia,” he said.

Each Sydney Metro Northwest station is colour coded to aid illiterate passengers. There are brightly colour-coded glass balustrades along the station stairwells and adorning the skylights, and there is also a strip of unique coloured lights along each platform which lights up whenever a train is approaching.

As an example, Norwest station is orange, Showgrounds station is a slightly different orange, Castle Hill station is red and Cherrybrook station is cherry.

Platforms will also be equipped with video phone call screens, where customers with questions can speak to a real person at the Sydney Metro control centre at Rouse Hill.

The $8.3 billion railway project with 13 train stations is set to open on May 26 more than $1 billion under budget and will provide Sydneysiders with a ‘turn up and go service’.

The trains can carry up to 1300 people, and will initially ferry up to 18,000 passengers an hour in each direction, with the ability to expand to 40,000 an hour in the future.

The trains run 36km from Tallawong to Chatswood and will arrive at stations every four minutes during peak hour.