For more than 20 years the promise of a metro train connecting The Hills to Sydney was delayed, deferred and cancelled by successive Labor state governments.

But after eight years of construction, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will open the new metro network today, stretching from Rouse Hill to Chatswood.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the Sydney Metro was a project of “many firsts” including the first driverless trains in Australia, the first “true metro” and the first time new technology like platform safety doors have been used on an Australian railway.

“Not since the Sydney Harbour Bridge has a public transport project captured our imagination,” Mr Constance told the Telegraph.

“Like the great grey Coathanger before it, this isn’t just a public transport project — Sydney Metro is a once-in-a-generation city shaping phenomenon.”

Mr Constance said it was an extraordinary journey to completing the Sydney Metro northwest, which was launched by then NSW Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, in April 2011.

“We made some tough calls back then to break the mould and deliver a brand new railway system for Sydney, to serve us well into the 21st century,” he said.

“A system that will grow with Sydney for generations to come.”

He paid tribute to the 22,000 people that worked to construct the metro network over the past eight years.

To celebrate the opening of the Sydney Metro northwest to the public, the Saturday Daily Telegraph and Hills Shire Times have compiled all the need-to-know information on the new service before it takes its first trip public from Tallawong Station at Rouse Hill at 11am.

• FAST FACTS
• It was designed to help cater for an extra 200,000 people moving to The Hills.
• The network aims to reduce the percentage of car ownership in The Hills, which currently has the highest levels per household in Australia.
• At full operation, there will be 15 metro trains an hour in the peak — that’s a train every four minutes, with plans to grow in the future.
• More than 30 million customer trips are expected each year within seven years of opening.
• It will reduce car trips by 14 million a year — that’s 12,000 fewer car trips in an average two-hour weekday morning peak.

ALL ABOARD — USING THE TRAINS

In peak hour, you will be able to turn up and ride a train every four minutes on the network. There will be real time travel information in every station and on every train, continuous mobile phone coverage throughout the metro network, and emergency help points inside each carriage.

A new fleet of world-class Metro trains will run every five minutes during peak hour from opening day, with plans to see services increased to four minutes in the future.

Each Metro train has two wheelchair spaces on each carriage, as well as dedicated priority seating.

Each train also has two multipurpose areas for prams, luggage and bicycles.

The Transport for NSW spokesman revealed services are required to run at 98 per cent on-time reliability.

“The new train is customised for Sydney but is based on a metro train used in 25 cities including metros in Singapore, Barcelona and Amsterdam,” he said.

“Safety is the main priority and each Sydney Metro station will have state-of-the-art fully-automated platform screen doors.

“The train can’t leave until all train doors and platform screen doors are confirmed closed.”

• FAST FACTS
• All stations have platform screen doors. They allow trains to get in and out of stations much faster.
• Train will be stopped at a station for about 35 seconds on average.
• Customer service assistants will be at every station.
• There’s 468 pairs of steel-framed doors — made from 8700sq m of glass.
• The total combined length of platform doors installed across Sydney Metro Northwest is nearly 44km.
• Driverless train technology has been around for 30 years.

WHERE ARE THE DRIVERS?

More than 40 million people use driverless train networks every day in cities including Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong.

“Each train has 38 security cameras inside including on the front and back of the trains; and inside the trains customers can see from one end of the train to the other, a significant security benefit,” the spokesman said.

“State-of-the-art signalling and communications systems control the trains, the tunnels, the tracks, the platforms, the platform screen doors and the skytrain to ensure we deliver a safe and reliable journey to our customers.

“All these systems communicate with each other and are controlled by the expert train controllers back in the operations centre.”

HOW MUCH THE METRO WILL COST YOU

PLEA FOR KELLYVILLE, ROUSE HILL TO HAVE ON-DEMAND BUSES TO STATIONS

THE HILLS, SCHOFIELDS TO BE LINKED TO WESTERN SYDNEY AEROTROPOLIS

Trial along the new network have included high speed tests on the skytrain, calibrating the platforms screen doors and loading a train with more than 100, one thousand litre tanks of water to simulate customer weight loads.

But the testing has not gone without issue including trains overshooting platforms and not lining up with station gates.

“As with every brand new railway of this scale anywhere in the world, Sydney Metro expects there will be some initial teething issues during the ramp-up period, and we will thank our customers for their patience,” the spokesman said in response to recent issues on the network.

The spokesman confirmed no trains were out of services this week, and no train door issues had occurred this week.

“During testing of the line, it is common for minor issues to be encountered with systems and trains,” he said.

“These provide the operator of the line the opportunity to make refinements and learn lessons which will ensure safe and reliable journeys when the line opens to customers.”

• FAST FACTS
• The state-of-art train has undergone 400,000km of testing.
• Sydney Metro will start with 22 trains and each will have 6 carriages.
• The platforms will be long enough for eight carriage trains like the rest of Sydney.
• All Sydney Metro stations are fully accessible — every station has lifts, level access between platforms and trains.
• Different rails are used in the Sydney Metro network, meaning Sydney Trains won’t be able to use them.

THE CONTROL CENTRE

A team of expert train controllers will operate and monitor the Sydney Metro network from a remote Operations Control Centre in Rouse Hill — meaning there will be no drivers on trains that will travel at more than 100km per hour.

The Transport NSW spokesman described the control centre as “the beating heart of Sydney’s new metro railway”.

“Its focus is on safety and reliability using world-best practice to monitor and, if necessary, control all train and station systems,” he said.

“In addition to being the operational ‘heart’, the OCC is also the network’s eyes and ears.”

The remote team are responsible for ensuring trains operate every four minutes in each direction during peak periods.

“Staff will monitor more than 350 train services daily and more than 1,300 live security cameras will ensure customers are safe and the metro is running on time,” he said.

“Video and audio emergency help points at stations and on trains are linked directly to the OCC — if customers need assistance they can speak directly to staff using voice and video facilities.”

• FAST FACTS
• The system can be expanded by adding both extra carriages and extra trains.
• The system can run a train every two minutes in each direction under the Sydney CBD.
• The trains will be stabled at the brand new Sydney Metro Trains Facility at Rouse Hill.

THE STATIONS

Thirteen iconic stations, designed to reflect the natural landscape of The Hills, are dotted along the network between Tallawong Station and Rouse Hill and Chatswood.

New stations include Cherrybrook, Castle Hill, Hills Showground, Norwest, Bella Vista, Kellyville, Rouse Hill and Tallawong stations. While Epping, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde and Chatswood station were retrofitted to allow for Sydney metro trains the access the Epping to Chatswood Tunnel.

A total of 4,000 commuter car spaces will be provided across eight stations on the Sydney Metro northwest line — which is expected to service approximately 45,000 commuters every hour.

In September, NSW Transport revealed the final parking space numbers along the entire metro line identifying stations, and surrounding suburbs, that are the winners and losers of a commuter parking scheme.

• FAST FACTS
• Tallawong — 1,000 spaces
• Kellyville — 1,360 spaces
• Bella Vista — 800 spaces
• Hills Showground — 600 spaces
• Cherrybrook — 400 spaces

Commuters at Cherrybrook, Hills Showground, Kellyville, Tallawong and Bella Vista will benefit from thousands of commuter parking spots, while Norwest, Rouse Hill and Castle Hill will be forced to use other modes of transport to access the stations.

WINNERS AND LOSERS IN METRO NORTHWEST PARKING

MULTI-STOREY METRO CAR PARK AT KELLYVILLE STATION CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE

PARKING RESTRICTION INSTALLATION AROUND SYDNEY METRO STATION STREETS

It is understood commuters will be able to access free commuter parking with their Opal card, while non-commuters will pay a fee to park.

Customers in Norwest, Bella Vista, The Ponds and parts of Baulkham Hills and Castle Hill, will be able to access on-demand bus services to Norwest, Bella Vista, Tallawong, Rouse Hill and Hills Showground Metro stations.

There are also restrictions put in place for on-street parking across The Hills Shire.

Hundreds of ‘No Parking’ and restricted parking zones were installed across 54 streets in the lead up to the opening of the Sydney Metro northwest, following an approved parking strategy rollout.

In late March, commuters were bombarded with new parking restrictions in residential streets, stretching from Rouse Hill through Kellyville, Bella Vista and Norwest and up to Castle Hill.

BUILDING THE NETWORK

A total of four boring machines were used to create 30km of underground tunnels over 16 months between September 2014 and January 2016.

Designed specifically for tunnelling in the hard rock that makes up the bedrock of the Sydney basin, the machines weighed 900 tonnes and were more than 120m in length.

A Transport for NSW spokesman revealed assembly of the machines on-site took six weeks to complete, by a team of more than 70 workers. Two 500-tonne cranes took about seven hours to secure and lift each 105-tonne circular cutter-head into place.

“Cherrybrook was the only construction site to see all four tunnel boring machines,” the spokesman said. “Each TBM tunnelled an average 173m a week through Sydney sandstone and shale, they were operated 24/7 underground by a rotating crew of 15.”

The twin tunnels, stretching between Bella Vista and the retrofitted Epping to Chatswood rail tunnel, are lined with 16,290 concrete rings which was sourced from a purpose built concrete facility constructed at Bella Vista.

“The most complex section of tunnelling was 25m under Castle Hill and did not involve tunnel boring machines, “ the spokesman said.

“A 160m-long crossover cavern was excavated next to the station box to allow trains to swap tracks underground, a key part of ensuring reliable services.”

When it came to the construction of the skytrain spanning from Bella Vista to Tallawong Station at Rouse Hill, two giant horizontal cranes were used to build the 4km viaduct over two years.

“These launching gantries arrived in more than 23,000 pieces loaded into 182 shipping containers, after completing work on a roads project in Dubai,” the spokesman said. “They were each 150m long, 11m tall and weighed about 1,000 tonnes.

“They lifted 1216 concrete segments into place, each weighing between 65 tonnes and 140 tonnes. About 80,000 tonnes of concrete was used to build the 1128 concrete segments forming the skytrain’s four kilometre deck.”

The delicate engineering operation to create the iconic bridge that spans across Windsor Rd at Rouse Hill town centre took place in the dead of night, with towers delivered from a factory in Glendenning to Rouse Hill under police escort.

• FAST FACTS
• The first new six-car metro train was delivered in September 2017.
• Testing commenced in December 2017 as part of the complex testing and commissioning program.
• Each Carriage is 2.934m wide, 3.994m high, and 132.5m long.
• Each wheel weighs about 500kg.
• The first full 36km journey on the Northwest line was completed on January 14, 2019.