‘Turning the page’: Sydney’s new metro line makes history, but the test is yet to come

About 40,000 people ushered in a new era of public transport for Sydney in the first five hours of the $21.6 billion metro rail line’s operation on Monday, although the tunnels under the harbour face their true test in the days ahead.

In marking the opening of the first railway under central Sydney since the Eastern Suburbs line 45 years ago, Premier Chris Minns said the M1 metro extension from Chatswood to Sydenham via the CBD would open a “bunch of unintended but important” linkages.

“We’re turning the page of a new era of public transport,” he said.

He paid tribute to the former Coalition government, and especially former premier Gladys Berejiklian, for pushing ahead with the city’s second harbour rail crossing. “Gladys Berejiklian deserves a lot of credit for this city-shaping piece of infrastructure. She had the vision to get it done,” he said.

Berejiklian offered her congratulations to those who helped deliver the new extension of Sydney’s metro network on the day of its opening. “A huge congratulations to the literally thousands of workers involved who helped deliver this important project,” she told the Herald.

As part of the previous Coalition government, Berejiklian helped conceive the metro line as transport minister, funded it as treasurer and opened the first stage, Metro Northwest, as premier.

Premier Chris Minns and Transport Minister Jo Haylen visit the transport management centre at Eveleigh on Monday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Minns said the mega-rail projects were city-shaping but warned that people “shouldn’t kid themselves” about them because they were expensive and “someone has to pay the bill”.

He cast doubt on the Metro West rail project between central Sydney and Parramatta last year before committing to proceeding with the $25 billion line.

“I’m comfortable that we’re within our range to get new infrastructure for Sydney up and running, but it’s not just a blind acceptance of new metros,” he said.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the M1 metro line, which now extends from Tallawong in the north-west to Sydenham in the south, would relieve pressure on the rest of the transport network.

While operations ran smoothly on the opening Monday, Haylen conceded the test would come over the next three days, which are each the busiest on the transport network.

“There will be a test to our network tomorrow morning, Wednesday morning and Thursday morning,” she said. “Inevitably, there will be kinks in the system, but we’re working those things through.”

Minor irritations on the extended metro line on Monday morning included a malfunctioning lift at Victoria Cross station in North Sydney and overly loud public announcements at Chatswood station, which had to be toned down.

Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan said the driverless trains were being held at station platforms for longer while passengers got used to the system.

“As people get more used to it, we’ll shorten those dwell times, so it will actually come a little bit faster again over the coming months,” he said of the travel times between stations.

Passengers on the first regular passenger metro service left Sydenham at 4.54am on Monday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Regan said Martin Place and Barangaroo stations were busy during the morning peak as people used them for the first time to travel to work in nearby offices, and the 40,000 passengers recorded in about the five hours to 10am was greater than expected. “The flows from the north were significant, particularly during peak hour,” he said.

The first weeks of operation will influence the start of a 12-month closure of the T3 Bankstown line to allow it to be converted to operate metro trains and the launch of a new timetable for Sydney’s rail network.

Haylen said she wanted to ensure the M1 metro extension had a high level of reliability before closing the Bankstown line because it would be a “painful year of inconvenience” for people along the corridor in the south-west. The government has targeted the 12-month closure to start by October.

The 13-kilometre stretch of converted track between Sydenham and Bankstown will form the final part of the new metro line, and is due to open late next year.

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