Trains are packed on these Sydney metro stops in the morning peak

City-bound metro trains pulling out of Crows Nest station on Sydney’s M1 line are more than 80 per cent full on average during the morning rush hour, just seven months after the rail extension under central Sydney opened.

While patronage continues to grow, boosting the frequency to one service every three minutes – from every four minutes – in both directions during peak periods would ease crowding but require the state government to buy an extra 14 trains.

Commuters pack a CBD-bound metro train during the morning peak last week. Credit: Sam Mooy

New figures show the greatest passenger loads occurring last month on weekdays between 8am and 9am were on trains departing Crows Nest station. They averaged 82 per cent of total capacity, making Crows Nest the busiest point on the M1 line between Tallawong in the north-west and Sydenham in the south.

It was followed by trains pulling out of Chatswood, which averaged 77 per cent of capacity; Victoria Cross in North Sydney, at 76 per cent; and North Ryde, at 69 per cent, Sydney Metro figures show.

Total capacity on metro services is defined as 1152 passengers per train, which equates to all 378 seats being taken and four people standing per square metre. The government agency said about 30 services had reached full capacity last month, all of which ran between 8am and 9am.

Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan said the highest loadings on the M1 line were on southbound services in the morning from Chatswood to Crows Nest and Victoria Cross.

“Some of those trains are full in the AM peak,” he said. “We’re approaching 250,000 [trips on the M1 line] on a weekday, and it’s still growing.”

Passengers squeeze on a metro train at Crows Nest station during the morning peak.Credit: Sam Mooy

Regan said more people than expected were switching from double-deck trains to metro services at Epping station to travel into the CBD on the M1 line, instead of staying on the T9 Northern line via Strathfield. “That’s a movement that’s much higher than expected,” he said.

Commuters were gradually adjusting their patterns during the morning and evening peaks by travelling earlier or later, Regan said.

The latest figures show metro trains pulling out of Epping station averaged 67 per cent capacity between 8am and 9am on weekdays last month. Trains departing Macquarie University and Macquarie Park stations were at 66 and 67 per cent, respectively.

Asked whether Sydney Metro was considering an increase to train capacity, Regan said it would closely monitor patronage and travel behaviours when the final stage of the M1 line, from Sydenham to Bankstown, opened next year.

“We will keep that under review,” he said. “At this stage, we will continue to bed it down and keep the reliability at the level it has been, which has been extraordinarily high.”

Regan said other changes that could be made in the longer term included four-minute frequencies throughout the day or adding an extra two carriages to trains, up from six-car sets at present.

Outside morning and evening peaks, of 6.30am to 10am and 3pm to 7pm respectively, metro trains run every five minutes from 10am to 3pm, and every 10 minutes at other times.

Part of the 45-strong train fleet for the M1 metro line between Tallawong and Sydenham.Credit: Nick Moir

The agency calculates an extra 14 trains would be required if the frequency of services were boosted to one every three minutes during weekday peaks, though it would depend on operating patterns along the M1 line, which has a 45-strong train fleet.

Regan expects a “significant jump” on northbound trains from Sydenham to the CBD on weekday mornings once the final section of the M1 line opens next year.

After the final 13-kilometre section opens, Sydney Metro forecasts about 19,000 trips will be taken between Bankstown and Central stations from 8am to 9am, and about 13,000 between Bankstown and Sydenham during that period.

The entire line from Bankstown to Tallawong is predicted to have about 49,000 trips during the busiest hour of the weekday.

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