The doors have officially opened on the $21.6 billion city section of the Sydney Metro project.
The driverless section of the M1 Line includes an additional 15.5-kilometres of metro and has six new underground stations, including at North Sydney, Barangaroo and Martin Place, as well as new platforms at Central and Sydenham.
This new section of railway is the next stage of the M1 Northwest & Bankstown Line, which now extends 51.5-kilometres through Sydney with stops at 21 stations between Tallawong and Sydenham. The remaining 13-kilometres of the M1 Line will open after the conversion of 10 existing stations on the T3 Bankstown Line.
Sydney Metro is Australia’s most technologically advanced railway, and is Australia’s only fully-accessible, driverless train service.
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The inaugural passenger journey under the harbour departed Sydenham Station’s Platform 1 at 4:54am, on August 19.
By 10am, an estimated 40,000 passengers had already jumped on board the new service, with 118 services running the full length of the 51.5-kilometre M1 Northwest to Bankstown Line from Tallawong to Sydenham.
A total of 445 new metro services will run through the heart of the city each weekday, with room to move around 34,000 people every hour during peak periods, significantly alleviating pressure on existing transport options and road networks.
While all city stations are now open, select works are continuing including improvements to roads, footpaths and traffic intersections. The new buildings above Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Gadigal and Waterloo stations remain under construction and will progressively open as they are finished.
Sydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project. It consists of building, operating and maintaining a network of four metro lines, 46 stations and 113 kilometres of new metro rail.