source : the age
Thank you for joining our live coverage of Sydney’s new metro line, and a special thanks to all those who shared their photographs and thoughts throughout the day.
This is where we’ll leave our live coverage – assuming it’s smooth sailing for the afternoon commute.
Our transport and infrastructure editor Matt O’Sullivan is keeping an eagle eye on all things metro, so keep following the Herald homepage for all the latest – and most importantly, enjoy your new metro!
It’s not all joy and excitement at the metro’s opening today.
Businesses in Bankstown have told the Herald they’ve been struggling over the last two years following the closure of the train line.
At an arcade across the street from the gleaming new metro station, Adnan Nemme of Odette’s Perfumery laments the “destruction” the past two years have wreaked.
“This entire arcade has crumbled because they closed the station and closed off our door traffic. I’ve been here 35 years and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”
Everything has run smoothly on the new line’s first day, Sydney Metro CEO Camilla Drover said.
“We’re really pleased with this morning’s performance. Everything has gone to plan,” she said.
Patronage is higher than usual on a Friday, Drover said, and services will run every seven minutes this weekend, rather than every 10 minutes, to accommodate the crowds checking out Sydney’s newest public transport option.
Premier Chris Minns was still asleep when it is estimated more than a thousand metro enthusiasts boarded the first service to Bankstown this morning.
Minns said more than 92,000 have used the M1 line so far today, 18,000 of whom travelled through the expanded south-west section.
“They missed a sleep-in, but they got an experience of a lifetime,” Minns said.
It’s not just commuters who are excited by the latest metro opening.
Cafes on both sides of the newly opened line between Bankstown and Sydenham are eagerly awaiting the return of foot traffic around the stations.
Hong Heng, owner of Cloud Brew cafe at Bankstown, said she had opened her business a year ago in anticipation of the line’s opening.
“I’ve been waiting for this for quite some time. Already we’ve seen a bump in business this morning,” she said.
Premier Chris Minns and Transport Minister John Graham are holding a press conference to discuss the opening of the metro extension.
We’re expecting it to kick off just after 11am.
The Inner West Council has seized the opening of the final section of the M1 metro line to launch a campaign aimed at luring visitors to food and entertainment hubs in Marrickville, Sydenham, Dulwich Hill and surrounds.
Mayor Darcy Byrne said residents and businesses were expecting thousands of visitors to pour into the inner west after the opening of the final stage of the metro line linking Bankstown to Tallawong in the north-west.
“Inner westies are proud of our diverse and distinctive suburbs, and after a challenging period of construction, we’re excited to welcome people from across Sydney to rediscover the inner west, enjoy everything it has to offer and get behind our local businesses,” Byrne said.
“We are rolling out the welcome mat.”
In the history of Sydney’s three-stage M1 metro rail line, it’s been standard for the government to opt for openings on a Sunday – if it could.
The ribbon was cut for the first stage from Tallawong to Chatswood on a Sunday in May 2019. The M1 line’s city section was also due to be opened on a Sunday in early August 2024 until a delay resulted in the government opting for a Monday several weeks later.
The common wisdom of a Sunday opening is that it avoids a busy weekday when patronage surges, giving authorities wriggle room if something goes awry after the ribbon is cut.
So why was a Friday chosen for the opening of the south-west section?
At Hurlstone Park, complaints have trickled in about the volume of the loud speaker at the new metro station.
And having just arrived there, the speaker is noticeably louder than at other stations.
Locals Mary Kean and Jamie Honan said they’d heard of the complaints and the noise.
“We heard the people that live here have a petition together, but this station has been noisy for a while, even before the metro opened,” Honan said.
The worry for commuters who catch the metro from Sydenham in the morning is that the opening of the line to Bankstown will mean the end of getting a seat during peak hour.
But on day one, at least, those fears did not materialise.
Commuters from further up the line ditched the pink buses to Sydenham, so the platform at Sydenham was near empty. When the carriages pulled up, there were plenty of passengers inside, but no one was standing and it was still easy to find a seat.
The caveat is that Fridays are always quiet days. The test will come midweek next week.
