Good morning and welcome to our live blog of the first day of the M1 Metro extension from Sydenham to Chatswood – as we mark the historic first running of trains under Sydney Harbour. Transport and Infrastructure editor is on the first run from Sydenham to Tallawong with Transport Minister , Sydney Metro chief executive and Transport for NSW secretary ; while reporter is on the 4.38 from Tallawong to Sydenham.
For those new to Metro – the line from Chatswood to Tallawong opened in 2019 – Haylen reminds passengers to not run for the doors, and to hold on when they are on the trains because they accelerate quickly. We would love to hear from readers who have taken their first trip on the Metro today. Send us your selfie and get in touch here: It was a festive atmosphere on the platform at Sydenham, and a huge cheer went up when the first driverless metro train pulled into the station.
Among the throng were friends Jack Okill, 14, from Lindfield and William Han, 11, from Epping. They had arrived at 3.30am to catch the first paid passenger service about 90 minutes later.
“We are diehard metro fans,” Jack said. “I wasn’t going to miss this. [The trains] are fast, reliable and the stations are beautiful.
” As the first metro service to travel the full length of the Tallawong to Sydenham line pulled into Tallawong station this morning a wall of phones raised in the air to film its arrival. Train aficionados, transport officials and quiet commuters stepped aboard, with the diehard fans collecting at the front of the train to be the first to complete the journey. Some Metro fans came in costume, including a pair in matching Where’s Wally outfits, an individual in a rainbow wolf mascot suit, and a group of friends that purchased commemorative t-shirts emblazoned with the words “I went to the Sydney Metro City Opening 2024 and all I got was this lousy t-shirt”.
As the metro barrels quickly towards Sydenham, some riders could barely contain their excitement. One was heard saying “Gladys might join us”, as another excitedly mused that “the train would probably fill up once we get to Chatswood”. They are referring to former premier and transport minister Gladys Berejiklian, who opened the original Chatswood to Tallawong route in 2019.
This (early) morning’s journey will take 61 minutes, only slightly longer than the 49 minute car journey (39 with tolls). It was 1.15am at Sydenham station and three train enthusiasts had arrived hours before the first paid passenger metro service was due to pull out of Sydenham station at 4.
54am. Logan Newboult-Kosztyo had travelled from Woy Woy on the Central Coast and Thomas Marynissen from Watanobbi, while Wesley Fung had caught the last train from Castle Hill in the early hours to Sydenham. Newboult-Kosztyo said the railways had always been a big passion of his.
“My dad is a train driver so it’s always been a big passion of mine. So I decided, why not come out and see the first Metro running the extension?” he said. Marynissen describes himself as an engineering enthusiast.
“We’ve had good trains so far, but having this, I think is just going to get so many more people in and out and hopefully reduce congestion,” he said of the new metro line. Fung also caught the first train on a new line in Hong Kong about eight years ago run by MTR, which leads the private consortium operating the M1 line between Sydenham and Tallawong. The gates to the metro platform opened about 40 minutes before the first metro train pulled out of the station at 4.
54am to travel along the M1 metro line under the central city and harbour. The driverless trains run at speeds of up to 100 kilometres an hour through the 15.5-kilometre twin tunnels under the heart of the city.
A trip on a metro train from Chatswood to Gadigal station near Town Hall in the CBD will take 13 minutes. In comparison, a Sydney Trains double-decker journey from Chatswood to Town Hall is 21 minutes. Likewise, a journey from Central Station to Epping station via Chatswood is 30 minutes on a metro train, compared with 34 minutes on Sydney Trains via Strathfield.
You can see how long your journeys will take along the new line . Good morning and welcome to our live blog of the first day of the M1 Metro extension from Sydenham to Chatswood – as we mark the historic first running of trains under Sydney Harbour. Transport and Infrastructure editor is on the first run from Sydenham to Tallawong with Transport Minister , Sydney Metro chief executive and Transport for NSW secretary ; while reporter is on the 4.
38 from Tallawong to Sydenham. For those new to Metro – the line from Chatswood to Tallawong opened in 2019 – Haylen reminds passengers to not run for the doors, and to hold on when they are on the trains because they accelerate quickly. We would love to hear from readers who have taken their first trip on the Metro today.
Send us your selfie and get in touch here:.
