What were you sceptical of out of interest? I worked on the Project so im interested to hear what people thought versus now. Worth noting it is only running at about 40% of its future potential, the trains can be made 30% longer than they are now and it can run 36 trains an hour instead of the current 15 trains per hour in peak.
@@strikerbowls791 No I totally disagree, the mega road projects like WestConnex and Western Harbour Tunnel etc (I worked on several of them) only made sense if you then took the freed-up capacity on the surface roads which they relieved and gave it to buses, light rail, pedestrians, cyclists, redevelopment and built better streetscapes. If you were not willing to grasp that opportunity you have just made things worse.
People were skeptics of ‘skyrail’ otherwise known as the ‘Level Crossing Removal Project’ in Melbourne too but now that it’s complete nobody says anything negative about it because it’s fucken great.
@@BigBlueMan118 Skeptical because so many past NSW premieres have promised this infrastructure but none actually made it happen until Gladys Berejiklian took office. Thanks to her.
I don’t think people have fully comprehended what’s going on in Sydney. With continued Metro expansion (totalling four metro lines, 46 stations and 113km of new track), a second international airport opening in 2026 (10 million passengers expected in year 1 making it bigger than Adelaide’s airport), Westconnex and Western Harbour tunnels combined with new height densities around many train and metro stations, the city is laying the groundwork for massive expansion.
WestConnex and the major road projects (I worked on several of them) only made sense if you then took the freed-up capacity on the arterials they relieved and gave it to buses, light rail, pedestrians, cyclists, redevelopment and better streetscapes. If you were not willing to grasp that opportunity you have just made things worse.
Sydney has already suffered massive expansion. This is the very belated infrastructure catch up to support the millions that have already arrived. Future expansion will only make things worse again.
@@Secretlyanothername And the millions of Sydensiders who would benefit from giving more space and priority to buses, cycling, pedestrians and development along those surface roads? They don't count to you or what? Those surface roads that have been freed up for the opportunity don't carry millions every day, a single lane is capable of carrying about 2000 per hour or less in peak whilst buses can comfortably carry 10,000 per hour, cycling even more in the same space.
An interchangeable which immediately clogged up on day one and as if they had no foresight was completely unable to solve the issue of congestion in the inner west
The Rozelle interchange is likely a future project that opened up too early. If they had opened it up with its real intended purpose then it probably would've been fine. It's actually designed to be a major part of the new harbor crossing tunnel's entrance.
Whilst the execution has many faults, the interchange was clearly required and even more when the Western Sydney Harbour Tunnel connects into it from around 2028.
@@mgp1203 stopping Metro at Tallawong always seemed shortsighted to miss out on a heavy rail interchange at Schofields. It is now unlikely to happen until mid century if the Metro is extended from St. Mary’s to Schofields and ‘maybe’ Tallawong (the two metro lines will likely have different power needs to it would be an interchange).
I’m so proud to be living in Sydney. I grew up in the northwest and did uni before the metro came, and had to rely on bus services. The metro has shown me places I never could get to before, and made getting around the city and planning days out so much easier. Our transport is getting to a level that is world class. So exicited to see what comes
What Sydney Metro has done is marketing genius. It has opened up Australia's eyes to the possibility of having European-style public transport and its popularity will allow it to expand over decades without the grumbles Aussies love to make with infrastructure projects. That being said, it is inverting the metro model of stations close apart. In essence it's an entirely new beast. A dedicated express rail service with long distances between stops, which in other places is usually left to heavy suburban rail. The true revolution will occur when we have a dedicated line from Mona Vale to the CBD with a seperate branch off at Manly to Bondi beach and on to Maroubra. A line under the heads opening up a fast link between two entirely distant areas that currently literally take hours to traverse.
I love the northern beaches, but I never go because it takes too long. It's incredible that people protested and stopped the Eastern Suburbs rail line from continuing to Bondi Beach.
@@martingifford5415 It's not that incredible (Don't worry, I know what you mean lol) when you realise why people in Bondi don't want anyone coming into their suburbs. The affluent suburbs of Sydney despise anyone past Newtown. They hate their personalities, their culture, their type of behaviours, which is why anything that gets proposed that way always gets shut down hard, because they don't want to end up like Auburn.
@@hairgrowthjourney9005 The assumption is that a train station would just lead to more people. In reality, it would reduce traffic for you and increase house values because the traffic problem would be solved. Currently, people drive or catch the bus, which makes traffic a nightmare.
Sydney trains network should still be upgraded. There are still major improvements that can be done on the network like extending the Southwest Rail Link (Glenfield to Leppington) to the new airport, extending the eastern suburbs line to Kingsford, quadruplicating tracks on certain lines like the t9 northern and increasing frequencies on some stations that still have a frequency of every 30 minutes in off peak like Asquith, Villawood and Oatley.
@@hayekianman metros can't carry frieght traffic. If they are going to increase the industrial capacity of the area around the new western sydney airport it would be better to have a heavy rail line rather than putting more trucks onto the already congested roads.
I'd like it to be converted to metro and provide a connection between Western Sydney and South West Sydney. Makes sense to then connect it to the Bankstown line
@@TomHommus Not exactly - the Brisbane Metro was supposed to be light rail, but due to cost concerns they are rubber-tired bi-articulated busses. The Brisbane Metro project replaces two existing high frequency bus routes. It will be an improvement over the existing bus routes, but not significant.
The Paris Metro got it right years ago, lightweight, low mass, shuttles arriving minutes apart and Sydney has embraced this and taken it much further. Well done.
Sydney's transport network WILL be truly world class once the metro-fication is complete and they close the frankly silly gaps at Schofields to Tallawong, Bankstown to Liverpool and Aerotropolis to Glenfield. Right now, the metro really only benefits the more affluents parts of the city. Even when the Bankstown to Sydneham section is completed, the fact that commuters from around Sydney's third CBD (Liverpool) will be stuck changing trains or driving as they already are, is telling of how the government views the importance of rolling out a fully integrated network for Western Sydney.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l I completely agree. Both sides of politics have shown their apathy or outright disgust for Western Sydney residents for yonks. We saw it throughout the pandemic, with these billion dollar transport projects and just infrastructure in general.
If the metro NW goes all the way to Tallawong (effectively Schofields), metro SW should go to at least Wetherill Park ... but then it is Sydney where the governments are as snobbish and discriminatory as the people in it.
While everyone was paying attention to the Grand Paris express, Sydney built 3 underground metro lines, began converting one suburban line to Metro (Bankstown), built 3 new light rail lines (L2, L3, L4) extended 1 light rail line (L1 to Dulwich Hill) and announced a 5th (Parramatta to Olympic Park).
Great video. It was announced this week that the opening of the L4 Parramatta Light Rail has been deferred due to slow testing. Apparently won’t be opening until late 2024
THey've slowed the L1/2/3 down considerably by reducing speed limits on sections of track, and adding long term "Temporary" speed limits due to faults. They'll need to shut down the L4 for a couple of months to add in a terminus for the L5 in Macquarie St.
Totally agree that Sydney's new Metro is a great addition, and overall our public transport is improving. However one thing I don't understand is why the Parramatta Light Rail stops at Carlingford. Imagine if they continued the line through to Epping station! That would open a corridor directly between Parramatta station and Epping station that would be beneficial to so many people.
This has to be some conflict of interest dodgy sh*t and shenanigan going on. No reason with geo-technological advances these days the line is not being built.
The only way they could realistically do that is with either mixed street running or a tunnel, the first of which goes against the design principles of the light rail and the second of which would add expense. I definitely think they should do one of those two anyway, but I understand why it wasn't included in the initial stage 1 plans.
It is important to talk about timing of all this. True, Sydney has massively improved its public transport network this decade, and will continue to do so for the next decade. But given the enormous planning and building lead times for this sort of infrastructure, the big decisions and financial commitments were all made in the PREVIOUS decade. In turn this was pretty well forced by the scandalous neglect of previous decades before it, which in turn was a combination of corrupt pro-road governments and the mania for privatisation. By the turn of this century Sydney was well on its way to becoming a great world city for those who could afford to live in the inner eastern suburbs but a hellhole for everyone else. That has been turned around, though still some way to go.
@@erroreliminator2.076 Come on, don't be so harsh!... he also lined his and his friends pockets with billions of dollars of taxpayers money 🤑 The fact that he and his cronies are not rotting in jail cells for the rest of their lives, is a sad reflection of the extent of political, police, and judicial corruption in this state. At least we're not quite as bad as Victoria, but that's nothing to brag about. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that Gladys Butter-Chicken got found guilty of corruption by ICAC though (although no charges were laid, so I don't really understand how that makes sense), for a bit of good old fashioned pork barrelling - which they ALL do, and no I'm not necessarily defending it, but it's somewhat ambiguous in terms of negative societal outcomes. Now compare that with Carr and Co.; massive infrastructure project after massive infrastructure project being announced, then 6 months/1 year/2 years down the track, suddenly out of the blue the whole project gets cancelled with little details provided as to why, and of course hundreds of millions of tax dollars have somehow been spent in the preceding 6 months with no public benefit to show for it... only for Carr to make a BRAND NEW GRAND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT announcement a few months later... and it continued to go on and on forever just because... like a LambChop Ouroboros of corruption.
@@DaArcanePanda The greatest fallacy of all is that privatisation "frees funds"; there can be good reasons to privatise but this is just not one of them. Learn some double entry bookkeeping. Shifting a contingent liability off balance sheet does not eliminate it if you are still bearing the risk of the contingency - which these contracts almost invariably leave the government exposed to.
@@mjcats2011 Yeah we do have great public transport. I just loved the vibe of Melbourne. The trams were beautiful. Flinders street station was amazing. It’s got a really nice feel to it
@Psyopcyclops Yes, Melbourne is a wonderful city. It is just a shame about our Public Transport. Compared to Sydney, we suck. The Train network is nowhere near, and the bus system is truly dreadful for 85% of the network. Flinders Street Station is horrible. Just a façade. The outside looks nice, but on the inside it isn't good. Go to platforms 12 and 13 for an idea on how ordinary it is. Sydney Central is a 1000 times the station Flinders Street will be on its very best day. The only saving grace is the Tram Network.
A lot of goodwill has been expressed by the public and the media towards the previous coalition government who planned this project. Also notable is the disastrous Rozelle interchange road project, and the strong negative reaction it received from the media and the public (also a coalition project). The lesson I hope the Labor state government takes from this is that Metro projects will reap rewards politically, while road projects are a risk.
I totally agree, the bus network is in need of serious love. I've experienced a lot of cancelled and late buses recently and ones that just never show up at all.
And this is just the start! They’re expanding to the west and Im so excited for Parramatta - Central being much more accessible and have the commute crowds spread out more!
People who dont live in Sydney dont know how much the Metro West will change the city. Connecting suburbs live Five Dock to Parramatta is wild. Olympic Park having direct access to the city is as well.
Five Dock already has not enough parking as more people had moved into the area in anticipation of a rise in their property valuation. But hey, expect more high-rise and apartments in Five Dock, as to parking, people are on their own.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l How much medication do you take??? But seriously, if you live on good public transport, you don't do the 'Big Shop', you pick up a few things on your way home every day.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1lThis is car-brained thinking. Take a bag, a trolly, an ebike, and do your shopping more frequently instead of trying to fill your car once a week. You get fresher veggies, less waste, more exercise, and get out the house more.
I live in Pymble, 1km from Gordon. I have been greatly impressed by the usefulness of Metro and CityRail improvements. I ceased work in 2014 (I retired after 45 as a programmer). Public transport is much more helpful and convenient than when I commute daily. Except for high winds, which almost always mess up Harbour Bridge rail traffic, I consider City Rail now far more usable, even for retired folks like me!
Great stuff. And really good that you pointed out that one of the biggest, most impactful ( but cheapest) improvements was the 15 minute train frequencies. You could have also added more and higher frequency cross-town bus routes. These have probably done more to improve the quality of life in Sydney than the more glamorous projects.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l The length of a bus route is irrelevant if it is frequent - where the bus has been before you get on and where it goes after you get off shouldn't concern you.
In Canberra we have a light rail that doesn’t go to most major centres and the 1.7km extension is going to cost $577M. I want better public transport, but that’s an absurd amount.
@@staryoshi06 That amount should be enough for the light rail to go from Civic to Woden. I want light rail, what I don’t want is absurd prices. There is no logical reason why light rail should cost $340,000 per metre. We could build a subway system for cheaper than that.
fair point. Adelaide was designed with ring roads from it's inception. It also had one of the world's most extensive light rail network to supplement. Also, the O Bahn. No toll roads. Not beholden to developers. So swings and roundabouts. Having 3 car factories ensured the car lobby sealed the fate of light rail there by having them all removed...
When I visited Sydney the L2 and L3 light rail were the key to making the tourist experience good, it was convenient and much easier to access than trains.
As a Melburnian, I'm jealous, but I'm glad Sydney is innovating in transit because it's like a blueprint for the future, for Sydney and the rest of the country
@@mathewferstl7042 I mean partially, but while that's gonna be automated and transformative, the real genius of Sydney's metro comes from it's ability to run parallel with regular lines, providing more efficient and speedy service, WHILE opening new connections
@techno_1007 SRL obviously has different goals. Providing Orbital connections to a radial network for the first time (the outer circle never did that if you know the history) is a major dynamic shift in how transportation works here. It'll take just a long time before it's fully completed, like how sydney metro will take a long time to build.
@@mathewferstl7042 Sydney is not canning or postponing projects to build the the Metro. The Govt wants to build the SRL when so much of the Melbourne Train Network is of dire need of updating. This Government go voted in 2018 trumpeting that they are the PT party and yet $36 Billion will be spent on 2 road projects and Melbourne's Bus Network is dreadful and its Train network is average. Most lines run at only 20 mins intervals. If the rest of the network was up to scratch then yes build it, but at the moment, they really should at least postpone it. You better hope that the Western Melbourne seats do not turn against the ALP. Because they will lose and it will have served them right. Melbourne will always be light years behind Sydney when it comes to Public Transport.
@@mjcats2011 you're entire argument assumes SRL is the primary budget line item which it is not and has never been (so far). NEL, year after year has been the biggest spender. Why don't you go buzz around that project and continue to be a pest. No one is talking to you
One caveat. The money supply for large projects is starting to dry up. It's probable that it will last until the opening of the L4 stage one, the SW metro extension, the WSA Metro, and WSA airport stage one (no doubt with some delays) but that's about it for now. While we can get excited about public transport in itself, it always operates within the constraints and opportunities granted it by far wider economic and social considerations. There is nothing mysterious about this. Australia's productivity is slipping. International supply chains are faltering (not helped by Covid), globalisation is ending (it was only ever a stage, never the brave new world it claimed), there is little practical focus on developing local manufacturing more widely, we spend an awful amount of time on things that don't matter, and somehow we still expect to mostly survive on just selling dirt forever. We are in for a few painful years, reminiscent of 'the recession we had to have" in the 80s. Big infrastructure projects can help keep money flowing sometimes, but when people are personally hurting there are much stronger cries to fix what we have and struggle back to better prosperity first. And, I don't say any of that with any sense of joy or satisfaction. It's not all bad news. The arrival of the Metro into the CBD had a much better public effect than commonly expected. It's also reduced passenger load on some Sydney Train lines by around 30%, providing some much needed time and space to revive it. On average Sydney Trains are about about 10% slower than when I was a kid. Some of that is because it's stretched, some due to signalling limitations, but some of it is from just cynically slowing services to create an illusion of acceptable on time running. It exclusively uses stock designed as an interim cost-saving measure, but which has become a sacrosanct design feature. While Sydney Metro is the sexy new kid on the block, Sydney Trains are in mid-life crisis (I'm being kind here, as some would say 'early senility'). In can be its own worst enemy at times, and it imagines the travelling public don't notice. The coming years present its biggest opportunity to transform itself. It's biggest risk is that it's powerful Luddite element will prevail by only allowing 'more of the same'. Interesting times.
New Zealand doesn’t have the big money Australia does. And in any case: Auckland is soon going to get a subterranean railway tunnel right under its cbd.
@@lorenzlorenzo1975 Not just mining. Australia diversified its economy better after the UK joined the EEC and had less dopey policies like the employment contracts act, bulk funding of schools, student loan act, etc.
Yeah, but only in the city section. The NW section are fairly standardised and plain. The SW section will retain much of their traditional look. There's probably a sociology PhD in exploring the rationale behind that.
Amazing what a change of government can do! 16 years of a Labor state government we got zero investment in train network, change of government and we have the best train networks in the country... Thank you Gladys!
We should be very grateful for the liberal national party Government who gave us the best public transport system in Australia. Sydney thanks you. Meanwhile when the old pathetic ,corrupt,,useless,lazy,dumb,llabor Government were in power thet did nothing. From Young Robert.
Former transport Minister andrew constance descoped the straightening of the T3 line as part of the metro conversion, which will be interesting to see how afftects travel time to city
I think it is in Budapest that their subway line is 15 feet below street. I like that, saves time and it's depressing to keep going down deep everyday.
So happy to hear of this success. Just goes to show it is good for everyone when investment is made in public transport. Reminds me of when a tiny extension was made to the tram line in Adelaide. Opposition politicians said it was a waste of money and no one would use it. After it was a success, the same people claimed the government should have done more but when they did build more, once again the opposition called it a waste, and even cancelled further extensions when they got into office. Morons.😑
I feel sorry for those who cannot find parking at Tallawong. The obvious solution is frequent and short routes of buses during peak periods. Maybe 3 km loops to the station every 10 minutes on Fijian Bula buses 😊.
And there is the eternal bridesmaid of public transport, the extension from Hunter Street to Zetland and beyond...UNSW? Pagewood/Eastgardens? Add in the potential Taverners Hill-Central-Green Square light rail that the current state government dismissed far too fast despite it being a gift.
G'day it's Steven from down under Young man you're professional and well researched so keep it up. As a Sydney sider this infrastructure is long overdue, our city is busting at the seams with exponential growth. Reality is, and some people with certain political motivations will deny this, is that the previous state government was incompetent, arrogant and some may say corrupt to a certain extent. The current state government has inherited a mess and underfunded projects, the Rozelle interchange is one disaster that comes to mind. Also having grown up in the seaside suburb of Maroubra I was excited to hear that the light rail line was coming, later only to hear that it would stop at Kingsford and not one more stop to a highly populated Maroubra, furthermore it could've been extended even one more stop the a very busy location with enormous growth that's now known as Eastgardens. Also the booming south western suburbs that include Sydney's third largest riverside CBD ( Liverpool ) have had little or no plans for the new Metro trains, and in February of 2015 the current double decker heavy rail passenger service was extended by just two stations to Edmondson Park and Leppington with the belief that these would be joined by additional new stations to Sydney's $6 billion western airport, this new airport falls within Liverpool municipality and there's no plans to link the new airport to these mentioned stations via Liverpool CBD which would be a direct link towards Sydney City, instead the proposed new Metro line currently under construction is heading away from the city via St.Marys. Furthermore the former state government inexplicably decided that Parramatta would be Sydney's second CBD and that "all roads should lead to Parramatta", in my lifetime Parramatta was never considered a desirable location and is now already becoming a high crime and over populated area. All I can say is good luck to the current state government, and good luck to all of us Sydney siders too.
It's such success because the old train network is so outdated and crappy so the bar was set very low. But even the new metro line is only good when you want to go to the CBD or your destination is close to one of the stations along the route. If you want to go from Macquarie Park to Bankstown for example, you either drive for 40 minutes or take the Metro to Sydenham and another train to Bankstown which takes more than 1 hour. In other words, it's still the same old design, with all the train lines having to pass the CBD, just improved and faster. It's still way behind the decentralised train network like in Tokyo.
If they just built ONE north-south line, it would change this whole city. Macquarie -> Meadowbank -> SOP -> Lidcombe -> Bankstown -> Beverly Hills -> Hurstville. You'll touch all the train lines.
@@midgetwars1would love that. The 410 bus service connecting Macquarie park - Hurstville is currently the only real north - south service for me in Meadowbank and it’s so slow as it’s all stops and is always delayed…sometimes even half hour to an hour.
Lots of people are full of praise for the obvious benefits - but the justifiable criticisms of what could have been so much better, and better value, won't go away.
What do the numbers look like if you include the whole line? For those of us on the Bankstwon section "Year Five: things are not looking good". The promised benefits have been further delayed and the promised costs continue to increase.
Sydney could adopt the BRISBANE METRO BUS concept on busy routes. Those buses are double articulated and electric and will be frequent. Every two minutes in peak, with every four minutes, off peak. The key is to use the car parking lanes on routes such as along Parramatta Road, for example. One station per suburb. Concrete curbs keeping cars off the Bus lane. . . . . like on the Gold Coast, which has the curbs keeping cars off the Tram Line!
The L3 Tram to Kingsford seems odd in where it terminates. If it terminated at Uni of NSW, I could understand it, but it goes past there to Kingsford shops and then just past that, but not to Maroubra. Kingsford is not a huge suburb nor a major transport hub unlike Maroubra further along Anzac Parade. The L3 going slightly past Kingsford required the expensive redesign of the big 2-lane roundabout, replacing it with a slower traffic-light interchange. Why did this happen, just for an extra hundred meters of travel? At the end of that hundred meters are the big dollars of Souths Juniors club. I wonder whether that is a coincidence. The obvious thing to do with the L3 is to extend it to Maroubra, which has roads with heavy bus routes going west, and supermarkets (Aldi and Coles, unlike Kingsford - IGA only - and Kensington - no supermarket at all). This proposed extension has one huge advantage over most rail extensions in that Anzac Parade is already a split road for the entire distance of the extension, so no buildings or roads would need to be removed. The main objection to this extension would have been the giant roundabout at Kingsford, but that got removed already so the trams could go the extra hundred meters from Kingsford to the poker machines at Souths Juniors.
If you look at that termination area the trams travel into before reversing, it's pretty clear that it was designed for extension! Let's see when the government decides to realise that they built it..
elevated light rail 6 metres above parramatta Rd would be the way , the industrial commercial buildings in that whole area from parra to Camellia is run down and depressed because of the traffic issue , people dont want to rent anything there.
@@heartobefelt I feel that elevated light rail would not solve the stroad issue that exists along Parra rd, while it would be more expensive and disruptive, a proper revamp would be much better. Median running trams, outside cycle lanes and wider sidewalks would be a major improvement.
Sydney needs a metro to the Northern Beaches, starting at Victoria Cross, then under military road, then to the zoo, then to Manly, then north to Dee Why, Narrabeen, up to Palm Beach.
The biggest Project the Government could do next is accelerate the construction of the New Cumberland Line, which would extend the Leppington SWRL to Bradfield and then divert the line through Liverpool+Fairfield into a new tunnel to Parramatta then Epping. This would massively increase the frequency and speed of the rail corridors in Western Sydney by removing the biggest branch of the T2 and giving it its own dedicated corridor allowing the T1 and the T3 full use all of all tracks west of Homebush, plus give a cross-city connection between Epping-Paramatta-Liverpool-Glenfield.
When you say removing the T2 and giving it its own corridor, do you mean have trains run through Parra and terminate at Epping? How will the people get to the city?
@@decepticons_destroy So the New Cumberland Line would take the trains from Leppington-Glenfield-Liverpool-Fairfield-Merrylands that currently run on to Granville as a branch of the T2 and would instead go into a new tunnel from Merrylands under Parramatta to Epping. T2 would become two branches: an all-stops Inner West service to Parramatta via Granville, and a semi-express service to Liverpool via Regents Park. Passengers from stations between Leppington-Merrylands wishing to go to the city would change at either Liverpool or Cabramatta to the T2 via Regents Park service, or they would continue on the New Cumberland Line to Parramatta then catch Metro West or the T1 Western line to the CBD. They could also continue to Epping (9 minutes from Parramatta) and change to the new Metro M1 line to get to the CBD. Good video on it here: th-cam.com/video/RXyGcwVqD3s/w-d-xo.html
@@erroreliminator2.076 It isn't actually clear in the documentation whether the New Cumberland Line project would be Metro or heavy rail with a higher degree of automation like Melbourne and Perth are building. There are advantages for both. I think it should be single-deck to assist with interchange at Parra and at the new airport, though.
@@BigBlueMan118 thanks! Don’t think Canley Vale - Merrylands commuters would be happy as they no longer have a direct train to the CBD but I can see the benefit of this. Leppington - Cabramatta would be fine via Regents Park, as long as it’s semi-express and not the 78 min journey. They really should extend the southwest Metro to Liverpool and further extend it to Bradfield, that way there is a connected loop for all the metros
Fun Fact: the rail system travel time to the City was FASTER in the 19th Century. + World's largest tram system in the 20th. Anyways the real momentum are new tolled roads tunnels; especially 2 airport. Tubers often on ticket to ride as shills.
Fully automated trains do have a reputation for being driven into each other in some countries. I’d be interested in knowing more about Sydney’s systems.
You missed the improvements to the Manly ferry over the last 2 years: The large freshwater class ferries were to be taken out of service - this was not popular - and replaced with the smaller, faster and more frequent emerald class. Embarrassingly the emerald class can’t operate in large swells and eventually some of the freshwater class had to be brought back too, so now there’s both. This year the NRMA’s Manly Fast Ferry service joined the opal network so passengers can get whatever service arrives first, for the same price and with any associated discounts. What all this means is you now get commuter ferries that depart every 10 minutes much of the day and all but the freshwater completes the journey in about 20 min. Combined, options are now double the frequency 30% faster.
Sadly, out here in regions, we are still neglected. Whilst getting around Sydney has never been easier, I loved using the L2 when I visited in April, the getting there is as difficult and painful, sometime literally...bloody horrible Xplorer DMUs, as it has always been. It'd be nice if the NSW Government could consider the state a whole, and not only make it easier to get around Sydney via public transport, but also to get to and from Sydney from outside the city. But then again, we all know NSW stands for Newcastle, Sydney, and Wollongong, and we west of the mountains basically don't exist.
Boy is that true! Trying living west of Mt Victoria, with an absolutely lousy 2-hourly frequency. And Lithgow-Bathurst needs better service and (sigh) electrification (yeah, in my dreams).
@@mt-mg7tt this is the thing. Queensland was able to electrify all the way to Rockhampton, thus it should be possible to expand electrification to Bathurst, at least, from Lithgow, and provide a more frequent service to Sydney, perhaps every 2 hours, for example. Bad enough the state government recently refused to extend the "Bathurst Bullet" to Orange, so they’re stuck with the Dubbo XPT only.
there's basically no reason to go to the city more then ocassionally anyway, unless you work there. Nobody actually goes there for any other reason anymore unless they live right in the city anyway, or are visiting from overseas.
Issue is with the government, whenever something regional pops up, they don't really care because not enough people are complaining, and not enough of the state travel out that way. While travel times may be long for regional people, there's a lack of 'traffic jams' that the city normally has. And when traffic jams happen, money is on the line, economic activity slows down. I know that sounds like nonsense, but it's just their way of thinking. "How do we keep Sydney traffic flowing? Well, let's spend more on Sydney, because no one is going out to regional, so they can wait" etc.
@@lookatmepleasesir Queensland electrification was mainly for the coal traffic, West of lithgow doesnt have much of that but the new trains can at least run electric until Lithgow and it might be possible to extend in future. I would be more worried about the shitty track alignments though.
While the Canberra shot talking about government spending at 9:33 is probably just aimed to show Canberra equals government. It's interesting you chose Commonwealth Ave bridge for the shot given its current lack of expensive tram which should run through there in 10-15 years time maybe
City transit seeing great improvement over the years is fantastic! However, during the same times, regional areas and connections from such just feel neglected by the state governments. Many regional cities actually do suffer from pretty bad congestion due to the unavailability of proper and reliable public transit systems. I’d say its also another key factor why we only have big cities where they currently are, and nowhere else.
The next thing I'd love to see is rail improvements extending out to intercity trains. I grew up in Newcastle so that's the trip I'm most familiar with, and it's still far too slow. It's quicker and cheaper to drive so many people still commute into the city by car. Needing a car to get around Sydney is becoming less and less necessary so getting people to the city without a car seems like the next logical step.
This is fantastic and I love the metro. But what we really urgently need now is rapid building of medium and high-density housing in the areas served by these transit lines. The current government(s) do seem to be moving in that direction but it feels like they're taking a bit of a "softly, slowly" approach to the issue where we need something more aggressive.
I think its being done pretty aggressively in some parts. Waterloo has a ton of development rn around the new metro station, and I've heard Tallawong is getting a bit done too. There's also planned to be massive development in the new Aerotropolis CBD.
Sydney has the best public transport in Australia 🇦🇺. Hopefully we also be the first state to get a speed railway from Sydney to Newcastle or Sydney to Canberra. 💚👍😊
To be honest, I’m not sure if the metro will be as successful as expected if the supporting facilities are still remain as they are. For example, in the Hills District most people are living in houses, but the regional buses to the metro station usually run only once an hour. This pretty much eliminate the possibility for local commuter to use the metro.
metro is for high density commuters. not for those want to live in houses far away. the place near the stations is going to have new apartments for people who value that over living far away in poorly connected places. govt money should be spent on maximising the benefit for the most people, not favoring those choosing exclusive housing over density
I have just done an online simple bus timetable search for Cherrybrook station for the Saturday 1pm-2pm timeslot - guess what? 13 buses depart Cherrybrook station in that one hour - serving for example: Kellyville/ Castle Hill (2 services), Pennant Hills (4 services), Rouse Hill, North Kellyville, Bella Vista/Stanhope Gardens (3 services). At Rouse Hill Station on Mondays between 7am and 7.30 am 33 buses service places like Marsden Park, North Kellyville, Gables (aka Box Hill), Bella Vista. For example, the newish suburb of Gables has two services to Rouse Hill station between 7 and 8 am Mondays and yes like most developing outlying/new suburbs it has only one trip per hour on the weekends. My opinion is that commuters are fairly well serviced with connecting services to Hills based metro stations. Yes, more services for weekender travellers would be welcomed.
@@hayekianman lol, so what you basically says is that metro is only designed for people who lived near station, even slight outskirt won't benifit at all. I doubt the government dear to say that in the first place. plus double the local bus frequency or only keep the local suburbs to metro part of the route in off peak hour won't cause that much govrnment money, this however it will increase people's williness of using public transpotation rather than cars.
A nice shot of Commonwealth avenue bridge in Canberra at the end of the video which will see a new light rail line crossing it in the coming years. About 20 years late but better late than never.
The new Sydney metro is awesome in every aspect. The only downside I’d say is the tunnels and the carriages should be bigger! Sydney’s population is still booming and we need to prepare for the future. ❤
Current Metro trains are already scheduled to become eight car sets (now six). It is a rapid transport system designed around greater frequency moving numbers that fit into the other infrastructure like overall volumes. escelators, lifts and then connecting buses etc.
Yes, it is a great success BUT those numbers quoted include many who are now not using the older network. As an exmple, North Sydney numbers dropped by 7,000 to around 10,000 in the first week, travellers who now access two nearby Metro stations.
I doubt the St Mary's to WSA line will enjoy high patronage - at least not until the densification project complete around Orchard Hill and the line extends to Marsden Park and Schofields, maybe even link up with Tallawong for a change over to Metro North West. the Southern end of the Metro must also connect with heavy rail at Leppington.
I'm on it right now , Sunday lunchtime, 10 minute frequency, standing room only. If there is no driver and no guard, why not have more frequency and more space on board ??
I am troubled by the lack of connection between Epping and Parramatta with the gap between Epping and Carlingford - we work at Liverpool and cant get there by public transport from Epping
To reduce City Circle congestion. At the moment, T3 trains to the city could go either clockwise via Town Hall, or counter-clockwise via Museum. Whereas T2/T8 has to give way to slot in. Hurstville already got quad tracks with express/local trains that is rather frequent.
@@martingifford5415 I suppose yes, when you consider how many cities there are in the world and how many of those are in the developing world, and when you take the city as a whole in order to include the affluent suburbs (I was talking about the CBD and inner city specifically when I said a reason to go the city) but it can't hold a candle to even many small cities in the developed world. Its character has been absolutely gutted and annihilated from the mid 2000's - the lockout laws and onward. Its passe, bland, old, dirty and as boring as batshit
@@lookatmepleasesir The south end of the CBD is bad, but some people like that grungy old Chinatown vibe. The closure of George Street was a huge improvement for the CBD. The underground walkway from Wynyard to Barangaroo is cool and futuristic. The new Darling Square is good. But yes, the CBD is bad in the area between between Eddy Ave, Park Street, Castlereagh Street, and Sussex Street. That area needs a bit of love and planning.
The government are looking into this, and they are considering rerouting Liverpool to Parra to continue up towards Epping (possibly converted to a metro and extended to the airport). Liverpool and Blacktown will no longer have direct services to one another in this plan, but the greater network will far benefit from it. it’ll provide a much needed North South link + free up space on the existing network, improving frequencies on multiple lines
I suspect there isn't a solid case to extend Metro West directly to the new Western Sydney airport, due to the very low patronage of the poorly selected metro routes from St Mary to the new airport.
Yes, I'm worried about the second airport connections. A project like that needs good connections, otherwise, it creates a negative impression for travellers.
@@martingifford5415 For the 2nd connection, the government's original plan (dated Sept 2020) was to extend the heavy rail from the current Leppington station to Bradfield metro station. The new plan, as it is in this video, is to extend the Western Sydney airport metro from Bradfield station to Leppington station AND convert the heavy rail between Leppington and Glenfield to metro.
Don’t undersell WestConnex - it needs to be paired with a closure of Parramatta Road as a ridiculous highway through the inner west. Without a tunnel to bypass it, this was never feasible, but suddenly it is. Even City West Link should be closed, and is a ridiculous attempt 25 years ago to build a frreway with traffic lights through the same area. Give it back to locals and cyclists, and shut off the lanes.
Yes the Metro is genuinely a success, but no one seems to bring up the absolute disaster and questionable decisions surrounding the intercity and interstate network. They messed up really badly with those. Would be cool to see a video on that perhaps in the future.
Yet still nothing done to fix the railway tracks at stations like Seven Hills where they lean so much that you could be forgiven for thinking you're riding on the leaning tower of Pisa. There's like a 10cm height difference between one track and the other track which causes the train to lean so much that it feels like it's going to tip over. And the lean has increased a lot in less than 5 years.
I love the new Metro. But I'd like new public transport to service areas that don't already have good public transport. For example, I never go to the northern beaches because it takes hours, the buses feel claustrophobic, and the road is like a packed rollercoaster ride down through The Spit. BTW, I'm still angry at the people who stopped the train going to Bondi Beach. There's bumper to bumper traffic and people packed onto horrible buses when it could have been a 3 minute train ride. SMH.
Fair enough. But building rail to new areas introduces new rail commuters which requires additional capacity on the inner city lines. Sydney's rail network has suffered for decades because of too many branch lines converging onto the same corridor. This is why they made the Carlingford line a shuttle service and why they they cut the Liverpool via Regents Park service. That being said, it was a good decision to build the north west section first as it meant that when the city section was built, there was already a large number of commuters who could benefit from it, unlike the 2008 plan which would have started with the city section first.
HI! I lived on Bondi Rd 30 -35 years ago. Jam-packed buses used to go past me as I waited to get on one to go to the city CBD. You can bet I wished they put that train line all the way to Bondi Beach too, as I stood there hoping the next bus would stop for me.
The legacy train system is so crap, a low benchmark makes this look even better. What they've done with branding it metro - (when in fact it's some kind of hybrid between a long-distance suburban & a metro) is genius! And it works well.
still no train line to Palm Beach via Manly which was first planned a century ago and Leppington line still not linked to new airport or a link from Camden and Picton to Campbelltown or Sutherland to Liverpool. or Hurstville to Strathfield
If the metro NW goes all the way to Tallawong (effectively Schofields), metro SW should go to at least Wetherill Park ... but then it is Sydney where the governments are as snobbish and discriminatory as the people in it.
In 1964 a STEAM loco hauled Newcastle Flyer did that trip in 2 hours and 1 minute. The time was beaten by an XPT over 20 yers later. Let's try to match that again.
I was sceptical beforehand, but it is very very impressive. More of this, less of roads.
What were you sceptical of out of interest? I worked on the Project so im interested to hear what people thought versus now.
Worth noting it is only running at about 40% of its future potential, the trains can be made 30% longer than they are now and it can run 36 trains an hour instead of the current 15 trains per hour in peak.
Not "less roads". Roads should stay the same
@@strikerbowls791 No I totally disagree, the mega road projects like WestConnex and Western Harbour Tunnel etc (I worked on several of them) only made sense if you then took the freed-up capacity on the surface roads which they relieved and gave it to buses, light rail, pedestrians, cyclists, redevelopment and built better streetscapes. If you were not willing to grasp that opportunity you have just made things worse.
People were skeptics of ‘skyrail’ otherwise known as the ‘Level Crossing Removal Project’ in Melbourne too but now that it’s complete nobody says anything negative about it because it’s fucken great.
@@BigBlueMan118 Skeptical because so many past NSW premieres have promised this infrastructure but none actually made it happen until Gladys Berejiklian took office. Thanks to her.
Took my kids for a day out, we took the bus, metro, ferry, heavy rail, light rail all around Sydney... They loved it!
@@David-ng2qg which kids dont? they make songs about buses and trains for kids for a reason 😂
Cute, what a fun day!
@@David-ng2qg Sometimes the journey is the destination.
@@David-ng2qg bros never been a kid
I don’t think people have fully comprehended what’s going on in Sydney. With continued Metro expansion (totalling four metro lines, 46 stations and 113km of new track), a second international airport opening in 2026 (10 million passengers expected in year 1 making it bigger than Adelaide’s airport), Westconnex and Western Harbour tunnels combined with new height densities around many train and metro stations, the city is laying the groundwork for massive expansion.
WestConnex and the major road projects (I worked on several of them) only made sense if you then took the freed-up capacity on the arterials they relieved and gave it to buses, light rail, pedestrians, cyclists, redevelopment and better streetscapes. If you were not willing to grasp that opportunity you have just made things worse.
Sydney has already suffered massive expansion. This is the very belated infrastructure catch up to support the millions that have already arrived.
Future expansion will only make things worse again.
Water, water, and water
@@BigBlueMan118 no, they make sense for the millions of Sydneysiders who drive every day
@@Secretlyanothername And the millions of Sydensiders who would benefit from giving more space and priority to buses, cycling, pedestrians and development along those surface roads? They don't count to you or what? Those surface roads that have been freed up for the opportunity don't carry millions every day, a single lane is capable of carrying about 2000 per hour or less in peak whilst buses can comfortably carry 10,000 per hour, cycling even more in the same space.
Imagine what the city could have done for public transport with the billions that were wasted on the Rozelle interchange/tunnel
An interchangeable which immediately clogged up on day one and as if they had no foresight was completely unable to solve the issue of congestion in the inner west
literally could've been a separate metro line... or at least finally linked Tallawong and Schofields. So unfortunate.
The Rozelle interchange is likely a future project that opened up too early. If they had opened it up with its real intended purpose then it probably would've been fine.
It's actually designed to be a major part of the new harbor crossing tunnel's entrance.
Whilst the execution has many faults, the interchange was clearly required and even more when the Western Sydney Harbour Tunnel connects into it from around 2028.
@@mgp1203 stopping Metro at Tallawong always seemed shortsighted to miss out on a heavy rail interchange at Schofields. It is now unlikely to happen until mid century if the Metro is extended from St. Mary’s to Schofields and ‘maybe’ Tallawong (the two metro lines will likely have different power needs to it would be an interchange).
I’m so proud to be living in Sydney. I grew up in the northwest and did uni before the metro came, and had to rely on bus services. The metro has shown me places I never could get to before, and made getting around the city and planning days out so much easier. Our transport is getting to a level that is world class. So exicited to see what comes
What Sydney Metro has done is marketing genius. It has opened up Australia's eyes to the possibility of having European-style public transport and its popularity will allow it to expand over decades without the grumbles Aussies love to make with infrastructure projects.
That being said, it is inverting the metro model of stations close apart.
In essence it's an entirely new beast. A dedicated express rail service with long distances between stops, which in other places is usually left to heavy suburban rail.
The true revolution will occur when we have a dedicated line from Mona Vale to the CBD with a seperate branch off at Manly to Bondi beach and on to Maroubra. A line under the heads opening up a fast link between two entirely distant areas that currently literally take hours to traverse.
I love the northern beaches, but I never go because it takes too long. It's incredible that people protested and stopped the Eastern Suburbs rail line from continuing to Bondi Beach.
@@martingifford5415 It's not that incredible (Don't worry, I know what you mean lol) when you realise why people in Bondi don't want anyone coming into their suburbs.
The affluent suburbs of Sydney despise anyone past Newtown. They hate their personalities, their culture, their type of behaviours, which is why anything that gets proposed that way always gets shut down hard, because they don't want to end up like Auburn.
@@hairgrowthjourney9005 The assumption is that a train station would just lead to more people. In reality, it would reduce traffic for you and increase house values because the traffic problem would be solved. Currently, people drive or catch the bus, which makes traffic a nightmare.
@@martingifford5415it’s not about more people coming in, it’s the kind of people they don’t want coming in.
@@martingifford5415 oh yes, the ever increasing house value is exactly what we need.
Sydney trains network should still be upgraded. There are still major improvements that can be done on the network like extending the Southwest Rail Link (Glenfield to Leppington) to the new airport, extending the eastern suburbs line to Kingsford, quadruplicating tracks on certain lines like the t9 northern and increasing frequencies on some stations that still have a frequency of every 30 minutes in off peak like Asquith, Villawood and Oatley.
no trains. only metros going forward
@@hayekianman metros can't carry frieght traffic.
If they are going to increase the industrial capacity of the area around the new western sydney airport it would be better to have a heavy rail line rather than putting more trucks onto the already congested roads.
I'd like it to be converted to metro and provide a connection between Western Sydney and South West Sydney. Makes sense to then connect it to the Bankstown line
@@darren424242 You would want a dedicated freight line. The SSFL has been very successful
@@darren424242 A separate freight line is proposed, so there will be no conflict with metro expansion.
Brisbane needs to take note
Brisbane has a metro now I think it's under testing hahaha
Brisbane needed to take note about 15 years ago. But the second best time to change priorities from roads to public transport is today.
@@TomHommus its not a metro infact its not even a train or even a tram its literally a bus
@@TomHommus Not exactly - the Brisbane Metro was supposed to be light rail, but due to cost concerns they are rubber-tired bi-articulated busses. The Brisbane Metro project replaces two existing high frequency bus routes. It will be an improvement over the existing bus routes, but not significant.
@@wilkgrLight rail is tram and doesn’t come close to metro
I have been on the Hong Kong MTR and getting on these makes me feel like I'm riding on one.
Thats because MTR is heavily involved
@@Funkin_Disher I was there at Sydenham at 5am - you should've seen all of us railfans talk about the MTR and its involvement there!
Not as glamorous but Transport Access Program (TAP) made almost all stations in the Sydney train network accessible
The Paris Metro got it right years ago, lightweight, low mass, shuttles arriving minutes apart and Sydney has embraced this and taken it much further. Well done.
Sydney's transport network WILL be truly world class once the metro-fication is complete and they close the frankly silly gaps at Schofields to Tallawong, Bankstown to Liverpool and Aerotropolis to Glenfield.
Right now, the metro really only benefits the more affluents parts of the city. Even when the Bankstown to Sydneham section is completed, the fact that commuters from around Sydney's third CBD (Liverpool) will be stuck changing trains or driving as they already are, is telling of how the government views the importance of rolling out a fully integrated network for Western Sydney.
Successive governments have neglected the area South West of Sydney from Liverpool to Lidcombe
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l I completely agree. Both sides of politics have shown their apathy or outright disgust for Western Sydney residents for yonks. We saw it throughout the pandemic, with these billion dollar transport projects and just infrastructure in general.
If the metro NW goes all the way to Tallawong (effectively Schofields), metro SW should go to at least Wetherill Park ... but then it is Sydney where the governments are as snobbish and discriminatory as the people in it.
Mate, so people in Tallawong works in the City and no one in it are with Centrelink?
You've been programmed mate.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l Tallawong is NOT "effectively Schofields", if you have to catch a bus to exchange between the 2.
While everyone was paying attention to the Grand Paris express, Sydney built 3 underground metro lines, began converting one suburban line to Metro (Bankstown), built 3 new light rail lines (L2, L3, L4) extended 1 light rail line (L1 to Dulwich Hill) and announced a 5th (Parramatta to Olympic Park).
Great video. It was announced this week that the opening of the L4 Parramatta Light Rail has been deferred due to slow testing. Apparently won’t be opening until late 2024
Wasn't that more or less due to incompetent drivers? News reports they can't keep to the timetable and one of them hit a buffer
THey've slowed the L1/2/3 down considerably by reducing speed limits on sections of track, and adding long term "Temporary" speed limits due to faults. They'll need to shut down the L4 for a couple of months to add in a terminus for the L5 in Macquarie St.
Totally agree that Sydney's new Metro is a great addition, and overall our public transport is improving. However one thing I don't understand is why the Parramatta Light Rail stops at Carlingford. Imagine if they continued the line through to Epping station! That would open a corridor directly between Parramatta station and Epping station that would be beneficial to so many people.
This has to be some conflict of interest dodgy sh*t and shenanigan going on. No reason with geo-technological advances these days the line is not being built.
The only way they could realistically do that is with either mixed street running or a tunnel, the first of which goes against the design principles of the light rail and the second of which would add expense. I definitely think they should do one of those two anyway, but I understand why it wasn't included in the initial stage 1 plans.
I love the architecture of the new metro stations so much. Central is glorious!!
It is important to talk about timing of all this. True, Sydney has massively improved its public transport network this decade, and will continue to do so for the next decade. But given the enormous planning and building lead times for this sort of infrastructure, the big decisions and financial commitments were all made in the PREVIOUS decade. In turn this was pretty well forced by the scandalous neglect of previous decades before it, which in turn was a combination of corrupt pro-road governments and the mania for privatisation. By the turn of this century Sydney was well on its way to becoming a great world city for those who could afford to live in the inner eastern suburbs but a hellhole for everyone else. That has been turned around, though still some way to go.
Privatisation is what funded these massive metro projects.
Yet there are still political die-hard people who revere premiers like Bob Carr... I mean he did fxxk all other than build a casino
@@erroreliminator2.076 Come on, don't be so harsh!... he also lined his and his friends pockets with billions of dollars of taxpayers money 🤑
The fact that he and his cronies are not rotting in jail cells for the rest of their lives, is a sad reflection of the extent of political, police, and judicial corruption in this state. At least we're not quite as bad as Victoria, but that's nothing to brag about.
It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that Gladys Butter-Chicken got found guilty of corruption by ICAC though (although no charges were laid, so I don't really understand how that makes sense), for a bit of good old fashioned pork barrelling - which they ALL do, and no I'm not necessarily defending it, but it's somewhat ambiguous in terms of negative societal outcomes.
Now compare that with Carr and Co.; massive infrastructure project after massive infrastructure project being announced, then 6 months/1 year/2 years down the track, suddenly out of the blue the whole project gets cancelled with little details provided as to why, and of course hundreds of millions of tax dollars have somehow been spent in the preceding 6 months with no public benefit to show for it... only for Carr to make a BRAND NEW GRAND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT announcement a few months later... and it continued to go on and on forever just because... like a LambChop Ouroboros of corruption.
I mean if you look at privatisation in NSW, it's almost entirely the fault of the LNP.
@@DaArcanePanda The greatest fallacy of all is that privatisation "frees funds"; there can be good reasons to privatise but this is just not one of them. Learn some double entry bookkeeping. Shifting a contingent liability off balance sheet does not eliminate it if you are still bearing the risk of the contingency - which these contracts almost invariably leave the government exposed to.
Meanwhile, we in Melbourne have our metro rail loop scheduled to be competed by 2085😂😢
look up how we built the deer park station platform 10m too short, so the trains can't even stop there
Born and bred Sydneysider here, but I genuinely think Melbourne is a much more interesting and unique city. The trams alone are massively cool.
@@Psyopcyclops Maybe, maybe not, but what is not in dispute is that your Public Transport is much better than ours.
@@mjcats2011 Yeah we do have great public transport. I just loved the vibe of Melbourne. The trams were beautiful. Flinders street station was amazing. It’s got a really nice feel to it
@Psyopcyclops Yes, Melbourne is a wonderful city. It is just a shame about our Public Transport.
Compared to Sydney, we suck. The Train network is nowhere near, and the bus system is truly dreadful for 85% of the network. Flinders Street Station is horrible. Just a façade. The outside looks nice, but on the inside it isn't good. Go to platforms 12 and 13 for an idea on how ordinary it is. Sydney Central is a 1000 times the station Flinders Street will be on its very best day.
The only saving grace is the Tram Network.
A lot of goodwill has been expressed by the public and the media towards the previous coalition government who planned this project. Also notable is the disastrous Rozelle interchange road project, and the strong negative reaction it received from the media and the public (also a coalition project). The lesson I hope the Labor state government takes from this is that Metro projects will reap rewards politically, while road projects are a risk.
I totally agree, the bus network is in need of serious love. I've experienced a lot of cancelled and late buses recently and ones that just never show up at all.
Privatisation.
And this is just the start! They’re expanding to the west and Im so excited for Parramatta - Central being much more accessible and have the commute crowds spread out more!
Propaganda
Bro parramatta is already easily accessible. Don’t even need a metro . Got trains buses and ferry access
People who dont live in Sydney dont know how much the Metro West will change the city. Connecting suburbs live Five Dock to Parramatta is wild. Olympic Park having direct access to the city is as well.
Five Dock already has not enough parking as more people had moved into the area in anticipation of a rise in their property valuation. But hey, expect more high-rise and apartments in Five Dock, as to parking, people are on their own.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l Wake up. Who needs parking when you have a metro?
@@jack2453 when people need to shop for meds and grocery duh
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l How much medication do you take??? But seriously, if you live on good public transport, you don't do the 'Big Shop', you pick up a few things on your way home every day.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1lThis is car-brained thinking. Take a bag, a trolly, an ebike, and do your shopping more frequently instead of trying to fill your car once a week. You get fresher veggies, less waste, more exercise, and get out the house more.
I live in Pymble, 1km from Gordon. I have been greatly impressed by the usefulness of Metro and CityRail improvements. I ceased work in 2014 (I retired after 45 as a programmer). Public transport is much more helpful and convenient than when I commute daily. Except for high winds, which almost always mess up Harbour Bridge rail traffic, I consider City Rail now far more usable, even for retired folks like me!
Likewise! Just waiting for the day I forget to transfer at Chatswood and ride to Macquarie 😂
Great stuff. And really good that you pointed out that one of the biggest, most impactful ( but cheapest) improvements was the 15 minute train frequencies. You could have also added more and higher frequency cross-town bus routes. These have probably done more to improve the quality of life in Sydney than the more glamorous projects.
More buses, shorter routes are way better than less buses, insanely long routes
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l The length of a bus route is irrelevant if it is frequent - where the bus has been before you get on and where it goes after you get off shouldn't concern you.
@@jack2453 give me one such route, and define your definition of "frequent". It's all about connections with buses, nothing trumps that.
@@user-ix4zy2rv1l If I'm catching a bus from J to K, it doesn't matter that the bus may have started at A and ends at Z.
@@jack2453 It matters, minimise delays and maximise reliability, connectivity, and service.
I love how meanwhile in Brisbane they complain about the cost of building one line or a fake metro and argue no one will use it
In Canberra we have a light rail that doesn’t go to most major centres and the 1.7km extension is going to cost $577M. I want better public transport, but that’s an absurd amount.
It's no different in Sydney. In fact, I would say that they complain louder!
@@lamsmiley1944 Compared to what's spent on roads, that's tiny.
@@staryoshi06 That amount should be enough for the light rail to go from Civic to Woden. I want light rail, what I don’t want is absurd prices. There is no logical reason why light rail should cost $340,000 per metre. We could build a subway system for cheaper than that.
@@lamsmiley1944 No we couldn't lol. Look at the prices of australian rail projects.
Would be great if other states could copy Sydney's love for public transport.
I'm looking at you Adelaide
fair point. Adelaide was designed with ring roads from it's inception. It also had one of the world's most extensive light rail network to supplement. Also, the O Bahn.
No toll roads. Not beholden to developers. So swings and roundabouts. Having 3 car factories ensured the car lobby sealed the fate of light rail there by having them all removed...
When I visited Sydney the L2 and L3 light rail were the key to making the tourist experience good, it was convenient and much easier to access than trains.
Don't tell me the only stock footage of Sydney that's available was with a half finished Crown
Imagine Crown owns all the land around the metro station though.
😂
As a Melburnian, I'm jealous, but I'm glad Sydney is innovating in transit because it's like a blueprint for the future, for Sydney and the rest of the country
SRL of course wouldn't scratch that itch would it? (basically our version of Sydney metro west but more transformative)
@@mathewferstl7042 I mean partially, but while that's gonna be automated and transformative, the real genius of Sydney's metro comes from it's ability to run parallel with regular lines, providing more efficient and speedy service, WHILE opening new connections
@techno_1007 SRL obviously has different goals. Providing Orbital connections to a radial network for the first time (the outer circle never did that if you know the history) is a major dynamic shift in how transportation works here. It'll take just a long time before it's fully completed, like how sydney metro will take a long time to build.
@@mathewferstl7042 Sydney is not canning or postponing projects to build the the Metro. The Govt wants to build the SRL when so much of the Melbourne Train Network is of dire need of updating. This Government go voted in 2018 trumpeting that they are the PT party and yet $36 Billion will be spent on 2 road projects and Melbourne's Bus Network is dreadful and its Train network is average. Most lines run at only 20 mins intervals. If the rest of the network was up to scratch then yes build it, but at the moment, they really should at least postpone it.
You better hope that the Western Melbourne seats do not turn against the ALP. Because they will lose and it will have served them right.
Melbourne will always be light years behind Sydney when it comes to Public Transport.
@@mjcats2011 you're entire argument assumes SRL is the primary budget line item which it is not and has never been (so far). NEL, year after year has been the biggest spender. Why don't you go buzz around that project and continue to be a pest. No one is talking to you
One caveat. The money supply for large projects is starting to dry up. It's probable that it will last until the opening of the L4 stage one, the SW metro extension, the WSA Metro, and WSA airport stage one (no doubt with some delays) but that's about it for now. While we can get excited about public transport in itself, it always operates within the constraints and opportunities granted it by far wider economic and social considerations.
There is nothing mysterious about this. Australia's productivity is slipping. International supply chains are faltering (not helped by Covid), globalisation is ending (it was only ever a stage, never the brave new world it claimed), there is little practical focus on developing local manufacturing more widely, we spend an awful amount of time on things that don't matter, and somehow we still expect to mostly survive on just selling dirt forever.
We are in for a few painful years, reminiscent of 'the recession we had to have" in the 80s. Big infrastructure projects can help keep money flowing sometimes, but when people are personally hurting there are much stronger cries to fix what we have and struggle back to better prosperity first. And, I don't say any of that with any sense of joy or satisfaction.
It's not all bad news. The arrival of the Metro into the CBD had a much better public effect than commonly expected. It's also reduced passenger load on some Sydney Train lines by around 30%, providing some much needed time and space to revive it. On average Sydney Trains are about about 10% slower than when I was a kid. Some of that is because it's stretched, some due to signalling limitations, but some of it is from just cynically slowing services to create an illusion of acceptable on time running. It exclusively uses stock designed as an interim cost-saving measure, but which has become a sacrosanct design feature.
While Sydney Metro is the sexy new kid on the block, Sydney Trains are in mid-life crisis (I'm being kind here, as some would say 'early senility'). In can be its own worst enemy at times, and it imagines the travelling public don't notice. The coming years present its biggest opportunity to transform itself. It's biggest risk is that it's powerful Luddite element will prevail by only allowing 'more of the same'. Interesting times.
A lot of fair points there
New Zealand take note. Trains. Radical concept.
New Zealand doesn’t have the big money Australia does.
And in any case: Auckland is soon going to get a subterranean railway tunnel right under its cbd.
@@danieleyre8913 You can thanks the mining boom in Australia.
@@lorenzlorenzo1975 Not just mining.
Australia diversified its economy better after the UK joined the EEC and had less dopey policies like the employment contracts act, bulk funding of schools, student loan act, etc.
NZ is very road friendly these days - you can find money if you’re willing to prioritise.
Just ride sheep my bro
It’s perfect as it takes me between 4 different guitars stores
Imagine how a few metro lines could transform Newcastle.
@@David-ng2qg Yes, that essentially summarises the state government's attitude.
Hi CityMoose, love the channel, can you make a video about Australian transit to transit in Asia
Can we appreciate how awesome Sydney's stations look? So futuristic and luxurious.
Yeah, but only in the city section. The NW section are fairly standardised and plain. The SW section will retain much of their traditional look. There's probably a sociology PhD in exploring the rationale behind that.
Add to this the City of Sydney cycle/active transport lanes and it's so much nicer to get around the city and inner suburbs these days...
Amazing what a change of government can do! 16 years of a Labor state government we got zero investment in train network, change of government and we have the best train networks in the country... Thank you Gladys!
We should be very grateful for the liberal national party Government who gave us the best public transport system in Australia. Sydney thanks you. Meanwhile when the old pathetic ,corrupt,,useless,lazy,dumb,llabor Government were in power thet did nothing. From Young Robert.
Former transport Minister andrew constance descoped the straightening of the T3 line as part of the metro conversion, which will be interesting to see how afftects travel time to city
I think it is in Budapest that their subway line is 15 feet below street. I like that, saves time and it's depressing to keep going down deep everyday.
We need a loop type Yamanote line planned asap
Have been living in London and being spoilt by the underground network. Can’t wait to get home and try the new metro and subsequent additions!
You'll love it. New and shiny.
Great vid. Love a good news story
So happy to hear of this success. Just goes to show it is good for everyone when investment is made in public transport. Reminds me of when a tiny extension was made to the tram line in Adelaide. Opposition politicians said it was a waste of money and no one would use it. After it was a success, the same people claimed the government should have done more but when they did build more, once again the opposition called it a waste, and even cancelled further extensions when they got into office. Morons.😑
would be great if the northern beaches got a metro line or at least train line 🙏
I feel sorry for those who cannot find parking at Tallawong. The obvious solution is frequent and short routes of buses during peak periods. Maybe 3 km loops to the station every 10 minutes on Fijian Bula buses 😊.
And there is the eternal bridesmaid of public transport, the extension from Hunter Street to Zetland and beyond...UNSW? Pagewood/Eastgardens?
Add in the potential Taverners Hill-Central-Green Square light rail that the current state government dismissed far too fast despite it being a gift.
Mate, rn everyone just want a metro station built in front of their house or apartment unit LOL 😁
There has been a lot of discussion re using the former La Perouse tram corridor again.
Thanks big nuts. Very comprehensive review. Just as an aside, you are quite dishy for a transport TH-camr
G'day it's Steven from down under
Young man you're professional and well researched so keep it up.
As a Sydney sider this infrastructure is long overdue, our city is busting at the seams with exponential growth.
Reality is, and some people with certain political motivations will deny this, is that the previous state government was incompetent, arrogant and some may say corrupt to a certain extent.
The current state government has inherited a mess and underfunded projects, the Rozelle interchange is one disaster that comes to mind.
Also having grown up in the seaside suburb of Maroubra I was excited to hear that the light rail line was coming, later only to hear that it would stop at Kingsford and not one more stop to a highly populated Maroubra, furthermore it could've been extended even one more stop the a very busy location with enormous growth that's now known as Eastgardens.
Also the booming south western suburbs that include Sydney's third largest riverside CBD ( Liverpool ) have had little or no plans for the new Metro trains, and in February of 2015 the current double decker heavy rail passenger service was extended by just two stations to Edmondson Park and Leppington with the belief that these would be joined by additional new stations to Sydney's $6 billion western airport, this new airport falls within Liverpool municipality and there's no plans to link the new airport to these mentioned stations via Liverpool CBD which would be a direct link towards Sydney City, instead the proposed new Metro line currently under construction is heading away from the city via St.Marys.
Furthermore the former state government inexplicably decided that Parramatta would be Sydney's second CBD and that "all roads should lead to Parramatta", in my lifetime Parramatta was never considered a desirable location and is now already becoming a high crime and over populated area.
All I can say is good luck to the current state government, and good luck to all of us Sydney siders too.
Subscribed on first viewing. Good job 👍
0:56 I've been driving those trains for the past 5 years!
Man, you must be exhausted
Wdym they are driverless
It's such success because the old train network is so outdated and crappy so the bar was set very low.
But even the new metro line is only good when you want to go to the CBD or your destination is close to one of the stations along the route. If you want to go from Macquarie Park to Bankstown for example, you either drive for 40 minutes or take the Metro to Sydenham and another train to Bankstown which takes more than 1 hour.
In other words, it's still the same old design, with all the train lines having to pass the CBD, just improved and faster. It's still way behind the decentralised train network like in Tokyo.
If they just built ONE north-south line, it would change this whole city. Macquarie -> Meadowbank -> SOP -> Lidcombe -> Bankstown -> Beverly Hills -> Hurstville. You'll touch all the train lines.
@@midgetwars1 100%
Exactly
@@midgetwars1would love that. The 410 bus service connecting Macquarie park - Hurstville is currently the only real north - south service for me in Meadowbank and it’s so slow as it’s all stops and is always delayed…sometimes even half hour to an hour.
@@tomm8120 the good old 410 bus has come in clutch so many times.
We need more north to south transport connections and further investments in the west where public transport is not practical or accessible.
Hurstville Strathfield
Kogarah Parramatta
Menai SOP Castle Hill
and join carlingford to Epping
Connecting all the eastwest lines together
I remember so many people talking shit about this project during it's construction.
So much amnesia from those very naysayers now.
Lots of people are full of praise for the obvious benefits - but the justifiable criticisms of what could have been so much better, and better value, won't go away.
What do the numbers look like if you include the whole line? For those of us on the Bankstwon section "Year Five: things are not looking good". The promised benefits have been further delayed and the promised costs continue to increase.
You can blame the rbtu and ETU their strikes are the reason why it's delayed obviously if you refuse to turn off the electricity then it's delayed.
Sydney could adopt the BRISBANE METRO BUS concept on busy routes. Those buses are double articulated and electric and will be frequent. Every two minutes in peak, with every four minutes, off peak. The key is to use the car parking lanes on routes such as along Parramatta Road, for example. One station per suburb. Concrete curbs keeping cars off the Bus lane. . . . . like on the Gold Coast, which has the curbs keeping cars off the Tram Line!
The L3 Tram to Kingsford seems odd in where it terminates. If it terminated at Uni of NSW, I could understand it, but it goes past there to Kingsford shops and then just past that, but not to Maroubra. Kingsford is not a huge suburb nor a major transport hub unlike Maroubra further along Anzac Parade. The L3 going slightly past Kingsford required the expensive redesign of the big 2-lane roundabout, replacing it with a slower traffic-light interchange. Why did this happen, just for an extra hundred meters of travel? At the end of that hundred meters are the big dollars of Souths Juniors club. I wonder whether that is a coincidence.
The obvious thing to do with the L3 is to extend it to Maroubra, which has roads with heavy bus routes going west, and supermarkets (Aldi and Coles, unlike Kingsford - IGA only - and Kensington - no supermarket at all). This proposed extension has one huge advantage over most rail extensions in that Anzac Parade is already a split road for the entire distance of the extension, so no buildings or roads would need to be removed. The main objection to this extension would have been the giant roundabout at Kingsford, but that got removed already so the trams could go the extra hundred meters from Kingsford to the poker machines at Souths Juniors.
If you look at that termination area the trams travel into before reversing, it's pretty clear that it was designed for extension! Let's see when the government decides to realise that they built it..
could you do a video on rebuilding parramatta road with a light rail solution
elevated light rail 6 metres above parramatta Rd would be the way , the industrial commercial buildings in that whole area from parra to Camellia is run down and depressed because of the traffic issue , people dont want to rent anything there.
@@heartobefelt I feel that elevated light rail would not solve the stroad issue that exists along Parra rd, while it would be more expensive and disruptive, a proper revamp would be much better. Median running trams, outside cycle lanes and wider sidewalks would be a major improvement.
great ep we need Norwest to connect to the westmead metro station also
Sydney needs a metro to the Northern Beaches, starting at Victoria Cross, then under military road, then to the zoo, then to Manly, then north to Dee Why, Narrabeen, up to Palm Beach.
Give it time...beaches residents aren't satisfied with the B line
The biggest Project the Government could do next is accelerate the construction of the New Cumberland Line, which would extend the Leppington SWRL to Bradfield and then divert the line through Liverpool+Fairfield into a new tunnel to Parramatta then Epping. This would massively increase the frequency and speed of the rail corridors in Western Sydney by removing the biggest branch of the T2 and giving it its own dedicated corridor allowing the T1 and the T3 full use all of all tracks west of Homebush, plus give a cross-city connection between Epping-Paramatta-Liverpool-Glenfield.
When you say removing the T2 and giving it its own corridor, do you mean have trains run through Parra and terminate at Epping? How will the people get to the city?
@@decepticons_destroy So the New Cumberland Line would take the trains from Leppington-Glenfield-Liverpool-Fairfield-Merrylands that currently run on to Granville as a branch of the T2 and would instead go into a new tunnel from Merrylands under Parramatta to Epping. T2 would become two branches: an all-stops Inner West service to Parramatta via Granville, and a semi-express service to Liverpool via Regents Park. Passengers from stations between Leppington-Merrylands wishing to go to the city would change at either Liverpool or Cabramatta to the T2 via Regents Park service, or they would continue on the New Cumberland Line to Parramatta then catch Metro West or the T1 Western line to the CBD. They could also continue to Epping (9 minutes from Parramatta) and change to the new Metro M1 line to get to the CBD.
Good video on it here: th-cam.com/video/RXyGcwVqD3s/w-d-xo.html
Don't see how and why we should build more heavy rail train lines... Metro yes, Light rail yes
@@erroreliminator2.076 It isn't actually clear in the documentation whether the New Cumberland Line project would be Metro or heavy rail with a higher degree of automation like Melbourne and Perth are building. There are advantages for both. I think it should be single-deck to assist with interchange at Parra and at the new airport, though.
@@BigBlueMan118 thanks! Don’t think Canley Vale - Merrylands commuters would be happy as they no longer have a direct train to the CBD but I can see the benefit of this. Leppington - Cabramatta would be fine via Regents Park, as long as it’s semi-express and not the 78 min journey. They really should extend the southwest Metro to Liverpool and further extend it to Bradfield, that way there is a connected loop for all the metros
Fun Fact: the rail system travel time to the City was FASTER in the 19th Century. + World's largest tram system in the 20th. Anyways the real momentum are new tolled roads tunnels; especially 2 airport. Tubers often on ticket to ride as shills.
Fully automated trains do have a reputation for being driven into each other in some countries. I’d be interested in knowing more about Sydney’s systems.
You missed the improvements to the Manly ferry over the last 2 years: The large freshwater class ferries were to be taken out of service - this was not popular - and replaced with the smaller, faster and more frequent emerald class. Embarrassingly the emerald class can’t operate in large swells and eventually some of the freshwater class had to be brought back too, so now there’s both.
This year the NRMA’s Manly Fast Ferry service joined the opal network so passengers can get whatever service arrives first, for the same price and with any associated discounts.
What all this means is you now get commuter ferries that depart every 10 minutes much of the day and all but the freshwater completes the journey in about 20 min. Combined, options are now double the frequency 30% faster.
Sadly, out here in regions, we are still neglected. Whilst getting around Sydney has never been easier, I loved using the L2 when I visited in April, the getting there is as difficult and painful, sometime literally...bloody horrible Xplorer DMUs, as it has always been. It'd be nice if the NSW Government could consider the state a whole, and not only make it easier to get around Sydney via public transport, but also to get to and from Sydney from outside the city. But then again, we all know NSW stands for Newcastle, Sydney, and Wollongong, and we west of the mountains basically don't exist.
Boy is that true!
Trying living west of Mt Victoria, with an absolutely lousy 2-hourly frequency. And Lithgow-Bathurst needs better service and (sigh) electrification (yeah, in my dreams).
@@mt-mg7tt this is the thing. Queensland was able to electrify all the way to Rockhampton, thus it should be possible to expand electrification to Bathurst, at least, from Lithgow, and provide a more frequent service to Sydney, perhaps every 2 hours, for example. Bad enough the state government recently refused to extend the "Bathurst Bullet" to Orange, so they’re stuck with the Dubbo XPT only.
there's basically no reason to go to the city more then ocassionally anyway, unless you work there. Nobody actually goes there for any other reason anymore unless they live right in the city anyway, or are visiting from overseas.
Issue is with the government, whenever something regional pops up, they don't really care because not enough people are complaining, and not enough of the state travel out that way. While travel times may be long for regional people, there's a lack of 'traffic jams' that the city normally has.
And when traffic jams happen, money is on the line, economic activity slows down. I know that sounds like nonsense, but it's just their way of thinking.
"How do we keep Sydney traffic flowing? Well, let's spend more on Sydney, because no one is going out to regional, so they can wait" etc.
@@lookatmepleasesir Queensland electrification was mainly for the coal traffic, West of lithgow doesnt have much of that but the new trains can at least run electric until Lithgow and it might be possible to extend in future. I would be more worried about the shitty track alignments though.
While the Canberra shot talking about government spending at 9:33 is probably just aimed to show Canberra equals government. It's interesting you chose Commonwealth Ave bridge for the shot given its current lack of expensive tram which should run through there in 10-15 years time maybe
😂 I had the had the same thought! Maybe when it’s completed we can make a video about it
9:30 was that drone shot over Canberra a dig at the city taking so long to build its light rail system?
City transit seeing great improvement over the years is fantastic! However, during the same times, regional areas and connections from such just feel neglected by the state governments. Many regional cities actually do suffer from pretty bad congestion due to the unavailability of proper and reliable public transit systems. I’d say its also another key factor why we only have big cities where they currently are, and nowhere else.
The next thing I'd love to see is rail improvements extending out to intercity trains. I grew up in Newcastle so that's the trip I'm most familiar with, and it's still far too slow. It's quicker and cheaper to drive so many people still commute into the city by car. Needing a car to get around Sydney is becoming less and less necessary so getting people to the city without a car seems like the next logical step.
This is fantastic and I love the metro. But what we really urgently need now is rapid building of medium and high-density housing in the areas served by these transit lines. The current government(s) do seem to be moving in that direction but it feels like they're taking a bit of a "softly, slowly" approach to the issue where we need something more aggressive.
Parra and Penrith is not exactly true west either, if you look at the map and compass.
Check all thats popping up around Tallawong
I think its being done pretty aggressively in some parts. Waterloo has a ton of development rn around the new metro station, and I've heard Tallawong is getting a bit done too. There's also planned to be massive development in the new Aerotropolis CBD.
Sydney has the best public transport in Australia 🇦🇺. Hopefully we also be the first state to get a speed railway from Sydney to Newcastle or Sydney to Canberra. 💚👍😊
To be honest, I’m not sure if the metro will be as successful as expected if the supporting facilities are still remain as they are. For example, in the Hills District most people are living in houses, but the regional buses to the metro station usually run only once an hour. This pretty much eliminate the possibility for local commuter to use the metro.
metro is for high density commuters. not for those want to live in houses far away. the place near the stations is going to have new apartments for people who value that over living far away in poorly connected places. govt money should be spent on maximising the benefit for the most people, not favoring those choosing exclusive housing over density
I have just done an online simple bus timetable search for Cherrybrook station for the Saturday 1pm-2pm timeslot - guess what? 13 buses depart Cherrybrook station in that one hour - serving for example: Kellyville/ Castle Hill (2 services), Pennant Hills (4 services), Rouse Hill, North Kellyville, Bella Vista/Stanhope Gardens (3 services). At Rouse Hill Station on Mondays between 7am and 7.30 am 33 buses service places like Marsden Park, North Kellyville, Gables (aka Box Hill), Bella Vista. For example, the newish suburb of Gables has two services to Rouse Hill station between 7 and 8 am Mondays and yes like most developing outlying/new suburbs it has only one trip per hour on the weekends. My opinion is that commuters are fairly well serviced with connecting services to Hills based metro stations. Yes, more services for weekender travellers would be welcomed.
@@hayekianman i agree with some of that but i still think the buses should be a lot better.
Be a snob and don't use the metro then. Stick to cars 😂
@@hayekianman lol, so what you basically says is that metro is only designed for people who lived near station, even slight outskirt won't benifit at all. I doubt the government dear to say that in the first place.
plus double the local bus frequency or only keep the local suburbs to metro part of the route in off peak hour won't cause that much govrnment money, this however it will increase people's williness of using public transpotation rather than cars.
A nice shot of Commonwealth avenue bridge in Canberra at the end of the video which will see a new light rail line crossing it in the coming years. About 20 years late but better late than never.
The new Sydney metro is awesome in every aspect. The only downside I’d say is the tunnels and the carriages should be bigger! Sydney’s population is still booming and we need to prepare for the future. ❤
Current Metro trains are already scheduled to become eight car sets (now six). It is a rapid transport system designed around greater frequency moving numbers that fit into the other infrastructure like overall volumes. escelators, lifts and then connecting buses etc.
@@flamingfrancis computer modelling _might_ show improved flow dynamics from using smaller trains that operate more frequently .
Since it is run by MTR Corporation, it is definitely bringing Hong Kong style train services to Sydney Australia
Perhaps the enthusiasm for Sydney's new trains could inspire Adelaide to make some? Although, I'm not sure if I'd like a train that only runs 1 way
Yes. Less stops are not everyone. Lot of people don't use just because it not accessible
My blessing country ❤ , was, is and will be amazing.😘
It would be nice if the 2•8 klm Newcastle light rail was extended to the John Hunter hospital and Newcastle University.
Yes, it is a great success BUT those numbers quoted include many who are now not using the older network. As an exmple, North Sydney numbers dropped by 7,000 to around 10,000 in the first week, travellers who now access two nearby Metro stations.
I doubt the St Mary's to WSA line will enjoy high patronage - at least not until the densification project complete around Orchard Hill and the line extends to Marsden Park and Schofields, maybe even link up with Tallawong for a change over to Metro North West. the Southern end of the Metro must also connect with heavy rail at Leppington.
I’m just glad this will take people off the streets - much nicer for the rest of us
I'm on it right now , Sunday lunchtime, 10 minute frequency, standing room only. If there is no driver and no guard, why not have more frequency and more space on board ??
I was in it a few hours later and it was packed by the time it got to Gadigal and it didn't really start thinning out until we got to Epping.
I am troubled by the lack of connection between Epping and Parramatta with the gap between Epping and Carlingford - we work at Liverpool and cant get there by public transport from Epping
The issue is the B-Line that it is at capacity, we need a new plan, for either LightRail or Metro in the next 10 years
Do any of the TH-camrs discuss why the metro extension to Bankstown was chosen over Hurstville?.
To reduce City Circle congestion. At the moment, T3 trains to the city could go either clockwise via Town Hall, or counter-clockwise via Museum. Whereas T2/T8 has to give way to slot in. Hurstville already got quad tracks with express/local trains that is rather frequent.
@@Woodland26 Indeed, the Illawarra / south coast lines provide an excellent service to Hurstville !!
now I just need a reason to go to the city
It's one of the best cities in the world.
@@martingifford5415 lol
@@martingifford5415 I suppose yes, when you consider how many cities there are in the world and how many of those are in the developing world, and when you take the city as a whole in order to include the affluent suburbs (I was talking about the CBD and inner city specifically when I said a reason to go the city) but it can't hold a candle to even many small cities in the developed world. Its character has been absolutely gutted and annihilated from the mid 2000's - the lockout laws and onward. Its passe, bland, old, dirty and as boring as batshit
@@lookatmepleasesir The south end of the CBD is bad, but some people like that grungy old Chinatown vibe. The closure of George Street was a huge improvement for the CBD. The underground walkway from Wynyard to Barangaroo is cool and futuristic. The new Darling Square is good. But yes, the CBD is bad in the area between between Eddy Ave, Park Street, Castlereagh Street, and Sussex Street. That area needs a bit of love and planning.
Go there all the time
When are they going to improve the t5? During peak hours they run a 4 carriage train which is absolutely packed from parramatta.
The government are looking into this, and they are considering rerouting Liverpool to Parra to continue up towards Epping (possibly converted to a metro and extended to the airport). Liverpool and Blacktown will no longer have direct services to one another in this plan, but the greater network will far benefit from it. it’ll provide a much needed North South link + free up space on the existing network, improving frequencies on multiple lines
I suspect there isn't a solid case to extend Metro West directly to the new Western Sydney airport, due to the very low patronage of the poorly selected metro routes from St Mary to the new airport.
Yes, I'm worried about the second airport connections. A project like that needs good connections, otherwise, it creates a negative impression for travellers.
@@martingifford5415 For the 2nd connection, the government's original plan (dated Sept 2020) was to extend the heavy rail from the current Leppington station to Bradfield metro station. The new plan, as it is in this video, is to extend the Western Sydney airport metro from Bradfield station to Leppington station AND convert the heavy rail between Leppington and Glenfield to metro.
Don’t undersell WestConnex - it needs to be paired with a closure of Parramatta Road as a ridiculous highway through the inner west. Without a tunnel to bypass it, this was never feasible, but suddenly it is.
Even City West Link should be closed, and is a ridiculous attempt 25 years ago to build a frreway with traffic lights through the same area. Give it back to locals and cyclists, and shut off the lanes.
People are not obsessed with Parramatta, other than governments and business conflicts of interests.
Parramatta is a hellhole
Yes the Metro is genuinely a success, but no one seems to bring up the absolute disaster and questionable decisions surrounding the intercity and interstate network. They messed up really badly with those. Would be cool to see a video on that perhaps in the future.
Yet still nothing done to fix the railway tracks at stations like Seven Hills where they lean so much that you could be forgiven for thinking you're riding on the leaning tower of Pisa. There's like a 10cm height difference between one track and the other track which causes the train to lean so much that it feels like it's going to tip over. And the lean has increased a lot in less than 5 years.
I love the new Metro. But I'd like new public transport to service areas that don't already have good public transport. For example, I never go to the northern beaches because it takes hours, the buses feel claustrophobic, and the road is like a packed rollercoaster ride down through The Spit. BTW, I'm still angry at the people who stopped the train going to Bondi Beach. There's bumper to bumper traffic and people packed onto horrible buses when it could have been a 3 minute train ride. SMH.
Fair enough. But building rail to new areas introduces new rail commuters which requires additional capacity on the inner city lines. Sydney's rail network has suffered for decades because of too many branch lines converging onto the same corridor. This is why they made the Carlingford line a shuttle service and why they they cut the Liverpool via Regents Park service. That being said, it was a good decision to build the north west section first as it meant that when the city section was built, there was already a large number of commuters who could benefit from it, unlike the 2008 plan which would have started with the city section first.
I'm pretty sure a rail line would have been built there decades ago if they wanted one.
HI! I lived on Bondi Rd 30 -35 years ago. Jam-packed buses used to go past me as I waited to get on one to go to the city CBD. You can bet I wished they put that train line all the way to Bondi Beach too, as I stood there hoping the next bus would stop for me.
The legacy train system is so crap, a low benchmark makes this look even better. What they've done with branding it metro - (when in fact it's some kind of hybrid between a long-distance suburban & a metro) is genius! And it works well.
still no train line to Palm Beach via Manly which was first planned a century ago and Leppington line still not linked to new airport or a link from Camden and Picton to Campbelltown or Sutherland to Liverpool. or Hurstville to Strathfield
the metro is great!
If the metro NW goes all the way to Tallawong (effectively Schofields), metro SW should go to at least Wetherill Park ... but then it is Sydney where the governments are as snobbish and discriminatory as the people in it.
t1 line was built in like 1870 btw
What about the launch of the new trains supposedly coming in 2024
Newcastle to Sydney HSR also in the planning phrase
In 1964 a STEAM loco hauled Newcastle Flyer did that trip in 2 hours and 1 minute. The time was beaten by an XPT over 20 yers later. Let's try to match that again.
Tony and Nat pulled through