Driverless trains take off in Sydney
Sydney commuters will get to ride the city’s first driverless train when the Sydney Metro opens to the public this Sunday, 26th May. And for its opening day, the metro trains will be free of charge for passengers.
Sydney Metro will offer high frequency, turn-up-and-go services along the ‘Metro North West Rail Line’ which spans between Tallawong Station at Rouse Hill to Chatswood, with a train every 4 minutes during peak times.
The new Kellyville Station. Image courtesy Transport NSW
The Metro stops at 13 stations along the $8.3 billion Metro North West Line, including eight new metro stations and five upgraded stations.
Metro North West Line
Upgraded Stations
- Epping
- Macquarie University
- Macquarie park
- North Ryde
- Chatswood
New Stations
- Tallawong (Rouse Hill)
- Rouse Hill
- Kellyville
- Bella Vista
- Norwest
- Hills Showground
- Castle Hill
- Cherrybrook
The Metro trains will synchronise with the Chatswood train timetable, to manage the additional 10,000 commuters expected to interchange at Chatswood at peak hour.
Over 4,000 car parking spaces are in place along the train line, along with 130 ‘kiss and ride spaces’, 340 bike storage spaces and 52 taxi stands.
Bus services will be adjusted to help commuters access the new stations and train services. There will also be a North West night bus service operating in the short term – over the next six months – from Sunday – Wednesday, until the service and timetable grows to full operations.
The 36-kilometre line is the first stage of the Berejiklian government’s plans for multiple metro train lines in Sydney. The second stage under construction extends the line from Chatswood, under Sydney Harbour to the CBD and onto Sydenham and Bankstown, which is expected to open by 2024.
The first stage of the network offers a ‘preview’ of the South West Line to come in 2024, and the St Marys to Badgerys Creek service due to open in 2026.
Sydney Metro routes
Transport was a key theme in Premier Berejiklian’s pre-election promises, with the announcement of new key transport projects set to directly benefit Sydney’s north- and south-western suburbs.
In January this year, Transport Minister Andrew Constance also announced the State Government plans to deliver nine new stations along a proposed $18 billion metro rail line from central Sydney to Parramatta. Known as Sydney Metro West, the proposed rail line will service the key precincts of Greater Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, The Bays Precinct and the Sydney CBD. It will also feature a new underground metro station at Westmead as a means to support the growing residential area as well as the health, research and education precinct.
Image courtesy: Urban.com.au
In recent times, a large part of NSW’s infrastructure planning has been guided by the Greater Sydney Commission’s Three Cities Strategy, which delivers concentrated benefits to the Sydney’s West and South-West regions to support the Western Sydney Airport planned to open in 2026.