Sydney metro expands, opening to celebrity-level fanfare
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
The new section connects Sydenham, an inner-west neighbourhood of Sydney, to Chatswood, in the north.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
SYDNEY - They arrived well before dawn, some from across the city or even from other states.
Hundreds of people, some with signs or handmade shirts, others with hair dyed or nails painted for the occasion, waited in line, hoping to be among the first to glimpse the new arrival in Sydney.
They were joined by just about every news media outlet in the city.
When the train pulled into the station, the crowd burst into claps and cheers.
A key segment of Sydney’s new metro train line opened early Aug 19 with a level of fanfare usually associated with celebrity appearances or pop concerts.
In a mostly car-dependent country where public transportation in major cities can be best described as “decent,” the expansion, which featured expansive, “cathedral-like” stations and spacious, driverless trains, felt momentous.
The new section, which connects Sydenham, an inner-west neighbourhood of Sydney, to Chatswood, in the north, runs under the city’s business district and crosses under the Harbour Bridge.
It is the second part of the metro project to open, after a northern section that started operating in 2019.
Several more segments are under construction, expected to open over the next decade.
They all form part of a new rail system that updates and integrates with Sydney’s existing rail network, which was mostly built between the 1850s and early 1900s, said Professor David Levinson, a transportation expert from the University of Sydney.
The news media covered the opening in breathless terms.
National broadcaster ABC described a ride on the metro as “a bit like something from a science fiction movie”.
One journalist marvelled at “just how much space there is for commuters”.
Broadcasting live from inside a moving train, another reporter said: “I am hanging on for dear life here.” (The trains can travel up to speeds of 100kmh, according to the transportation agency for New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital.)
Passengers waiting for the arrival of a Sydney Metro train at Chatswood metro station.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
To be clear, the new trains are not revolutionary. They resemble, on a smaller scale, the subways of Tokyo, Hong Kong or Seoul. The metro was built by a consortium led by Hong Kong’s MTR rail company.
“It’s not something super amazing,” Prof Levinson said. “It’s state of the art, but lots of systems are state of the art.”
But they are a big departure from Sydney’s usual trains, and the New South Wales transportation agency has taken to social media to inform commuters of the differences.
The seats run along the edge of the train carriage, facing each other, with a large space in the middle for standing passengers; normal Sydney trains have double-decker carriages, filled with rows of seats that can be flipped to face the train’s front or back.
The new trains run frequently enough that travellers do not need to check the timetable, a welcome change for commuters.
Also, passengers are separated from the rails by a barrier along the platform, a new safety protocol.
The new trains run frequently enough that travellers do not need to check the timetable, a welcome change for commuters.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Among the train and public transportation enthusiasts who rode the first service, which departed Sydenham station at 4.54am were Mr Jimmy Wu and Ms Nyilawoan Oatsomm, along with a dozen fellow members of the University of New South Wales Railway Society.
Mr Wu and Ms Oatsomm had left their homes at 2am or 3am they said, to make it to Sydenham station by 4am.
“It was a really historic moment,” Ms Oatsomm said.
“It’s amazing to be able to say that we here in Sydney also have an awesome metro just like these other big cities,” said Mr Josh Barton, 42, who was also on that first ride.
In a small way, the metro project has revitalised Australia’s understanding of itself and what it can achieve, wrote Mr Howard MacLean, a housing and public transit proponent.
The opening on Aug 19 sparked the realisation that “our idea about who we are has shifted under our feet”, he wrote.
“The vision of Australia as postwar car-dependent suburbia blinked, and something new and grander peeked through instead.”
“Australia has always been in a state of transition, between where we are, and where we’re going,” he added. “Sydney Metro is a glimpse into that future – and how it could be very good.” NYTIMES
