190,000 made most of Metro on Day 1-Sydney Metro Opening Day Vision

190,000 made the most of Metro on Day 1, millions more will tap in over years to come
Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Sydneysiders are voting with their feet on the new Sydney Metro City line, with the first full day of services completed yesterday after the historic opening of the extended M1 Northwest & Bankstown Line.
More than 190,000 trips were made along the brand-new driverless service yesterday marking the first ever trains under Sydney Harbour. For the first time, people in Sydney’s north west can now stay on the train at Chatswood, travel below the harbour and through the Sydney CBD, to Sydenham.
A game-changing 30 services ran every hour through the heart of the city during the peak, starting at Tallawong at 4:38am and Sydenham at 4.54am, with more than 425 trains making the trip.
Central took out the title of busiest station, with over 18,000 passengers entering and exiting from the state-of-the-art transport hub, followed closely by Martin Place.
Sydneysiders were seamlessly switching between travel modes with 6% percent of trips coming from buses and 20% percent from Sydney Train services.
The new service launched to a weekday timetable with a train running every four minutes during the peak, and from today interpeak trains will run every seven minutes, increasing after the first month to a train every five minutes.
Additional staff are present at each station and on trains during operational hours, while commuters become familiar with the new service.
Passengers can plan their metro trips by visiting transportnsw.info.
The Metro North West line opened in 2019, and with this extension now reaches 51.5-kilometres through Sydney with stops at 21 stations between Tallawong and Sydenham. The remaining 13-kilometres of the M1 Line will open after the conversion of 10 existing stations on the T3 Bankstown Line.
With unprecedented travel times including from Victoria Cross in North Sydney, under the harbour to Barangaroo in 3 minutes, Martin Place to Chatswood in 11 minutes and from Sydenham to Tallawong in under 60 minutes, this new line is already alleviating pressure on existing transport options and road networks.
Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said:
“As of 10am this morning, 55,000 people have tapped on to our new Metro service. That’s up from 40,000 this time yesterday.
“As we start our second day of full operation, it is amazing to see thousands of Sydneysiders trying this new form of public transport, getting to work and home faster, and giving north west residents their first direct rail service to the CBD.”