The Eastern Suburbs Line Town Hall to Bondi Junction Station - Monday 15th July 2024

Dulcineasduarycontinued - Firstly thank you for any new subscribers that just joined the viewership. Very much appreciated and secondly just a slight correction of what I said in the video. Bondi Junction Train Station and Bus Interchange above is actually 4 levels. Underground is the Eastern Suburbs Line with 2 platforms and terminating trains. Up the disgusting set of esculators still below street level is the rather boring concourse. Up another set of esculators and stairs is street level with the cleaner but still dated bus interchange ( you can exit and enter to from the interchange level but not recommended due to the large amount and frequency of buses arriving and departing through the bus interchange) and finally up another set of stairs or esculators is the upper entrance/ exit to Bondi Junction Mall which is much safer as it is foot traffic mainly although the odd bike may ride through it.
Today I had to go to Bondi Junction where I grew up and lived for more then half my life going to school there and even working there.. A rare trip and only done when necessary. The Train and Bus interchange is a late 1970's/1980s train station ( which has had a major refurb above ground but not much done to it underground since) . Rather boring, dirty and in need of an upgrade. It is a line on it's own terminating at Bondi Junction and with only 2 platforms. On it's own if it was not directly connected to the Illawarra Line ( from Redfern onwards) to the Southern suburbs of Sydney, the Eastern suburbs line would be one of the shortest train lines (;the shortest line would probably be the purpose built Lidcombe to Olympic Park Station line but that was not opened until the late 1990s /2000 for the Sydney Olympics) .
More buses arrive and depart the interchange then trains do. It's been a while but all the trains are still the old Tangaras ( the ones rumoured to be held together with strong double sided tape) unlike Chatswood where we have the latest and greatest ( maybe not the greatest) public transport system with the new driver less Metro trains and a variety of other trains but not the old Tangaras. I got on a Tangara at Bondi Junction back to Town Hall and it had a weird smell in the carriage. Do they not clean them? Absolutely disgusting. I don't think the rich residents of the Eastern suburbs like public transport much. Even when I lived there public transport was a pain in the ass beyond North Bondi! Why isn't there a tram light rail or train out to Bondi Beach? Who knows.
Bondi Junction used to be the IT suburb to be at. It was go go go 24/7 now it's become rather boring with not much maintenance . Today I have not seen many homeless around, it's either too cold or they have been moved on or have moved on as even the homeless can't even afford to be homeless in the Eastern suburbs. The mall is dead today whereas Chatswood Mall was buzzing today and is always alive quite safe and clean with loads of events on . A pop up signage cube advertises the Bondi festival - one festival and it's not even in Bondi Junction. As mentioned in the video there is a small market usually on on Thursdays and one of the weekend days. It's tiny compared to Chatswood Mall's Thursday & Friday markets. The other difference is Chatswood library is a social hangout and in the centre of Chatswood whereas Waverley library is so far away from the Centre of Bondi Junction the patronage is not very high. It used to be a short walk from the back of Eastgate Shopping Centre but was relocated a few decades ago even further from the centre of Bondi Junction.
There is a very high turnover of shops and a high vacancy of shops - empty for long periods of time.
Back in April Bondi Junction Westfield was the site of that horrific attack and there are still a shop that displays a sign in it's window to refrain from speaking or discussing the incident with store staff.