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New Sydney metro extension opens at Bankstown<\/p>\n
Angus Higginbotham, 14, and his father, Tim, who missed the opening of the wildly popular metro city extension in 2024, were among those who did as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy start of school was at 8 o\u2019clock and I couldn\u2019t go to that [2024] opening,\u201d says Angus, who wants to be a Sydney trains driver.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, for some reason, I was able to convince my dad here to come along for this day \u2013 this awesome day actually \u2013 on the metro.\u201d<\/p>\n
A metro train arrives at Dulwich Hill metro station on the first day of the new line opening. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
The crowd was a sea of Sydney metro-themed T-shirts, badges, caps, earrings and sequined jackets. Enthusiasts held signs declaring \u201cWe love public transport\u201d and \u201cFirst to Ride SW Metro 30.10.26\u201d. One waved his passport around, exclaiming \u201cI have the same birthday as the Sydenham to Bankstown extension!\u201d<\/p>\n
The crowd cheered as the train arrived and as the doors opened and closed. As the train left Bankstown on time, full to bursting, they cheered again. One couple kissed.<\/p>\n
Moving through the early stops on the line at speeds of up to 100km\/h \u2013 Punchbowl, Wiley Park, Lakemba \u2013 a few brave families, and the odd stunned commuter, shouldered their way on, while passengers disembarked, worried they might faint in the heaving mass of bodies. A standard six-car metro has a capacity of 1,100 people.<\/p>\n
One man, Lee Warren, ran the entire length of the line overnight from Tallawong, making it in time for the first train out of Bankstown.<\/p>\n
The ecstatic reception to the extension comes more than two years after the former T3 heavy rail line, which serviced 10 stations in Sydney\u2019s inner west and south west \u2013 Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Canterbury, Campsie, Belmore, Lakemba, Wiley Park, Punchbowl and Bankstown \u2013 closed in September 2024 to be converted to the driverless rapid transit system.<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of people live on the line, which will now provide capacity for 17,000 people during the peak hours.<\/p>\n
Metro services leave every four minutes during the peak and every 10 minutes in the off-peak hours and on weekends. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
Isaiah Daylight, 8, and his mother, Jen, live near Belmore station and have been relying on the infamous pink replacement buses. \u201cI\u2019m so happy to see the back of them,\u201d Jen says. \u201cI\u2019ve missed our train\u201d.<\/p>\n
How does Isaiah, who also rode the first service on the city metro extension, feel about the early start? \u201cGreat,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
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