Sydney Metro – the major new super-fast transport network that’s been under construction beneath the city for the past few years – is opening soon. Very soon, in fact, with trains set to start carrying passengers from this coming Sunday, August 4 (if all testing goes to plan). To complement the transport network, the metro project will also see the development of several major new precincts across the city – with the six stations along the City and Southwest line set to feature a lot more than just a platform and a vending machine. Today, the fences around Barangaroo Metro Station precinct have come down – so Sydneysiders can start exploring the new public space surrounding the station ahead of the metro opening date this weekend.
Estimated to see 14,400 commuters pass through each weekday, the Barangaroo Metro Station could radically transform the way we get around the city – travelling beneath the harbour to North Sydney’s Victoria Cross in just three minutes. Once the line starts running, Sydneysiders will be able to zoom from Martin Place to Barangaroo in just two minutes, giving city workers super-speedy access to the waterside arts precinct at Walsh Bay (home to some of Australia’s leading arts organisations, and today playing host to the Time Out Sydney Arts and Culture Awards). And while we’ve still got a few days to wait until we start sailing under the city on the super-speedy new driverless trains, the Barangaroo Metro Station precinct – complete with new tree-lined footpaths, bike parking facilities, 13 12-tonne concrete benches and a nine-metre long, cast iron statue replica of the historic Barangaroo Boat – is now open to the public.
“The work that’s been done here doesn’t just deliver a brand new metro station, but also a functional and modern pedestrian precinct with new parkland for everyone to enjoy some of our harbour’s most stunning vantage points,” Transport Minister Jo Haylen has said.
Though it’s the first station to open to the public, the Barangaroo Metro Station precinct arguably isn’t the most impressive new station set to open in Sydney this weekend. Reaching completion back in May, the Waterloo Metro Station is part of a major development set to provide 220 new homes, 50 per cent of which will be social and affordable homes in line with the government’s housing crisis investment plan. Deep in the CBD, the Martin Place metro superhub will be home to 3,000sqm of retail and dining outlets over three floors, and over the bridge, North Sydney’s Victoria Cross metro station will be directly connected to a major new dining precinct and an epic wellness mecca.
Subject to approval by the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, successful completion of trial running exercises and system performance tests, all six stations on the City and Southwest metro line will start welcoming passengers this coming weekend. You can learn more about Barangaroo’s new station over here.
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