Sydney Metro opens to public in biggest transport transformation

After seven years of construction and over $20 billion, the Chatswood to Sydneham metro line has opened to public.

Transcript

00:00It was a party on the platform as the first Metro pulled into Sydenham station for the

00:104.54am service.

00:11These guys are much more committed than me, I'm just here for the fun, for the vibes,

00:16just living off the excitement.

00:18Hundreds of train spotters and curious commuters began queuing as early as 1am to check out

00:23the new ride.

00:24So finally having a transport line that's fully wheelchair accessible at every station,

00:29level access boarding is going to be a huge game changer for people like me.

00:34While the opening was delayed for more than a fortnight, in the end the trains ran right

00:38on time, every four minutes.

00:40One, two, three, Sydney Metro!

00:45And there were plenty of rave reviews.

00:47It feels like the good old Paris Metro.

00:50I think it's definitely awesome, it definitely cuts down a lot of time between Sydney to

00:54get to the northern side of Sydney.

00:56The Transport Minister's six-year-old son Dylan had a front row view.

00:59The driverless train dived through tunnels at speeds of up to 100km an hour.

01:04The 15.5km route stops at six shiny new stations as it rockets beneath the CBD and travels

01:11deep under the harbour to Sydney's north side, where it joins up with the existing

01:15north-west Metro line at Chatswood.

01:17A trip from Sydenham to Barangaroo takes 13 minutes, while a journey under the harbour

01:21from Victoria Cross in north Sydney to the city takes just two minutes.

01:26This is the biggest change to the way our city moves since the harbour bridge has opened.

01:31This train will be able to carry more people than the harbour bridge and the tunnel combined

01:36during the peak hour.

01:37After the system passed its first morning peak test with plying colours, the Premier

01:41also gave it his tick of approval.

01:43You holding on?

01:44Yeah.

01:45It took seven years of construction to get here, but now it's full steam ahead.