Metro North West Line

The Metro North West Line is the first and currently the only service in the Sydney Metro network. The service commenced operation on 26 May 2019, running between Tallawong and Chatswood along the Sydney Metro Northwest rail link, which included the Epping to Chatswood rail link.

Not to be confused with Sydney Metro Northwest, the railway on which the Metro North West Line service operates.

Metro North West Line
Overview
Service typeRapid transit
LocaleSydney, Australia
First serviceNone
Current operator(s)Metro Trains Sydney
Route
StartTallawong
Stops13
EndChatswood
Distance travelled36 km (22 mi)
Average journey time37 minutes[1]
Service frequency4 minutes (peak)
10 minutes (off-peak)[1]
Line(s) usedSydney Metro Northwest
(including Epping to Chatswood rail link)
Technical
Rolling stockAlstom Metropolis fully automated trains, 6 carriages per train
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
ElectrificationYes (Overhead wiring)
Operating speed100km/h (Maximum Speed)
Track owner(s)RailCorp
Timetable number(s)M

Service

The metro services are operated by Metro Trains Sydney, a joint venture between MTR Corporation, John Holland and UGL Rail, and are operated by driverless, single deck trains, stopping at 13 stations along the Sydney Metro Northwest. Since July 2019, services take 37 minutes from end to end, at a frequency of every four minutes during peak hours and every ten minutes at all other times.[1][2] Prior to that, for the first few weeks after opening, the line operated once every five minutes during the peak hours until it was increased to every 4 minutes.[3][4]

North West Night Bus

In the first six months of operations, the metro service was supplemented by a late night bus service known as North West Night Bus, stopping at 13 bus stops in close proximity to these stations. The bus service operated Sunday to Wednesday nights after about 9.30 pm in both directions, charging metro fares and frequency of every ten minutes.[4][5] This is because during this period, the last metro services on these nights were 10.05 pm from Chatswood and 9.25 pm from Tallawong.[6] The bus service was meant to be temporary and it was withdrawn six months later on 5 November 2019,[5] when the metro reaches full operations.[4] The bus service was jointly operated by Transdev NSW and Hillsbus, both of whom previously jointly operated the Station Link services between September 2018 and May 2019.[7][8]

Stations

The service serves 13 stations, including 5 that were previously served by Sydney Trains' Northern Line services.

Name Railway line(s) Opened Serving suburbs Other lines
Tallawong – Chatswood
Tallawong Northwest 2019 Rouse Hill
Rouse Hill Northwest 2019 Rouse Hill
Kellyville Northwest 2019 Kellyville
Bella Vista Northwest 2019 Bella Vista
Norwest Northwest 2019 Norwest
Hills Showground Northwest 2019 Castle Hill
Castle Hill Northwest 2019 Castle Hill
Cherrybrook Northwest 2019 Cherrybrook
Epping Epping to Chatswood 1900 Epping
Macquarie University Epping to Chatswood 2009 Macquarie Park
Macquarie Park Epping to Chatswood 2009 Macquarie Park
North Ryde Epping to Chatswood 2009 North Ryde
Chatswood Epping to Chatswood 1890 Chatswood (peak hours only)

Criticisms

The service has been criticised due to the high number of failures it has experienced since its opening in May 2019. Most of these failures have been due to mechanical issues on the Alstom Metropolis sets used on this line.

  • When the line first opened, the trains struggled to stop at the correct position at each station, having edge forward or backward after coming to a complete stop. The train would sometimes overcorrect and need to make further adjustments, which sometimes took several minutes. These issues were mostly fixed after a month, but there are still occasional errors made by the software.
  • There were some reports of trains malfunctioning and failing to open doors at some stations on opening day.
  • The doors closing announcements are too soft and cannot be heard from the platform. This has led to several incidents where children were separated from their parents by closing doors.
  • Trains frequently experience mechanical issues, unable to move after stopping at a station.
  • The self-driving software does not drive the train smoothly. It consistently overshoots when accelerating up to track speed and requires some braking to maintain track speed. This can be felt by passengers standing at the front of the train near the driving controls, where inertia can be felt when leaning on the driving controls cabinet.

References
  1. "M: Metro North West line timetable". Transport for NSW.
  2. "Metro North West Line timetable - 1 July 2019". Transport for NSW. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  3. "Metro North West Line timetable - 27 May 2019" (PDF). Transport for NSW. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  4. "North West opening date announced". Sydney Metro. 5 May 2019. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  5. "North West Night Bus". Transport Info NSW. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  6. "Metro North West Line timetable - May 2019" (PDF). Transport Info NSW. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  7. "NW1 Timetable - May 2019" (PDF). Transport Info NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  8. "NW2 Timetable - May 2019" (PDF). Transport Info NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.