’Shot in the arm’: New Metro’s glowing review

Nearly 200,000 people hopped on the new Metro train line in Sydney on its inaugural day.

NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen gave a glowing review of the new network’s first day, saying the only issues were minor.

More than 190,000 passengers on Monday took a trip on 425 trains that ran at the “highest level of reliability”, Ms Haylen said, with 99.76 per cent on trains coming on time.

“Metro is a shot in the arm for public transport in Sydney … great cities around the world have great public transport options that people choose as their first option, not as a last resort,” Ms Haylen said.

The busiest time on Monday was from 3pm to 7pm, when 71,000 passengers used the service.

On Monday morning, 40,000 people took a ride, and that grew to 55,000 during the Tuesday rush hour.

“There will of course be some teething problems. Thankfully so far we’re only had some minor issues,” Ms Haylen said.

“When you’re on-board, hang on, these trains do accelerate and brake quickly.”

Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan said there were people just coming to check out the new line on Monday, but Tuesday had seen distinctly more commuters on-board.

Mr Regan was clearly enthused at Monday’s results, but tempered expectations.

Though 99.76 per cent of trains were on time “we won’t get that everyday”, Mr Regan said, but the system was off to a strong start.

Train doors on the fully-automated Metro are being held open for 90 seconds to begin with, but over time that will be reduced, as metro systems around the world tend to stay open 30 seconds, he said.

“Sydneysiders have been voting with their feet and Opal cards,” Secretary of Transport for NSW Josh Murray said.

An overheight truck incident slowed down traffic on the Harbour Bridge on Tuesday morning, and Mr Murray encouraged everyone to use public transport.

The $21.6bn project – developed by the former Liberal government – was scheduled to launch on August 4 but had been pushed back because approvals from the rail safety regulator

Driverless Metro trains are running from Tallawong in the city’s northwest through to Sydenham, via four new Metro stations underneath the Sydney CBD.

A trip between Chatswood and Sydenham takes about 22 minutes with the new metro, while travelling between Sydenham and Tallawong will take just under an hour.

The first north-to-south train leaves Tallawong at 4.38am daily. The first train headed north from Sydenham departs at 4.54am.

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