Lol at Northwest Metro. What a shit show. Hour and half wait times at Towers. Just glad I didnt listen to my wife about going shopping at Towers & Rouse Hill but I’m guessing people did and now have to wait
It wasn't a shit show at all.
I went today. Arrived at Tallawong at about 11.15 am. Queue was long, (about 100 metres) but moved really quickly. After about a 10 minute slow crawl, 2 trains turned up and left within 3 minutes of each other, Considering each train has a capacity of about 1200, the waiting crowds were dispersed onto the trains really quickly.
The ride to Chatswood was seamless and fast. I transferred to Sydney trains and continued to Wynyard. FMD, what a slow old trip that was on the double decker.
My return trip was equally seamless on the metro. They really do travel fast.
When I returned to Chatswood from Wynyard on the snail rail, the queues were horrendous, yet, I was on a metro train within 10 minutes.
Yes, there was a few teething problems today. One train's doors failed to open - I think at Macquarie Park which caused a 20 minute delay and a backlog of other trains, but this was cleared fairly efficiently and that train was taken out of service and replaced immediately.
There were some other smaller problems like some trains overshooting the platform screen doors by a small margin and having to reverse back. No big deal. Some of the electronic signage in the train didn't work on the two trains I travelled on, like one of these in the picture below. They are above every door on both sides of the train. Again, so big deal.
The greatest benefit was that as soon as the overcrowding became an issue, they just threw more trains into service. No calling in drivers or buses. Just push a few buttons at the control centre and get extra trains running.
These electronic signs also have other information flash up, like, when approaching a station, it has all the connecting train (if applicable) and bus routes. Another info flash up is times to certain stations ahead.
It was opening day. It was free. It was bound to be hectic, and certainly there will be some teething problems. I'm not sure the govt was expecting over 100 000 people to turn up, but they prepared well. There was plenty of metro staff around guiding and advising people, maintaining order and keeping queues flowing.
I personally, didn't expect so many people to trial it today. Yet when I arrived, I thought, 'Holy shit. Oh well, it is what it is. I'll deal with it". And that's what everyone I saw on the trains do as well. I didn't see any angst or commotion. People followed orders and were happy to be patient. That was my experience anyway.
It's about time this city built some decent, MODERN infrastructure, and this is just one piece in the future Metro puzzle. The more Metro lines that are built, the easier it will be for people to move around this city.
At least, if there is a problem on the Metro, it does not effect half or more of the whole shitty rail system. It is its own line, Unlike shite like signal failures on the Sydney rail system, which affects the whole system.
To suggest it was a shit show is misleading, ill-informed and ignorant.
Anyway, the photo I promised before....
