New underground line records 1.4m journeys in first week

A new metro station designed by Tenderstream member John McAslan + Partners and Woods Bagot for their client, Laing O’Rourke, has opened in Sydney, Australia. Located in the city’s iconic Central Station, the A$955m project includes the creation of a dramatic new main entrance sequence for the imposing early 20th century edifice, and incorporates as its centrepiece a distinctive 50m-span vaulted roof. The station forms part of a new metro line extending from the city’s north west, under the harbour and through the Sydney central business district, to Sydenham. A total of 1.4 million metro trips have been made on the new M1 Northwest & Bankstown Line since the section opened on 19th August.

At Sydney Central, new concourses are expected to produce much smoother flows for the expected 450,000 travellers daily in the next two decades. Like John McAslan + Partners’ King’s Cross scheme, the project will not only make the station an architecturally refreshed 21st century landmark, but has been designed to stimulate regeneration and street life in the surrounding urban area. John McAslan, Executive Chairman, John McAslan + Partners, states: “The world’s leading cities, Sydney among them, are under extraordinary pressure in terms of the development of transport infrastructure in relation to urban fabric. With the vast majority of Sydney train services currently calling at Central Station, this interchange performs a critical function and impression of the city.”

A total of 1.4 million metro trips have been made on the new M1 Northwest & Bankstown Line since the city section opened from Chatswood to Sydenham on 19th August. When the line opened, Josh Murray, Transport for NSW Secretary, stated: “Sydney Metro has been an engineering and construction masterpiece – now we add in the most important ingredient, passengers....We’re expecting passenger numbers on Metro City and Southwest to quickly build to around 37,000 in the morning peaks and up to a quarter of a million trips on a typical weekday day.”

Construction continues on metro line stations at Waterloo - also designed by John McAslan + Partners and Woods Bagot - alongside those at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, and Gadigal, which will open progressively as they complete. 

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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