August 23, 2024

LETTER 367

Sydney Metro Expands, Opening to Celebrity-Level Fanfare

Passengers wait as passengers disembark from a train at a station.

Passengers disembarking from the newly opened metro line at the Chatswood station in Sydney, Australia. Jeremy Piper/EPA, via Shutterstock

By Yan Zhuang

The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week's issue is written by Yan Zhuang, an Australian reporter in the Seoul bureau (who is very excited about the metro).

They arrived well before dawn, some from across the city or even from other states. Hundreds of people, some with signs or handmade shirts, others with hair dyed or nails painted for the occasion, waited in line, hoping to be among the first to glimpse the new arrival in Sydney. They were joined by just about every news media outlet in the city.

When the train pulled into the station, the crowd burst into claps and cheers.

A key segment of Sydney's new metro train line opened early on Monday with a level of fanfare usually associated with celebrity appearances or pop concerts. In a mostly car-dependent country where public transportation in major cities can be best described as "decent," the expansion, which featured expansive, "cathedral-like" stations and spacious, driverless trains, felt momentous.

The new section, which connects Sydenham, an inner-west neighborhood of Sydney, to Chatswood, in the north, runs under the city's business district and crosses under the Harbor Bridge. It is the second part of the metro project to open, after a northern section that started operating in 2019. Several more segments are under construction, expected to open over the next decade. They all form part of a new rail system that updates and integrates with Sydney's existing rail network, which was mostly built between the 1850s and early 1900s, said David Levinson, a transportation professor at the University of Sydney.

The news media covered the opening in breathless terms. The national broadcaster ABC described a ride on the metro as "a bit like something from a science fiction movie." One journalist marveled at "just how much space there is for commuters." Broadcasting live from inside a moving train, another reporter said, "I am hanging on for dear life here." (The trains can travel up to speeds of 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, per hour, according to the transportation agency for New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital.)

To be clear, the new trains are not revolutionary. They resemble, on a smaller scale, the subways of Tokyo, Seoul or Hong Kong. The metro was built by a consortium led by Hong Kong's MTR rail company.

"It's not something super amazing," Professor Levinson said. "It's state-of-the-art, but lots of systems are state-of-the-art."

But they are a big departure from Sydney's usual trains, and the New South Wales transportation agency has taken to social media to inform commuters of the differences. The seats run along the edge of the train carriage, facing each other, with a large space in the middle for standing passengers; normal Sydney trains have double-decker carriages, filled with rows of seats that can be flipped to face the train's front or back. The new trains run frequently enough that travelers don't need to check the timetable, a welcome change for commuters. Also, passengers are separated from the rails by a barrier along the platform, a new safety protocol.

Among the train and public transportation enthusiasts who rode the first service, which departed Sydenham station at 4:54 a.m., were Jimmy Wu and Nyilawoan Oatsomm, along with a dozen fellow members of the University of New South Wales Railway Society. Mr. Wu and Mr. Oatsomm had left their homes at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m., they said, to make it to Sydenham station by 4 a.m.

"It was a really historic moment," Mr. Oatsomm said.

"It's amazing to be able to say that we here in Sydney also have an awesome metro just like these other big cities," said Josh Barton, 42, who was also on that first ride.

In a small way, the metro project has revitalized Australia's understanding of itself and what it can achieve, wrote Howard MacLean, a housing and public transit proponent. The opening on Monday sparked the realization that "our idea about who we are has shifted under our feet," he wrote. "The vision of Australia as postwar car-dependent suburbia blinked, and something new and grander peeked through instead."

"Australia has always been in a state of transition, between where we are, and where we're going," he added. "Sydney Metro is a glimpse into that future — and how it could be very good."

Now for our stories of the week.

Australia and New Zealand

A line of penguins walk in a single file line over snow under a rainbow-colored inflatable arch.

Sphen, right, and Magic led other penguins under a rainbow arch in their enclosure at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium

Sphen, Penguin Whose Gay Love Story Earned Global Fame, Dies. For six years, Sphen and Magic were devoted partners, adoptive parents and queer icons. After Sphen died this month at age 11, Magic began singing.

Black Caviar, Champion Racehorse and Australian Icon, Dies. She won every race she ran, and her fame went beyond the insular world of horse racing.

Fossils Show Giant Predatory Sea Scorpions Were Distance Swimmers. Specimens of what appear to be the largest eurypterid species found in Australia could shed light on the sudden extinction of the massive arthropods.
New Zealand Diplomat Is Victim of Armed Robbery, Paris Authorities Say. The Paris prosecutor's office said that the diplomat had been struck in the face with the butt of a pistol. The robbery took place in Paris's affluent 7th arrondissement.

Around the Times

At a campaign rally, a sign that says Madam Vice President, with Vice crossed out, hangs from the crowd with Kamala Harris cheering and clapping, out of focus, in the foreground.

Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Philadelphia this month. Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Why Democrats Stopped Asking if a Woman Could Win the White House. Democratic women say much has changed since Hillary Clinton lost her bid for the White House in 2016 — and lessons have been learned.
In the Wake of Tragedy, CrossFit Faces an Identity Crisis. CrossFit has found success as a training exercise for everyone. But the CrossFit Games may tell a different story.
Under a Frozen Army Base, He Found Incredible Fossils. In a new book, geologist Paul Bierman recounts the moment he found astonishing evidence that Greenland's ice sheet had melted in the ancient past.

Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 U.S. Open. The tournament runs Aug. 26 to Sept. 8 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.

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