Visiting EVERY new Sydney Metro City Station & RANKING them for Biking & Walking

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Which metro station is your favourite? Let me know! Here's some great further reading about active transport and the metro: Why Did the Chicken Catch the Metro? Because It Was Faster Than Crossing the Road, by Jake Coppinger: jakecoppinger.com/2024/08/why-did-the-chicken-catch-the-metro-because-it-was-faster-than-crossing-the-road/ Yvonne from BikeEast's review of Sydenham and Waterloo for biking: www.bikeast.org.au/bikeast/sydney-metro-waterloo-bike-parking/ www.bikeast.org.au/bikeast/sydney-metro-sydenham-bike-parking/

[@LewishamBetterStreets]

Excellent and informative video - thank you!

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Thanks!

[@TeamEXAngus]

All the buzz in Sydney has me very excited for the Metro Tunnel in Melbourne next year. I really hope someone puts out a similar video ranking the Metro Tunnel stations

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

I'm sure someone will! Melbourne has some great urbanist KZbinrs

[@damo_gauci]

Awesome video Chris! Great in-depth review of every station and really cool to see how they look inside and out. Some lovely choices of music in the background too!

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Thanks Damien! Glad you liked the music choices, I think the stations deserved some nice classical music

[@localwarming]

I love how pumpin’ that 4:54am metro ride was 🎉

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

It was a party 🙌

[@AheadMatthewawsome]

This is a great video! Thanks for interviewing me!

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Cheers! Thanks for being in the video 🤩

[@DorkBoy77]

Great video. Nice editing. Notes the 29 mins in 4K. 👍 How many days or hours to upload it? The chicken crossed the road to hear my new metro song!

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Thanks! It took about 4ish hours to upload from memory.

[@DorkBoy77]

@@ChrisTopher_Urbanism Embedding time to KZbin can take even longer for small channels.

[@BigBlueMan118]

Chris Mate I have been waiting for you to post a video like this all week, what took ya so long?! You can't do this to me! Nah but seriously i really hope cycling as a mainstream mode is kind of on the cusp now and the new Metro Stations could really add alot to that, particularly Out in the north west but also Waterloo and Crows Nest. Glad you we're enjoying the Metro though, i did sone Work during the build and the finished products looks great, better than I could have imagined.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Haha glad your wait is finally over! It was a pretty full-on edit to do, the original cut was an hour long. I agree! It's great how much bike parking and even cycleways were integrated into the designs of the stations. What work did you do during the build?

[@BigBlueMan118]

@@ChrisTopher_Urbanism i reckon you should have just uploaded the 1h version, or do you get worse viewership numbers when it is longer? And yeah if I have one complaint about the metro it is the fact that we are still allowing these stupid massive roads right out the front of stations ruining the catchment: pacific highway, botany road, Park St, Epping road, even miller street should all go on a diet - perhaps a good idea for your next video?! I worked on the chatswood dive site where the trains enter tunnels, Barangaroo remediation project right next to the metro box, and central station excavation and upgrade. My dad also worked on the older Epping-chatswood tunnel & stations back in the mid-2000s so between us there is a fair bit of family history in the metro line!

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

@@BigBlueMan118 It just wasn't as strong a video - it's way more focused and engaging at its current length. That would be a good idea for a future video, it's been a pet peeve of mine for ages. That would've been such a cool site to work on!

[@dominicgalvin]

Wow this looks so fun! I loved the 2001 A space odyssey track. Nice!

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Yeah it was a blast! Haha I thought it would be a good track to herald a new age for Sydney

[@M077Y]

Fantastic, comprehensive look and perspective of it, thanks so much!

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Thanks!

[@lukepalmas4776]

Great video Chris! Was good to meet you on the first train as well. I thought i might add to Barangaroo the under-construction Hickson road cycleway at Barangaroo looks cool, with an all-new island bus stop. Unfortunately it also just ends about 100m from the station due to it not being Sydney Metro's jurisdiction anymore. Hopefully COS will natch that effort soon.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Thanks Luke, it was great to meet you too! From what I can see on CoS's Cycling Strategy map, they plan to extend the cycleway all the way along Hickson Rd and Sussex St down to Liverpool St, although I'm not sure when that will happen

[@jack2453]

Great stuff. Can't wait to see the follow-up about transfer to/from the metro from train/bus/tram/ferry.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Thanks! That would be a good idea for a video

[@davidjohnston1374]

Just wondering Chris Topher, when the Metro gets to Chatswood, does it continue to past Rouse Hill or do you have to catch a different Metro?

[@shanojebs]

Yes, I travelled from Sydenham to Epping nonstop on Friday, it goes nonstop in both directions between Sydenham to Tallawong, I'm yet to do the length of it but it's on my bucket list

[@penchiselcamera]

On the far side of Hickson Road at Barangaroo there will be a new dedicated bicycle lane and footpath, once construction wraps up.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Excellent! That's exciting

[@chrisstanden6660]

I wouldn't give Waterloo such a good score for walking access. While the Metro can whisk you the 1,700 m from Central to Waterloo in just 100 seconds, you then have to wait up to 111 seconds to walk the 11 metres across Botany Rd. As shown in this great vid by Jake Coppinger (Better Intersections) kzbin.info/www/bejne/raO5h4Fnq7Oke6Msi=x2qCiXCIEP1Z_n5J

[@chrisstanden6660]

To walk the 750m from Waterloo Metro to the Commonwealth Bank head office at South Eveleigh takes 20 minutes because of the numerous traffic lights with excessively long waiting times. With pedestrian priority, that walk would be less than 10 minutes.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Jake did a fantastic job with that video, putting the two side by side really shows how ridiculous the light timings are. I did only give it a 6 since I didn't think it should be lower than the stations near the Pacific Hwy and M1, but perhaps they all deserved to be a bit lower

[@MaxS-hn8we]

Important to note that Barangaroo station isn’t finished yet so we don’t yet know what facilities will be included at its other entrance once built.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Good point!

[@Matthew-zv8qe]

why my comment disappear, damn nice

[@nosotrosvamos]

Waterloo for me Though I am biased, I live 2 minutes away on me deadly treadly

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

I'm so glad you just introduced me to the phrase deadly treadly, that's awesome

[@yukko_parra]

as a unsw student, i also agree that waterloo is the best; i could use it if the trams decide to go on strike to go to town hall.

[@shanojebs]

As someone who commutes daily on the Bankstown line, I'm concerned about Sydenham's bike storage which may become overcrowded when the line shuts down and makes riding to the station a better option than the replacement buses which have been shockingly unreliable in shutdowns this year alone. Also i never considered someone stealing a bike seat to be a problem, but now i kinda do. There are good safe cycle routes around Sydenham, but it's badly connected to the Cooks River route which myself and others will be using. It's nice but not quite there yet.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

That's a really good point about the bike parking becoming overcrowded, especially since I think Ashfield is the only other station near the T3 with a bike shed. I really think building bike sheds and north to south pop-up cycleways to allow bike access to the T2 and T4, as well as a cycleway parallel to the T3, would have been a good way to take a lot of strain off the replacement busses. Personally I've found that outside the laneway network Sydenham can be pretty unpleasant to cycle around but maybe I'm riding in the wrong spots.

[@shanojebs]

@@ChrisTopher_Urbanism I think September 30 will be the real test, Sydenham is alright but only if you have local knowledge as it's not signposted at all, turning right gives you 600 metres on a dangerous traffic-heavy road, then there is a safe bike route from Marrickville to Tempe via Meeks Road to Victoria Road to Carrington Road which links you to the Cooks River bike path, it doesn't follow the train line at all but it is the safest cycle route, I've been walking from Sydenham to Canterbury this week to find a good cycle route along where the replacement buses will operate and the roads are full of potholes and bumps and blindspots and sharp turns, it's not suited for buses or bikes or even cars really, from Cooks River bike route there's a steep hill to climb to reach almost every train station, that cycle route next to the metro route can't come sooner enough

[@tasmanianmapping]

Well here comes yet another youtuber doing a 'first sydney metro trip' video Don't mind tho, great video

[@jedilordlog8543]

Almost like people who make Content with a big focus on Transport, they'll make a video of them at the opening of a new transport line 😱

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

The more the merrier!

[@marcr9541]

The new Metro looks exactly like the Singapore Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) system, which has been running since 1985.

[@MaxS-hn8we]

Singapore didn’t invent the metro

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

If it ain't broke!

[@MarcSebastian-pi5he]

@@MaxS-hn8we Neither did Sydney Metro.

[@MaxS-hn8we]

@@MarcSebastian-pi5he no one claimed that it did so what’s your point? 🤷‍♂️

[@MarcSebastian-pi5he]

@@MaxS-hn8we 😂😂😂

[@donttalkcrap]

9:36 Barangaroo "Less of a commuter destination"??? There are 24,000+ people who work within a 200 hundred metres of the Metro....and many thousands more who work in Wynyard. 🤦‍♂

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

I meant commuters aren't starting their trip there, so there's less need for heaps of bike storage than the stations that are near where people are more likely to be starting their commute

[@jack2453]

Chris makes a good point about origins v. destinations. Also Sharath has made the point that the metro stop is the opposite end of Barangaroo from most of the current office development - so Wynyard might continue to be the main access point for office commuters... it will be interesting to see how that evolves.

[@AlphaGeekgirl]

What's with all the ads?? I'm 27 minutes in, and I've seen 26 ads... and none of them that I can skip!. Grrr

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Uh oh, I guess I shouldn't have let KZbin decide where the ads should go...

[@donttalkcrap]

20:44 "So you can see..." No we can't. There's no legend. You cannot even see the street names on the map, or what the different colours stand for. And you don't explain exactly what it is you're referring to 🤷‍♂

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

Fair point! I should've included the legend. It was meant to be a brief snapshot of how many planned connections there are - feel free to check out more detail in the cycling action plan document itself: www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/explore/parks-sport-and-recreation/walking-and-cycling/cycling-strategy-and-action-plan

[@robertmoore512]

@@ChrisTopher_UrbanismAction Plan still waiting for some action! No new projects. Had to appoint a consultant ((DVD)to select some, hasn’t even started yet.

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

@@robertmoore512 That's terrible! It's been well over a year

[@donttalkcrap]

5:34 "The famous lift-only" ??? ... It might be famous to you and your friends, but don't leave the rest of your ignorant and uninformed viewers as if you're part of some exclusive club. You could have made an effort to explain to the rest of us :(

[@ChrisTopher_Urbanism]

It was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek - it's pretty much as it sounds. One of the exits of the station is lift only because it's too deep for escalators.

[@robertmoore512]

Time to get some bike lanes on Sydenham Rd and develop the quiet route on Shirlow and Sydney Steel Rd. And why not a shared path on Unwins Bridge Rd north to St Peters?

[@aussiejohn5835]

I have seen 3 comments from you, and each is negative and rude to the creator of this video. I am sure constructive criticism is welcome, but rudeness is not. Appreciate the work he has done on this video and comment appropriately, or don't comment at all if you have nothing positive to say.