Town Hall Station is too confusing. Let's fix it.

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  • Опубликовано: 23 дек 2024

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  • @BuildingBeautifully
    @BuildingBeautifully  Год назад +162

    Hey! Hope you enjoyed this video :)) This was my most Jay Foreman video yet, but unlike him I am a researcher first and (attempted) comedian second. I hope my acting wasn’t TOO cringe for you all.
    Anyways, I did my best to find every Town Hall exit, but I’m sure I missed some. Let me know in the comments any exits that I missed.
    Any Summoning Salt fans in the crowd recognise the last song I used? It’s Wavetable by Patricia Taxxon. Been watching his videos for ages and I remembered that song and was like “You know...that would work really well at the end of this video!” That contrast between using it in speed-running videos and using it in railway station exploration videos though LOL.
    Anyways...my next video is a special video on Saturday that’s coming out in the morning for the first time! Get hyped!

    • @KhanPiesseONE
      @KhanPiesseONE Год назад +1

      Great video, Town Hall seems like a labyrinth

    • @dawntreader1247
      @dawntreader1247 Год назад +3

      I should have known you were a fellow Jay Foreman fan

    • @eddiecochrane602
      @eddiecochrane602 Год назад +4

      Did you find the exit from Woolies on to Pitt Street? Up the escalators in Woolies to their ground floor and head to the back (south?) end of the store. I think it comes out between 301 and 303 Pitt Street. There's a great little food court downstairs in the "arcade" from Woolies to Pitt Street.

    • @electro_sykes
      @electro_sykes Год назад +2

      Actually, Town Hall station isn't that bad. It was just built and designed in mind for everyone to access the CBD to work and wasn't really built for a provision of interchange. Besides, it's ok, I've seen worse. Don't even get me started on Brisbane's Central Station.

    • @rosssmith7753
      @rosssmith7753 Год назад

      Hey, this is Australia, cringe acting is practically the national sport.

  • @froctor674
    @froctor674 Год назад +434

    The fact that you can get from the bottom platforms of Town Hall Station, one of the lowest points in the city, to the top of Centrepoint Tower, the highest point in the city, without leaving a building is crazy.

    • @Vtwin_Superbikes
      @Vtwin_Superbikes Год назад +5

      Can you? I have never found the entrance to the tower.

    • @stevenwb
      @stevenwb Год назад +51

      Yes you can; the entrance to Sydney Tower is at the top of Westfield Sydney. You'll need to get the escalator from the lower platforms of the station to concourse level, exit station and walk through the lower-ground floor of QVB, then to Westfield Sydney. You'll have to cross the sky bridge of Pitt St Mall, then get a few more escalators to level 5, where you can find the entrance to the tower.

    • @eddielong8663
      @eddielong8663 Год назад +17

      It's actually possible to go one block further to David Jones aswell. There's a skybridge AND an underpass both connecting DJ to Westfield.

    • @timtam53191
      @timtam53191 Год назад +21

      You used to be able to get from Town Hall station to Martin place station without going outside through Westfield, glasshouse and the MLC, but they took down the skybridge linking MLC with glasshouse in 2021.
      If that skybridge remained, by 2030 you would've been able to walk from the George st cinemas to Barangaroo through the new Hunter street station that links Martin place and Wynyard.

    • @abiramen
      @abiramen Год назад +4

      @@eddielong8663 This actually makes it possible to get to the Art Gallery from Town Hall with only having to cross one road (Elizabeth St)

  • @TimBurbank237
    @TimBurbank237 Год назад +125

    The signs on the platform that say 'No Way Out' really add to the feeling of being trapped & helpless

    • @richardchristie1293
      @richardchristie1293 Год назад +15

      I've seen signs on the tracks (I guess as a warning for workers) with 'No Safe Place'. I wonder if state rail had a paranoid sign designer who wanted to share their gift with the world?

  • @talkout
    @talkout Год назад +142

    Having worked close to Town Hall station, I've not found it confusing as a regular commuter. The multiple exits is in fact one of the best parts of this station, and the fact that you can go much farther below ground level is a bonus on rainy days. 😅

    • @EatMyShortsAU
      @EatMyShortsAU Год назад +4

      Yeah the actually underground tunnels are great station is kind of crap. The journey is better than the destination.

    • @smriti798
      @smriti798 Год назад

      Rather change trains from TH station than Central , it’s that easy

    • @Secretlyanothername
      @Secretlyanothername 2 месяца назад

      You use the same trains and platforms every day. Good for you

  • @poesc
    @poesc Год назад +95

    I always thought I was the only one who found Town Hall station confusing to navigate through. Thanks for making this video 😊

  • @sebisconfused1475
    @sebisconfused1475 Год назад +145

    Even though town hall is very confusing, I love the compactness and verticality of it.

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад +11

      I've used this station for the last 8 years. Not too confusing for me. What is really confusing is the maze of rooms the public doesn't see.

    • @sebisconfused1475
      @sebisconfused1475 Год назад +7

      ​@@andrewthorpe3219of course it's not going to be confusing once you get used to it, and what rooms are you talking about?

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад +3

      @@sebisconfused1475 On the main concourse level near the Woolworths entrance is the station office. Behind the front counter is a veritable maze of meeting rooms, store rooms, duty rooms, and staff facilities.

    • @kiriakoz
      @kiriakoz Год назад +2

      @@andrewthorpe3219 oh wow, you worked it out some time over 8 years? What a genius you must be.

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад +1

      @@kiriakoz I've had to work in the area. Been there at least several times a year for the last several years.

  • @ADingoTookMyDasco
    @ADingoTookMyDasco Год назад +4

    I've used Town Hall Station since when it only had exits to George St on either side & to Town hall Square. It wasn't until the QVB was renovated, after being left near derelict for decades, that the QVB underground link was opened in the late 80's. The offshoot to The galleries was added in the late 90's. Likewise, the exit to 580 George St wasn't added until the late 80's as well.
    The Myer to Westfield to David Jones interconnections all existed prior to the QVB renovation, both below & above ground, as they made it easier to cross the busy Market, Castlereagh & Pitt Streets to each building. The QVB exit was added specifically so that people could access these shopping districts without having to transverse the busy roads at ground level. The Pitt St Mall was added in the 1990's to complete the shopping precinct.

  • @yukko_parra
    @yukko_parra Год назад +24

    well, ive heard that shinjuku station is 40 minutes from exit to exit... (covering 3 other stations I belive)
    that means town hall is roughly 25% the radius of shinjuku station. That would somehow make sense, as Shinjuku therefore is 16x the size of townhall, accomodating 16x the amount of people... as tokyo has 16x the amount of people as sydney.
    our little shinjuku station.

    • @BlazingBlade
      @BlazingBlade Год назад

      This is true. I was shopping in Shinjuku a week ago and had to get from one side to the other so I can grab dinner. It took 20 mins navigating the tunnels so I could avoid the busy congested streets. It’s well sign posted but it’s defs a big walk because trains are 16 carriages long in Japan.

    • @BlazingBlade
      @BlazingBlade Год назад

      I love Town Hall but after experiencing the station layouts of Sapporo, Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka to name a few in Japan. We have it easy here. In Japan it’s a complete different world underground!

  • @gregessex1851
    @gregessex1851 Год назад +47

    TfNSW and it’s predecessors have tried to improve Town Hall as it gets dangerously congested. The fact nothing has happened suggests the Engineering challenges preclude any sizeable improvements.

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад +6

      Some of the platforms get dangerously congested in peak times. Especially Platforms 1 & 2.

    • @alimfuzzy
      @alimfuzzy Год назад +1

      Or it's haunted with a spooky ghost.

    • @BigBlueMan118
      @BigBlueMan118 Год назад +10

      Once the City & SW Metro opens, you might then have the breathing space to be able to close the station and make the necessary open heart surgery without losing cross-city rail connectivity. I would love to see platform screen doors installed so you can also air condition the city underground stations, theyre way too hot in summer, but this will be difficult with the unions.

    • @mickker841
      @mickker841 Год назад +1

      The platforms are so narrow and the bottom ones feel like there isn’t enough oxygen. It is dark and dingy. It’s horrible

    • @BigBlueMan118
      @BigBlueMan118 Год назад +2

      @@mickker841 yes but its a complicated expensive project to do much about. One thibg that will help is that once the Bankstown line is running through the Metro to Chatswood, you can run all the Airport trains through Museum and St James which will simplify the City Circle and more evenly distribute passengers, plus alot more people will likely transfer at Central or Sydenham and ease pressure on Town Hall and Wynyard.

  • @dawntreader1247
    @dawntreader1247 Год назад +30

    I’d like a video with more information on how the station was built. It seems to have been modified and built upon as the years have progressed

  • @mushroomglade
    @mushroomglade 7 месяцев назад +1

    I feel vindicated for all my extra wanderings caused by not going the most efficient way from Town Hall station to where I was headed. I also searched for an underground city map and couldn't find one. Thanks so much for doing this. Maybe you could put the map itself online and searchable for people like me doing research while planning a visit to the City.

  • @Flare03l
    @Flare03l Год назад +46

    I've never really found town hall station that confusing, but I found central station to be soooo confusing until I started going there more. tbh I found your suggestion about adding exit 2B, etc and west/east would make the exiting a bit more confusing 😅 crossing george st is super easy so ending up on the wrong side isn't a big deal. anyway loved the video, super cool map you did of all the exits!

    • @themoon7435
      @themoon7435 Год назад +4

      I agree with Central. I go to uni near there now so I've become very familiar with it but back in the day I'd go to Town Hall to change lines instead of Central even though it was a bit further simply because I found Central so confusing.

  • @hello_robot
    @hello_robot Год назад +1

    I used to go to Town Hall regularly before, and got used to the exits in due time. The worst part was using the lowest level platforms, which feel so claustrophobic and overcrowded, especially in the summer. Descending down them on a hot summer day, especially when there were train delays, was like descending into hell. And when you want to ascend to concourse level, the right stairs/escalators are so difficult to find.

  • @exploringsydneysrailways
    @exploringsydneysrailways Год назад +17

    It's amazing how that now with the light rail, there are 3 levels of rail tracks on George Street - the two tram tracks on the surface, the 3 train tracks on the upper platform level, and the 3 train tracks on the lower platform level. No wonder it's such a transport hub with all those vehicles moving along it.

    • @Matthew-nl9kd
      @Matthew-nl9kd Год назад +1

      And if you stretch to include Pitt st you've got a 4th level with the Metro

    • @abiramen
      @abiramen Год назад

      That might be a /bit/ of a stretch - the station boxes aren't really near each other.

    • @markd.9538
      @markd.9538 Год назад +5

      Sadly the monorail is no more - there could have been another level!

  • @angus2377
    @angus2377 Год назад +8

    Never thought about how confusing it is! although i used to find Central more confusing than town hall :)

  • @annabelapurva-madhuri4861
    @annabelapurva-madhuri4861 Год назад +8

    This may be the most random flex ever but the Town Hall labyrinth is pretty fun once you memorise it

  • @channelzero2252
    @channelzero2252 2 месяца назад +1

    I was about to say I could always find my way around there but then I realised as I'm always escorting a man who needs a wheelchair, it does somewhat restrict which enterances and exits we can take, which probably makes it a lot easier to remember where things are because there's so many he can't use.

  • @ManicMonkey1987
    @ManicMonkey1987 Год назад +1

    I found Town Hall a lot easier to navigate before the wayfinding "upgrade" around when they did the Sydney Trains change.

  • @charles9201
    @charles9201 Год назад +6

    The worst part of the Town Hall experience is having ads blasting sound into my ears while waiting on the platform. I assume everyone else hates this but its never mentioned.

  • @jonginder5494
    @jonginder5494 Год назад +2

    I got to town hall about once or twice a year. Ditto for Wynyard and Central. Town Hall is totally unintuitive and has no obvious natural flow “to the outside”. So yeah I hate it. I always go the wrong way. When I see the toilets at far end I know I am screwed.

  • @m3andchip5
    @m3andchip5 Год назад +9

    The best thing is that when it rains, you could literally go from the top most point to the bottom without getting wet once and I used that heavily to my advantage at Town Hall station :D

  • @alimfuzzy
    @alimfuzzy Год назад +4

    Basically if you know cinemas, woolworths, kfc, qvb, you're fine and can get wherever you want.

    • @nimbinguy
      @nimbinguy Год назад +1

      And I live on Nth Coast of NSW, still know the basic geography of Sydney city. It hasn’t changed that much in 20 years!

  • @the_afterthot
    @the_afterthot Год назад +15

    What do u mean? i LOVE town hall, changing lines is SO much easier because of the vertical builds than walking in circles for hours to find your platform at Central / running up stairs at redfern - and all the tunnel routes outta there are just such a treat!
    Thanks for the map, hadn't ventured past westfield before, looking forward to the walkabout !

    • @richardchristie1293
      @richardchristie1293 Год назад +1

      This! I'd cross the city morning & afternoon for 7 years of high school. Town hall in the morning peak was too congested to go between platforms with any speed (I'd take Redfern), but come the afternoon town hall was the best - to change lines I didn't even need to change levels - cross-platform transfers/interchanges are amazing.
      Enjoy your walkabout!

    • @anushkawikramanayake5346
      @anushkawikramanayake5346 Год назад +1

      Oh those circular corridors at Central drive me mad! So confusing, so pointless. Like a damn rabbit warren.

  • @triplehdrive
    @triplehdrive Год назад +25

    When I did the All Stations Challenge 2 weeks ago in my planning I avoided changing at Town Hall if possible due to the station layout. I did have train changes at Wynyard and Redfern which was more friendly to changing trains. If you want to do a video on changing trains in Sydney let me know and I could help you out with it from my All Stations Challenge experience.

  • @tasmaniantaswegian
    @tasmaniantaswegian 10 месяцев назад +1

    As a Tasmanian who recently visited Sydney and stayed near Town Hall, we were so confused.

  • @radiogeekau3356
    @radiogeekau3356 Год назад +11

    Ahh, good ol Town Hall. I was a regular user of that station before I moved to Coffs Harbour. I never found it confusing to get around but more claustrophobic sometimes, especially in busy times when personal space was at a premium. I can remember 20 years ago the eastern concourse used to have shops such as a newsagent and takeaway joint. They got rid of them to widen the concourse as it got notoriously crowded.

  • @sachaedwards2935
    @sachaedwards2935 Год назад +4

    I can't wait for this man to discover Central!

  • @ALxdCr4ftPlays
    @ALxdCr4ftPlays Год назад +34

    Town Hall is like 20x bigger than the biggest shopping centre in New Zealand! It helps to navigate more by landmarks (eg remembering which cafes you pass) rather than the hundreds of signs. The only signs you need to pay attention to are the big orange T signs. Town Hall also has 2 (or more) train levels. You can get to places suprisingly without crossing multiple roads, if you take the right exit. It feels like a subway, only more modern with double decker trains. Lift access let alone navigating the Hall, is terrible for those who have mobility needs. As its like an indoor city. It would take me 5 minutes to get from the platform via Town Hall to Sydney Westfield, without needing to cross any roads.

    • @TrumpsYourPresidentLOL
      @TrumpsYourPresidentLOL Год назад +1

      Anything in Australia is 20x bigger than tiny little NZ. Have they got internet over there yet?

    • @featel1
      @featel1 Год назад +7

      @@TrumpsYourPresidentLOL it’s 10 gigabit. Much faster than NBN

    • @ALxdCr4ftPlays
      @ALxdCr4ftPlays Год назад +1

      @1 6 It's a commonwealth country so yup, NZ has internet. Have high speed fibre with Vodafone (One).

    • @thrusta100
      @thrusta100 Год назад

      @@TrumpsYourPresidentLOLThey had many things before Oz dipsh$t! And their internet is faster than snail pace Australia! And no, they don’t wanna be a concrete jungle...🙄🤡🤦‍♂️

  • @stuartdparnell
    @stuartdparnell Год назад +7

    I've known Town Hall most of my life when I had to walk through it for high school at St Andrews and yeah, hella confusing back then, still confusing now but I know where the routes go like the back of my hand. It's basically got 10 entrance/exits and where you want to go depends which one you want to take. Sometimes I still get thrown off trying to remember which escalator goes to platform 5/6 for the bondi route.

  • @serena-yu
    @serena-yu Год назад +1

    They should really post more maps in the station, rather than just labelling the number of exit and street name. I often confuse with the street names since I'm not around in the city a lot.

  • @mitchellattwood
    @mitchellattwood Год назад +1

    Honestly you could upgrade it from Sydney’s most confusing to Australia’s most confusing train station and you would still be right in saying that

  • @Siferzion
    @Siferzion 10 месяцев назад +1

    I'll be honest, the inside of Town Hall Station has never bothered me or confused me, as you said the signage is pretty decent.
    But I can't count the amount of times I've exited to George St, and then gone "oh this wasn't where I thought I was..."

  • @brettyallop6018
    @brettyallop6018 Год назад +5

    Town Hall Station without a doubt isn't perfect, but 64 potential exits linked through 800m of underground walkway with no interaction with City vehicle traffic is its most redeeming feature!
    High through put of trains, mostly easy changing of lines to make connections to other lines (assuming your not trying to go back on the same line you just came in on) make it one of the best stations on the suburban network to change trains.

  • @danielcohen7824
    @danielcohen7824 Год назад +1

    In fact you can go beyond Westfield! From Westfield, you can cross the indoor footbridge into the MLC building and from there, you will be able to directly access Martin Place train and metro station from 2024! So you will be able to go from South of Town Hall all the way to Martin Place, without going outside! And further, from Martin Place there will be new exits as far as Hunter & Bligh streets 🤯

  • @yourfavouriteaircon
    @yourfavouriteaircon Год назад +9

    thank you for your dedication, i wouldn’t have the nerve to do all that in public !

  • @RaindancerAU
    @RaindancerAU Год назад +19

    I went to school in North Sydney in the 90s and I used to try to get as far through the city purely using the labyrinth whenever I was walking through, useful on rainy days 🙂

    • @MichaelTavares
      @MichaelTavares Год назад +5

      i used those tunnels to stay in air conditioning as long as i could

    • @TerryT304
      @TerryT304 Год назад +1

      You will be able to walk through from Town Hall to Barangaroo via Martin Place underground when the Western Sydney Metro is open, it will be a bit of a journey but I'm looking forward to it.

    • @Dionpitman
      @Dionpitman Год назад

      @@TerryT304 Unfortunately they took away the bridge linking Glasshouse and MLC a couple of years ago and it is still up in the air as to whether they will reinstate the link between MLC and Martin Place

  • @jennytai88
    @jennytai88 Год назад +6

    Having lived 450 meters from Town Hall exit 2, (George Street East side) for 1.5 year, I am always surprised the places these underground walkways can lead me to when it rains, a few times I didn’t take an umbrella and didn’t even get wet, and got to the post office, got my groceries, went to David Jones, amazing! 🎉❤😂

  • @galaxyfarrahway
    @galaxyfarrahway Год назад +8

    brilliant! You didnt mention the SMELL! Town hall has always always smelled absolutely the same - awful! I wonder how much the Pitt Street metro station will impact on how busy Town Hall is. That will be interesting to see.

    • @EatMyShortsAU
      @EatMyShortsAU Год назад +1

      Yeah it also feels stuffy and humid.

  • @mark123655
    @mark123655 Год назад +7

    Once upon a time you could also go from Westfield into Glasshouse and then across a now demolished walkway to MLC Centre (now 25MP), through the Martin Place station concourse into Colonial (now 52MP) and end up only a few steps from Hunter St next to Chifley Tower.

    • @abiramen
      @abiramen Год назад +2

      I'm so upset that the walkway across King St got demolished

  • @davidh7414
    @davidh7414 Год назад +2

    Despite how dingy it is, Its better than it was 10 years ago. At least they got rid of the rusty dusty false ceiling for much of it.

  • @ollie2074
    @ollie2074 Год назад +3

    Even tho Town Hall maybe the most confusing station in Sydney (maybe Australia) it is nothing compared to a vast majority of interchanges in London, Paris and Tokyo.

  • @RGC198
    @RGC198 4 месяца назад +1

    Excellent video. Town Hall Station confusing?? Actually, I always found Museum Station the most confusing place. Have you ever been in the labyrinth of walk through tunnels at Museum Station? That station is reasonably easy to enter, but once in, it can quite difficult to escape!!! Actually, after watching this video, I see what you mean about Town Hall. There seem to be a lot more exits there than what I remember seeing back in the 1960s and 1970s. Incidentally, Here is some history about Town hall that I experienced. Three days after the Eastern Suburbs Railway opened in 1979, a train strike was called. However, despite all the train lines closing due to the strike, the Eastern Suburbs Railway, due to being brand new, kept running trains. This meant, the Eastern Suburbs trains were only trains going through Central and Town Hall. It was quite fascinating, seeing the stations mostly in darkness, with the only lights being on the Eastern Suburbs Rail platforms. Also, due to the lack of trains, only very few people were seen on the stations even in peak times. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

  • @philinsydney
    @philinsydney Год назад +1

    I always thought putting the Illawarra/Bondi line through Town Hall in the 1970's was a mistake. It overloaded the station and left Museum underused.

  • @DimensionalIO
    @DimensionalIO Год назад +6

    This video is fantastic! I love the comedy skits sprinkled in the video and your audio quality has improved dramatically since your first few videos. Congratulations for getting on the trending page!

  • @michaelcobbin
    @michaelcobbin Год назад +4

    I have never use Exit numbers at all, I just learnt all the different exits of overtime. It shame that the overpass at King Street into the MLC Centre has been removed.

  • @KatoombaTourGuide
    @KatoombaTourGuide Год назад +12

    It’s the backrooms

  • @metricstormtrooper
    @metricstormtrooper Год назад +2

    Funnily enough my job till 26 years ago was Sydney railway signage, even before all the extra exits to Townhall Station the signage was confusing to us that made them. Also working there was absolutely horrible, we even had a high school girl sit on an acrylics fabricated Cube sign and fall straight strough it even though she had to walk into our work area to do it. State rail as it was at the time was clueless about directional signage.

  • @jphuwae4505
    @jphuwae4505 Год назад +1

    Sydney trains staff calls it -
    Town Hell : the worst station to work at on the network.
    Clown Hall: the amount of crazies around the station.

  • @bottletops4889
    @bottletops4889 Год назад +16

    I loved using town hall and its associated tunnels as the awesome pedestrian freeway that it is. Avoiding road crossings, traversing up and down the various levels and emerging into a completely different city precinct. Signs are for chumps!

  • @garrywallace1007
    @garrywallace1007 Год назад +11

    Many of the tracks are accessible only on one side (the inside)- the outside side could be excavated (behind the wall of advertising billboards) and the platform area for trains in the station nearly doubled. There was a plan once I think to do this under Woolworths....

    • @gregessex1851
      @gregessex1851 Год назад +2

      Sydney City Council owns the Woolworths building so that they can expand the Town Hall square. That would be part of the puzzle.

    • @martinwallace5734
      @martinwallace5734 Год назад +2

      Woolworths? Oh, you mean Bebarfalds! (Showing my age!) Actually it probably was Bebarfalds in those days ...

  • @fictillius
    @fictillius Год назад +1

    There were early plans years ago to widen Town Hall station to reduce crowding. The Woolworths building could be demolished and excavated down to the level of the lower platforms and new platforms build to 1 and 4. Platform 4 is tiny so this would help with dangerous overcrowding on that platform and Platform 2 could be converted to a side platform for its track and 1 given its own side platform.
    This would lead to a wider concourse above allowing more space for passenger circulation.
    The city of Sydney would never sell the building to the transport department though so the idea was shelved.

    • @nolesy34
      @nolesy34 Год назад

      Haiiiya need to build new stashen big incoming passenger and tourist from new airport. Haiiya maybe too early but good I tink for you aussie

  • @iris4547
    @iris4547 Год назад +3

    cant say ive ever had an issue navigating town hall or any of its surrounding connected underground routes. the only trouble ive had is knowing which trains leave from which platforms, and thats solved in 2 seconds with tripview.

  • @bisiilki
    @bisiilki Год назад +1

    It's the worst because of the stinking hot summer sweat stench. The platform that had a "pilot" where it sprayed water on you and blasted you with industrial fans worked ok but then they ended it.

  • @albertbatfinder5240
    @albertbatfinder5240 Год назад +2

    Town Hall Station is great. Show me a RUclipsr tired of Town Hall Station and I’ll show you a RUclipsr tired of life.
    All the city stations have their own character but Town Hall is the “retail” station for me. There’s probably nothing you can’t find by heading to Town Hall first. Wynyard is the business station, Circular Quay is the holiday station, St James is practically a religious experience, and Museum is the Indiana Jones station.

    • @nolesy34
      @nolesy34 Год назад

      Haiyya one time i come out in museum get lost inside Manny tunnel very confushen i ask lady very nice she say hello come with me I show you tings come to oxford street lucky I use brain she no lady she have big feet haiiya i nearly fukd up

  • @anyanyanyanyanyany3551
    @anyanyanyanyanyany3551 Год назад +1

    as someone who needs to change from T4 to T2 at Town Hall, this really hits home. But really once you've been to town hall at least 5 times, you begin to understand how to change between platforms, but maybe just not fast enough to change lines.

  • @nightowldickson
    @nightowldickson Год назад +2

    The upgrade to Town Hall station has made it more tolerable compared to years before, it looks a lot better. However exist signage should be improved - they could have a look at the Hong Kong MTR exit signage and take some ideas from them.
    Someone commented about the smell of the station, but I can tell you first hand the smell is still better than the New York City Subway. I was stuck on a platform recently for nearly an hour and still managed to survive. Although there are a fair amount of rats on the track.
    8:58 this is the best thing about it, you can walk from Town Hall station to a lot of places without an umbrella if it's raining.

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад +2

      If you stay on the path you can emerge in the Pitt St Mall.

    • @daveg2104
      @daveg2104 Год назад

      @@andrewthorpe3219 You can make the journey longer. If you go up in Myer, cross the bridge over Pitt St Mall to Westfield, walk through to the bridge over Castlereagh St to David Jones, then down and through David Jones, you come out on Elizabeth St not far from St James station. I am assuming you can still do that. It has been a while.

  • @Secretlyanothername
    @Secretlyanothername 2 месяца назад

    The worst thing is that there are no PIDs near the signs saying which platform you are at the entrance for. When you are trying to transfer trains and don't know you very often miss it become you have to go to the ends of the station to look. Because if you go to the wrong platform it's going to take another few stressful minutes to find the way up and back down again. I've missed so many trains there.

  • @rbflowin_TV
    @rbflowin_TV Год назад +6

    Oh Man, I always felt like the Town hall station design was witchcraft, glad you brought this up. As confusing as it may seem I like how it seamlessly connects to food court and a lot of other things.

  • @JaseyRae
    @JaseyRae Год назад +1

    Town Hall station, the one station in Sydney I absolutely hate the most due to the amount of exits which I unfortunately remember, but I used all of them to my advantage whenever I need to go somewhere around the CBD in a pinch.
    Fun Fact: at one point, you were able to walk from Town Hall station all the way up to Martin Place without physically walking across any streets, which is now impossible to do since the footbridge connecting MLC centre to the Glasshouse centre got demolished a couple of years back.

  • @jonaschow1
    @jonaschow1 Год назад +10

    This is brilliant! If you're not from Sydney, Town Hall station is a nightmare. As a born and breed Sydney sider I know it well and where I need to go. Love your channel. Keep up the good work.

    • @Matthew-nl9kd
      @Matthew-nl9kd Год назад +2

      Yep when I first came here I found myself ending up in different places every time I came out of Town Hall - sometimes outside, sometimes in a shopping mall 😂

  • @TerryT304
    @TerryT304 Год назад +7

    I've always found it easy and convenient coming from Cronulla, across the platform for the city circle, or up a platform for the north shore. if you want to go to Wynyard, either or, take your pick.

  • @RandomPerson-ny8xk
    @RandomPerson-ny8xk Год назад +1

    honestly i just go on one side of town hall station i have no idea where the other ways go to lol

  • @crazycomet8635
    @crazycomet8635 Год назад +1

    I complained about it years ago but the updated signage was Gladys' pet project. An additional problem is that it isn't clear where each platform goes. I want to go to Parramatta, not platform 3

  • @timor64
    @timor64 Год назад +7

    Town Hall is great. I love the fact it is so interconnected with adjacent buildings. It makes me feel like I am living in a big city. If you can't deal with this I don't know how you would deal with something like Montreal's RÉSO

  • @jasonschadow6935
    @jasonschadow6935 Год назад

    A few years ago, you used to be able to walk all the way from Town Hall Station to Martin Place Station without 'exiting'. You took the QVB exit at Town Hall, continue via the lower ground floor halfway then head to the "lower lower ground floor" of the QVB to Myer Centre (now Westfield), head up to first floor of Myer and use the footbridge over Pitt Street Mall entering CentrePoint (now Westfield). CentrePoint, one floor down, connected with SkyGarden which, yet another floor down, then connected to Glasshouse. In Glasshouse, you head back up to the third floor to access the skybridge over Kent Street to the MLC Centre/Theatre Royal (now 25 Martin Place). You then headed down two floors to the lower ground floor which had a connection from the MLC Centre to the Martin Place Shopping Circle, which then lead you directly into Martin Place Station.
    I won a $150 bet with a buddy showing them the maze. They were disgusted, but I had their $150.

  • @metropod
    @metropod 6 месяцев назад

    A few years ago, my bosses at New York City Transit combined two existing transfer stations into one underground super station complex.
    Consisting of “42nd street-Times Square” station, “42nd street- Port Authority Bus terminal” station, “42nd street-Bryant Park” station and “Fifth Avenue” station, has, to use your terminology, 22 platforms within one massive single paid area…. And yet I am pretty sure it has fewer exits than Town Hall…
    I have walked the complex from one end to the other, it takes more than 10 minutes.

  • @RobertNicholson
    @RobertNicholson Год назад +2

    Maybe because I've been using Town Hall Station for over 60 years, I don't have a problem with it.

    • @user-kc1tf7zm3b
      @user-kc1tf7zm3b Год назад +1

      Same. I found this video piece to be entertaining. Nothing more. Of course tourists are going to be confused with Town Hall, given how important the large station is. This is to be expected.

  • @OziJo1
    @OziJo1 Год назад +2

    Nice work. Your analysis of the issues and possible solutions is A+. Though I don’t work in the city, I’ve been getting on and off at Town Hall when visiting the city for most of my 53 years, yet I still get disoriented when reaching the concourse. The other evening I was with my husband (who has worked in the city his whole working life and is more familiar) and he had to redirect me from one platform 4 escalator to another because they switch up which escalator goes up or down depending on whether or or not it’s peak hour. You haven’t even mentioned that it’s one of the hottest places in Australia at all times of the year.

    • @user-kc1tf7zm3b
      @user-kc1tf7zm3b Год назад

      It all comes down to familiarity and experience. Since I was born in Sydney, I have never felt lost in Town Hall. If memory serves, the many exists serving the station have not changed since the turn of the new millennium. So, if a Town Hall passenger does not understand how the station flows and works now in 2023, they never will.

    • @OziJo1
      @OziJo1 Год назад

      @@user-kc1tf7zm3b Once I figure out which direction I’m going and head towards the QVB, I’m right.

    • @neilrichards-gy1rf
      @neilrichards-gy1rf Год назад

      +1 the escalator switcheroo gets me everytime too :) - but it makes sense for peak hour.

  • @jonmobrien
    @jonmobrien Год назад +1

    10:38 this. Just knowing which way is North and South is the biggest number one issue with Town Hall concourse coming off a train in the middle. Zero indication of which way to go to get to QVB and beyond until you get to an exit and find out it's the wrong one. Putting you back in adding to the crowd unnecessarily.

    • @Zroolmpf_Celmbror
      @Zroolmpf_Celmbror Год назад

      Friend, simply keep the direction your train was travelling in your short term memory while you're riding up the escalator to the concourse.

    • @nebula534
      @nebula534 Год назад

      @@Zroolmpf_Celmbror If your infrastructure's users have to think to properly use it that means you f'ed up. Infrastructure should be available for everyone, even idiots.

  • @lankmc1192
    @lankmc1192 Год назад +2

    This labyrinth of tunnels is particularly helpful to get around the central CBD when it’s raining outside

    • @froggy904
      @froggy904 Год назад

      Or to just not have to cross the road

    • @lankmc1192
      @lankmc1192 Год назад +1

      @@froggy904 that too, crossing George St is easy now that it’s light rail only, but the tunnels are real helpful for Park and Market streets

  • @elfstarlight
    @elfstarlight Год назад +1

    i think for locals who are regularly using the station find the complexity both useful and charming, but i can understand why it's rather unfriendly to visitors. great video and mapping skills!!

    • @Secretlyanothername
      @Secretlyanothername 2 месяца назад

      There's literally someone in the comments "I've been using this station since 1975, it's not confusing". Okay mate...

  • @eddielong8663
    @eddielong8663 Год назад +2

    As confusing as Town Hall can be to a newcomer like myself was roughly a year ago, it doesn't really bother me. The only thing I hate about the station is the huge TV screens on the opposite side of the tracks to the platforms, with those obnoxious commercials blaring away over and over again 😡.

    • @notshapedforsportivetricks2912
      @notshapedforsportivetricks2912 Год назад

      Agreed! Whoever the bureaucratic oaf was who permitted these things has an active hatred of peace and beauty. Even cattle in the slaughter line at an abbatoir aren't forced to listen to Macca's ads played at 500 decibels.

  • @lhallora1
    @lhallora1 Год назад +3

    I've been going to work via town hall station for over a decade and I still get a bit nervous whenever I have to exit via a different exit to the ones I am used to 😅 What you didn't mention is the insane levels of overcrowding (admittedly not as bad since covid) and the stifling heat.

    • @nolesy34
      @nolesy34 Год назад

      Haiiya too many exit so confushen
      Need paint line on floor like hospital
      This way to noodle in China town is example haiiiyaa

    • @user-kc1tf7zm3b
      @user-kc1tf7zm3b Год назад +2

      You really should know Town Hall station after 10 bloody years.

    • @lhallora1
      @lhallora1 Год назад

      @@user-kc1tf7zm3b well, to be fair, if I remove covid years it's only 8 😂

    • @user-kc1tf7zm3b
      @user-kc1tf7zm3b Год назад

      @@lhallora1 It all comes down to experience, practice and familiarity. The teenagers at adjacent St Andrew’s Cathedral School certainly know how Town Hall station works.

  • @danielmoss895
    @danielmoss895 Год назад +1

    Not sure that I necesssarily agree with you on this one mate, although I do like your suggestions for updating the wayfinding signage. Some good ideas there. Central was far more confusing, but thankfully this will change when Central Walk and the Metro concourse fully open, although they need to connect it to the South Concourse in some way. They also should've made provisions for an underground connection to the Pitt Street station in case they realise later that having said connection is manageable while also impractical by not having it.

  • @jonnies
    @jonnies Год назад +4

    A group of us once also discovered a blue l)ildo a fair way along the southern end of platform 5. That’s all you need to know to tell you that something very weird and disturbing has been going on at Town Hall.

    • @abcdefgh1
      @abcdefgh1 Год назад +2

      Those pesky Smurfs, at it again.

  • @guyh9992
    @guyh9992 Год назад +4

    I thought it was only tourists who found Town Hall confusing. Having said that I didn't have too much trouble finding the eastern suburbs line last time I was there. I had more trouble finding my way out on the return journey.

    • @everythingisscience658
      @everythingisscience658 Год назад +2

      I personally love the townhll station, say what you want about the layout. It is SUPER convenient to get to places once you learn the layout

    • @MitchellBPYao
      @MitchellBPYao Год назад

      Unless you use the same station every day

  • @martinwallace5734
    @martinwallace5734 Год назад +4

    Town Hall is an old friend ... I am blind to her faults. I love the multiple exits - OK, there could be better signage - and I love the fact that you can walk underground as far as St James (almost as good as Montréal, Canada) Thanks for the video, in any case.
    BTW, I think I saw you and your sister walking along Church St at Parramatta yesterday. I wanted to say how much I enjoy your videos, but then I thought you might get sick of strangers interrupting you in public, so I just walked on. So I'll say it now, anyway. Keep up the good work!

  • @athyx
    @athyx Год назад +1

    You forgot to mention the worst thing - it's so freaking stuffy!!

  • @completingsydney
    @completingsydney Год назад +3

    The most unrealistic thing about this video is that you said you took a train from Denistone. Other than that great analysis!

  • @HuyLy94
    @HuyLy94 Год назад +2

    If you think Town Hall is confusing you should try navigating Shinjuku Station. If it weren't for Google Maps I think I'd still be stuck in there to this day

  • @Respectable_Username
    @Respectable_Username Год назад +1

    Back in high school I once got so lost in Town Hall it genuinely took about half an hour for me and my friend to find an exit. Absolute maze!

  • @TheNthbeach
    @TheNthbeach Год назад +1

    When I stay in Sydney, Town Hall Woolworths is always a go for me. No need to find the supermarket, when it's already there in the station. I do agree, signage that gives bearings would help immensely.

  • @tsegulin
    @tsegulin Год назад +1

    Confusing?
    With respect, I think this is a little overdone. I used to catch the train from Town Hall Platform 3 up the North Shore in the 60s when I was 11 and I had no trouble finding my way around. Maybe signage and maps could be improved for newcomers.
    Lots of exits and underground passages? I love the fact you can walk so far underground via Town Hall. Really great in heavy rain.
    Really compact?
    Check out Yonge/Bloor station in Toronto. I can recall escalators pushing people down to the Bloor platform (I think it was) which was already packed solid with people and the subway was barely removing them as fast as they arrived! Maybe this is an issue for those who suffer from claustrophobia, but it hardly feels like you're commuting from a submarine.
    Awful?
    No, Town Hall station isn't awful. It just requires folks to make a little more effort than say Museum. Maybe you can come up with a Town Hall survivor's app that can navigate people into and out of the station. After all, people have been successfully getting around there since 1932. It really isn't that bad IMHO.
    I've enjoyed a number of your videos, but please go easy on the 'cuteness'! 🙂

    • @user-kc1tf7zm3b
      @user-kc1tf7zm3b Год назад +1

      Real Sydneysiders are not troubled nor confused by Town Hall at all.

  • @eddieprasad108
    @eddieprasad108 Год назад +1

    I remember in my younger days I got lost in the city and had to ask some tourists for directions back to central.

    • @nolesy34
      @nolesy34 Год назад

      Haiyya tourist too many too much takin photo y u no use Google images already seen it done that

  • @vinrich_video
    @vinrich_video Год назад +5

    Good Video, maybe you should do one on the underground labyrinth of walkways in Sydney, there is of course the ones you mentioned in this video and Hunter is now closed but there is also one near i think 201 Elizabeth street by looking at google street view, i know i have entered another one from around that area, Martil place but that's probably all closed off by now, wonder if there are any others?

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад

      You go downstairs at 201 and can walk through to 231 or even the north end of Museum station. Stairways and escalators take you back up to Bathurst St and 231 E.

  • @star42
    @star42 Год назад +2

    Mate Town Hall has never been a problem. If you want to name a confusing station to exit from try St James station. Every exit experience is an exciting one, as I never know where I will come out from.

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад

      Or the maze at the South End of Museum station. Lots of exits from there.

  • @mastersingleton
    @mastersingleton Год назад +1

    Even Redfern Station, Wynyard Station and Central Station is even less confusing layout wise and easier to navigate around. That is why I prefer using Redfern Station, Wynyard Station and Central Station to transfer between various other modes of transportation than using Townhall Station.

    • @user-kc1tf7zm3b
      @user-kc1tf7zm3b Год назад

      If you catch the same train to the city and back home, then the platform rarely changes. This is especially true for the North Shore Line. I cannot recall ever using a platform other than Platform 3.
      It all comes down to experience, practice and familiarity. The teenagers at adjacent St Andrew’s Cathedral School certainly know how Town Hall station works.

  • @odzergaming
    @odzergaming 8 месяцев назад

    9:22 wait till you see Xinjiekou metro station in Nanjing, it has 30 exits but a few exits dont exist and the exits are only numbered up to 21. Also most exits lead to a bunch of shopping malls linking to more shopping malls with more exits

  • @davidkilamon1235
    @davidkilamon1235 Год назад +1

    I think it is a stretch to call the exit from David Jones an exit from town hall station. To go from town hall to DJs, one must cross Pitt st mall (and see daylight) or go up a few floors and take a skybridge. Great video as always

  • @inhidly
    @inhidly Год назад

    To be fair I think Town Hall is the most convenient station in the city. It has the most access points and with just over 6 platforms can go nearly anywhere in Greater Sydney. Not to mention the tram and ample bus routes are directly above, which offer connections from Balmain to Bondi. Compare this to Central, Wynyard or Redfern, all who's platforms are spread out, there aren't enough timetable tv's to direct you and there is poor interconnecting between other public transport = guaranteed to miss your train and have a bad time.

  • @cliffwoodbury5319
    @cliffwoodbury5319 Год назад

    I don't know why you don't have a channel intro video because you have an amazing channel and the amount of work you put in is really appreciated. I've never been to Australia but I love railway channels and I have a ton of them but yours is definitely one of the few I consider cream of the crop and has informed me on what is happening in the land down under.!!

  • @zordmaker
    @zordmaker Год назад +1

    Grew up with it, seen just about every exit built from scratch. No problem. Signage should include directions i.e. North, South, East, West.

  • @mysticwishes13
    @mysticwishes13 Год назад +2

    Town hall isn’t confusing as a regular user, but it reminds me of the underground mall system in Montreal, which actually had maps and signs pointing to places you wanted to go! Very handy for winter :)

  • @tonychen3628
    @tonychen3628 Год назад +3

    one of the biggest problems to me is when there's a delay or so, Town Hall station(especially -3f platforms) could be a bit hard to breathe in summer(maybe a/c problems)😂
    confusing exits wise, I think some exits that can lead to buildings and their exits can bind into one exit number, so in this counting method, not as confusing then?(given most of the exits are technically QVB/Westfield/Town Hall Sq exits), but yeah there are problems about signs and navigation layouts on the station.

    • @andrewthorpe3219
      @andrewthorpe3219 Год назад

      Gets hot as the trains push the hot air ahead of them like pistons. Wynyard also has AC exchangers which make more heat in summer on platforms 3/4.

  • @00Zy99
    @00Zy99 10 месяцев назад

    This reminds me of home. 800 meters? That's so cute! In Philadelphia we have more than TWICE that, connecting four subway stations east-west, two north south (via a branch), and two regional rail stations. Bear in mind that 1.6 km (one mile) is the linear distance from the easternmost entrance to the westernmost, not accounting for all of the twists and turns (just a couple big ones).

  • @samundrakc6143
    @samundrakc6143 Год назад +1

    I used to avoid town hall and central station if i could i would go to redfern station even though it cost be more time

  • @warp2288
    @warp2288 Год назад +1

    What would say if I told you, there is another level between 2 and 3. It has fully completed platforms and tunnels, identical to the others. But they were never used.

    • @vintageradio3404
      @vintageradio3404 10 месяцев назад

      I'd say it is difficult to believe since there isn't enough space allowing for it. Anyway, if this were true there would be nine platforms, leaving one line with only one platform and leaving trains with no return path.

  • @haynick8887
    @haynick8887 Год назад

    The walkway system goes even farther.
    You can walk from Town Hall station to Martin Place station without going outside:
    Town Hall->
    QVB->
    Westfield Food Court->
    Go upstairs within Westfield->
    Westfield bridge over Pitt St->
    Bridge over King St via H&M->
    Former MLC Center->
    Go downstairs to the food court->
    Walkway next to IGA->
    Martin Place Station

    • @abiramen
      @abiramen Год назад

      That bridge over King St has unfortunately been demolished :(

    • @haynick8887
      @haynick8887 Год назад

      @@abiramen 😟

  • @AphonenewNew
    @AphonenewNew 2 месяца назад +1

    Have you been waiting on platform 1 or 2?!

  • @skywardlp4916
    @skywardlp4916 Год назад

    My random ideas are:
    I think Châtelet-Les Halles in Paris, another famously sprawling station with dozens of exits, has a really good idea in segmenting the station into zones (Forum, Rivoli, and Seine), making it easier to tell which platforms or exits are in what parts of the station, and where you need to be headed. Town Hall isn't as sprawling in terms of where its platforms are located, but I think that kind of clear separation could help people get to and from each entrance quite well.
    It may be worth trying having some kind of wayfinding on the floor in the form of a trail you can follow to get to each platform, as well as when exiting how to get to the buses or Light Rail.
    I like the idea of exits being numbered as '2A, 2B' etc.

    • @juliansw239
      @juliansw239 Год назад +1

      In Châtelet Les Halles, the signage is meant to disorientate people in order to separate the crowd and avoid stampede. Townhall is (to me) by comparison, very easy to navigate, with clear enough signage and... way smaller! I think the signage in Paris metro is not a good reference. In that field, I heard the Swiss are the best. To me, having lived in 5 cities in 5 different countries, the signage in public transportation in Paris is just acceptable. Plenty of room to progress!
      I think this video is great and I wish we had passionate people like this all around the world to help us think and shape better public infrastructures!