The appearance and feels of the Stations and trains does matter, i agree with you. But more importantly is this line is actually good - its fast, frequent, reliable, and it goes right into the heart of the places people want to go. Theres no corners that have been cut at all and that oozes quality and care in every part of this Project. Its not perfect but its damn good!
It's way faster and more efficient than the old network, it literally cut travel times in half. The aesthetics are the cherry on the cake. I'd say there's also a more intangible benefit to aesthetics. In car dominated societies like Australia transport has to appeal to people to make them want to use it. Having nice stations that makes you feel like a VIP for using it rather than an afterthought helps improve the image of transport, and to beat certain, negative perceptions and stigmas related to it. Edit... I just realised the video has already covered what I said but in better words XD
@@timtam53191 yeah and unfortunately the previous Sydney underground stations were basically all done cheaply and poorly (particularly town hall and Wynyard but really all the city circle stations, the eastern suburbs tunnel, and the airport tunnel are bad).
@@BigBlueMan118 I just think the “vibe” is underestimated. It sets the tone for the next century and how much it gets supported (used, but also maintained) and further built.
@@BigBlueMan118 tsk, 90 years is a long time, come on … St James station is like a luxury version of a London Underground station of the same age! Standards change.
@@whophd go back and read material about the original Sydney underground stations, they cheaped out on several of them it was a conscious decision to build them like shit, the original plan for circular quay was going to be absolutely epic but they ran out of cash.
@@theboybrian But it NEEDS to be recognised as the purposeful low bar, not a pure accident of cost or overlooked or “didn’t know better”. They know. Just be a tourist using metro buses in USA vs Europe. They bloody know.
i remember when we had the Taylor Swift concerts in Melbourne with 93,000 people turning up at the MCG and the number of comments from Americans asking where we parked our cars. It was at railway stations! Good video - well done.
When I think about parking lots in the US, the ones that are huge expanses of open-air parking, it feels so sad, frustrating and ridiculous. It’s like the main goal of the parking laws they were built under were to claim as much land as possible. I don’t care who owns the land or how they got it, they can do better than to bury it all under concrete.
I am so grateful I live in Sydney! I use public transport whenever I can, especially as a NSW senior cardholder. I only have to spend a maximum of AUD2.50 a day to travel on metro, train, bus, ferry and light rail services within the Opal transport network.
Sydney is the most tolled road in Australia and i think even around the around world. Metro and public transport is just a better option for most people to get around the city at a afford cost.
To be fair, the ambiance of the older Sydney Underground stations like Town Hall and St James is not so different to the NY stations. (There has been a big upgrade of Wynyard and Central, though.)
Some of Sydney's City Circle line stations are, in fact, based on what was done in parts of the NY system...the so called cut and shut technique used from late 1800's. NY is also building a new line so it would be expected to be modern in comparison. For their era the Circle stations compare with London and Paris stations from the same time they were built.
Town Hall was directly inspired by New York subway stations. John Bradfield travelled to the US in 1915 and was inspired by their design. Plus St James and Museum were inspired by the London Underground.
Good points. When announcements are made over the public address system on the rail network in Sydney, passengers are addressed as "customers". The word "passenger" was dropped some years ago. I used to think "customer" reflected a narrow profit-driven attitude - but your discussion here has given me another perspective.
I agree. However I still prefer to be addressed as a passenger not a customer. I really dislike being addressed as a customer when my relationship with an organisation is more specific. For example in a medical setting being called a customer not a patient. Doctors and nurses owe a pretty high duty of care to patients. Using the term customer gives an impression of undermining that duty of care.
@@brontewcat thats got me thinking; do airlines in Australia address their passengers as "customers"? what about ferries? cruise boats? I should know, I live here, but I mustn't have been paying attention the last time I flew or boarded a vessel
@@brontewcat The biggest problem is that we have to play semantics. It shouldn't matter what we are called, we deserve better! The issue is not the word, it is the attitude!
@ The language can impact attitudes. I am a lawyer- I have clients not customers. I owe an exceptionally high duty of care to a client that is not owed to a customer ( eg to their interests above my own). Yet I am starting to see some staff call our clients customers, which is concerning.
I live in Adelaide and we have a guided busway that turns an hours drive to the city centre into a 15 minute trip. The public transport system in Adelaide is based around public transport hubs that are located at the major shopping centres. You pay for 2 hours of service so you can change buses, trains and trams as often as you need or want. The timetables for each different route are designed to allow people to transfer to different routes without waiting. The buses have right of way on the road, so other vehicles must allow them to merge. Because of the reliability and frequency, around 80% of people use the public transport system to get to work.
The passenger numbers are huge! An interesting stat is that the North Shore heavyrail line has had an increase in passengers, with them tranferring to Metro at Chatswood. The off peak daytime frequency has now changed from 7 to 5 minutes!
In the first week of operation of the Metro extension through to the CBD the numbers that normally use North Sydney station almost halved due to the new stations of Victoria Cross and Crows Nest.
Good comparison. Actually subway systems and their stations have been like this for years in many top Asian cities, efficient and crime-free too, not to mention the punctuality of the trains in Japan. “In Japan, the average high speed bullet train arrives at its final stop just 54 seconds behind schedule, and that includes delays caused by uncontrollable factors such as natural disasters. If a Japanese train is five minutes late or more, its passengers are issued with a certificate. They can show this to their boss or teacher as an excuse for being late”
That's beginning to change. Both LAX and JFK airports are in the midst of multi billion dollar expansions and renovations. California is also building the first high speed rail line in the USA. Things are finally changing.
@mrxman581 hopefully the high speed rail happens soon. It's been years in the making already and billions of dollars over budget. Not sure why they haven't been investing in infrastructure in these past decades. Every other developed or developing country has been doing a much better job than the US.
When you have to maintain over 950 military bases throughout the world and at the same time supply and fund wars all over the globe there is no tax money left to spend on the public. Anyway, thats communism! 🤪
@@sandraeastern9720 I transferred through LAX for the first time a few years ago and never again, such an unpleasant experience from the TSA agents to trying to navigate the terminal for our connecting flight. San Francisco can't be any worse.
@@kaz1578It was far too neglected and too focused on making road developers happy for too long, that’s the issue. No one is saying both aren’t needed captain obvious.
Come on, you know why, don’t nitpick their words. Like you said, both are necessary. When it comes to roads, yeah, it’s a bit of a waste, but still necessary-even though it really shouldn’t have to be. The problem with pouring billions into roads comes down to urban sprawl. As cities spread, the cost to maintain infrastructure that’s only used by a few just keeps rising, and with inflation, it becomes less sustainable and more of a burden as things wear out. The only way to stop this disproportionate spend on roads is to limit the sprawl. We should be focusing on densifying metro areas and improving public transport and amenities. For areas where urban renewal can’t reach, cars will still be needed. But the point is, we’ve got to stop the sprawl, cap road expansion, and focus on improving and maintaining the roads we’ve already got, which are already costing us a fortune.
You're making a huge generalization about Metros in the USA. The Metro systems in the USA can very drastically. They are not all the same. For example, the issue of incorporating artwork in the stations has been done from day one on the LA Metro, which opened its first line in 1990. All the stations on the LA Metro have artwork, and the subway stations have artwork as part of the actual architecture, not just an installed piece of artwork. The LA Metro also has classical music playing in their subway stations. The LA Metro has been constantly expanding since its inception in 1990. It has built more public Metro rail than any other US city in the last 34 years. The first new section of the D subway line will open next year that will include 3 new stations. There will be three sections for a total of 7 stations and 9 miles of new track. The last section will open in 2027 and connect to UCLA and VA hospital. Lastly, many cities in the US suffered from an explosion in homelessness during Covid. In Los Angeles, LA Metro decided not to enforce the fares on the network, which eventually resulted in many more homeless taking advantage of the public Metro. Only now are things beginning to improve noticeably. I believe LA Metro regretted not enforcing fares in retrospect. Many more people are once again starting to use the LA Metro. Ridership has gone up every month for the last 19 months. That's a very good sign, and it will only continue to increase as new lines open and expand.
I grew up in Sydney's outer west suburbs and had to travel on trains to St James station and walk to my high school. ( old single deck called Red Rattlers because they would rattle) and there were a few old double-decker trains. I remember adults would smoke too on trains. Most stations were in terrible shape, especially the subway stations. This was during the late 1960s and 1970s. I don't live in Sydney anymore because I am retired and moved to the Gold Coast area in Queensland.
It's stuff like this that makes me really wonder why the conversation *apparently* is so heated here in the south over Melbourne's version of effectively the same thing.
@@Raxecarical Because the “wrong” party was in charge when the ideas came up. And a bit of Melbourne’s endless jealousy out of insecurity, but nothing wrong with that if it generates results. What I shouldn’t undersell is the sheer rarity of NSW’s last conservative government to come up with simultaneous road AND rail projects … the normal history is a pendulum of policy, whenever governments change. The last Labor government was such a let-down in both departments (post Olympics, 10 years later when all the talent had moved on) that the conservatives grabbed the opportunity and low interest rates with both hands in the 2010s. But no getting past - Gladys Berejiklian had the vision thing. She wanted more than the bare minimum, and knew how to get it.
@@whophd I think there's also the factor that states are responsible for much of PT/transport delivery, but have much reduced fiscal capacity to create it with the expanded power of the federal government, which isn't nearly as interested in funding intraurban/interurban infrastructure outside roads. Federation was 123 years ago and we still only have two extremely slow trains between Melbourne and Sydney and one between Sydney and Brisbane per day, contrasted with hundreds of flights available. Good thing we're spending all the federal cash "investigating" Sydney-Newcastle HSR...
@@Raxecarical I was happier when HSR between Newcastle and Canberra was a NSW project not a federal project … but it's fine, as long as they go ahead. The correct distance for a first phase of HSR is Newcastle-Gosford-Parramatta or Parramatta-Goulburn-Canberra, but not 3x or 5x that distance. All that being said, that's no excuse to invest NOTHING in the existing services - there's no reason not to have an excellent overnight train between Brisbane - Sydney and Sydney - Melbourne. The best approach is usually to rank each section of track based on maximum speed, and rebuild / redirect it. You get far more instant dividend replacing slow track than average track.
I hear nothing but good things about this brand new Metro line. It's true the ridership of trains and buses in the U.S.A. is distinctly ethnic and I did sense your assumption that anyone there who can afford a car will be driving, but Sydney's such an expensive spaghetti mess to drive in due to the topsy-turvy scenic lay of the land that taking the trains is a much more soothing way to go, and faster too! What a nice report.
The most baffling thing is, that unlike developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the United States of America does indeed have the freaking money to even build 50 lines of this kind of metro system. In all places, we still have the dream to see the US as the home of high-quality metros (as in Sydney and Singapore style)
Sydney train network opened in 1855 -with over 200 stations going from steam trains to electric, this video only is highlighting the new section open in 2024 - but the old Sydney network is just as clean and operating today- comparison - New York train network opened in 1904 making Sydney much older than New York
Just like a typical metro station in any Chinese city, literally thousands of stations there with driverless trains, clean, litter free, frequent and safe.
What point are you actually trying to make? Also no, this is not like a "typical metro station in any Chinese city", that's absurd hyperbole. This is very much a step above in terms of quality and aesthetics.
Would disagree on several fronts. Outside of the Sydney metropolitan area public transport is beneath what it once was. Record numbers of workers travel by car from the cities of Wollongong and Central Coast to get to their workplaces every working day. This is in addition to a reasonable train service which, clearly, is inadequate. Hardly that much different to US cities like LA where public transport is improving. I travelled on a few Metro type systems back in 1991 and was impressed with Washington DC. At that time it was like drawing an analogy to these Sydney stations
No, it's a seperate metro system, it's not part of the commuter rail system, and this is an extension of the first and only metro line in Australia. They use single deck triple egress carriages with minimal seating and the trains are fully automated and driverless. The existing commuter rail lines are all double decker double egress carriages with generous seating allocation with the trains all having drivers and multiple other staffing requirements. They're two distinct systems running on their own networks.
I just hope Brisbane will get something like this in the future. The PT in Brisbane is so poor. Had to wait for nearly 1 hour sometimes outside of CBD.
@@haha-eg8fj Brisbane is probably the closest aligned to American philosophy out of Australia’s cities, when you account for its size. Its trains are the most “minimal”, once you forgive Adelaide and Hobart for being smaller populations. And hey, Gold Coast is even more American! It’s a miracle they built that light rail.
I think by world standard the new Transport Infrastructure built in Sydney Australia is excellent. Globally China is far ahead of the rest of the world their transport hubs and diversity of next generation technology is beyond any country at the moment.
Calling it a product to sell to customers really is still a very American way of looking at it. Public transport in Australia is simply a public utility that is expected to be provided by the government. We just aren't allergic to government-provided services here!
It's going to take a lot to change the American mindset about their obsession with cars. Car manufacturers have been dictating to the US population on how to get from point A to Point B for generations. There's a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the world, sadly.
@@kennylee8936 Hoping for more in this in Australia. As much as I like cars and nodding them, I would love a better public transport since it give us more options, it helps develop the town and cities better in pretty much every way and pedestrian streets more lively, and as car enthusiast people, having great public transport benefit us as well since we can take it for daily work commuting and drive our cars leisurely on weekends, meets and even on occasion to work with way less traffic and far safer streets. There is too much drivers in the road that number of them should not be driving based on how horrible few drivers are.
@@kornkernel2232 With less cars on the road...we also reduce the likelihood of car accidents, especially those caused by impatient drivers. Promoting public transport would also promote walking, therefore improving health. Sadly Public transport has powerful enemies...including the toll companies, airline companies, oil, cars, mechanics etc...
@@kennylee8936I love comments from people that think it’s one or the other and fail totally to understand why cars are popular and will remain popular even in Australia. Hint: rail is point to point. A car is door to door in every single degree of the compass.
@@xr6lad Amongst the younger generation, they're either preferring public transport/bikes/walking over driving and would be willing to move to areas where that is readily available. People are beginning to realise that they're able to do more on public transport and on the move as oppose to a car where your focus needs to be on the road and nothing else. People are realising the health benefits of public transport over driving as it promotes walking. This is not to say that driving won't be around. It will still be needed (carshare, delivery, disability servicing, tradies etc...) however car enthusiasts like yourself will most likely be the minority in the future...which you should be excited for because it means that the roads will be less congested as the people who had no choice but to drive will be given public transport choices. Public transport may not be door to door...but driving isn't without its problems too (parking, congestion, costs for upkeep, more parts of Sydney becoming less car friendly like CBD and Parramatta etc...). In short...better public transport benefits everyone...car dependency does not.
The new stations are fantastic and new. I wish it could stay that way. It appears that trhese public interiors will be very high maintenance to keep them "fresh".
A work in progress starting around the late 1990's, pre 2000 Olympic Games.Cityrail Network Expanding Existing Lines, Station & Platform Access, introducing the Lightrail Network new stations & suburbs into the rail network. Now the expanded Metro System the 3rd rail link transit system began operating 2019 from Tallawan to Chatswood, now operating to Sydenham. With at least 10 to 15 more years of expansion projected by the State Gov, this current metro system will become the main hub & link to areas in Sydney.
No Aussies see Sydney train system as bad… generally it’s pretty reliable and clean. Only whingeing locals not happy, but they are not happy about anything
The real interesting thing about the metro system and light rail is that it is all designed to be self contained with key features that make rolling stock and signalling different. The theory behind that,(along with heavy rail separation) is so that a future right wing government can sell it off bit by bit without needing to sell it as a single bulk lot at discount, Once sold the cost will escalate out of proportion to distance frequency or condition. Just like the public roads that we paid for and free to transit, or had constructed from public funds were given to privateers to "manage" by collecting a toll. A toll which has caused travelling from one end of Sydney to another and thus through several tolls now requires a bank loan. No wonder we have a big inflation problem, thank you coalition.
@@xr6lad Our airport rail link project is delayed, Doncaster line and Rowville line is yet to be built, trains only run every 30 minutes in evenings on most lines and our buses are terrible.
Yeah great if you live in the state capitals ike Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane etc. but for the rest of Australia public transport is pretty poor we still need our cars to get around. Politicians know where the votes are so that isnt likely to change.
or that australia is too vast and not enough people to pay for it. Imagine if Newcastle put $20billion for this sort of public transport. The fiasco that was the light is prime example. Your token comment is too simplistic
@@phunk8607 i live in Newcastle my friend the light rail was put in as a token gesture by a government who had leased the port of Newcastle for billions to boost their treasury. It goes nowhere near major population centres where someone could actually make use of it. Even when the people of Newcastle said it wouldnt serve any purpose they went ahead anyhow. NSWs second biggest city has been left to stagnate for the last 50 years. I wouldnt have spent that 20 billion in Newcastle but I would have split it up and spent it on other smaller projects around the state.
It has everything to do with economics. Public transport requires a critical mass of population to viably support it otherwise the nation would go bankrupt trying to fund it. You basically allude to this when you say "politicians know where the votes are"... votes are people. If the people aren't there, the public transport isn't viable economically. You're not being discriminated against or shafted, it just isn't something that can work in a lot of places.
@@Davo-i1s I do however agree that Newcastle has been left to languish and they should never have closed the heavy rail line and should be investing heavily in Newcastle and encouraging population growth there. That requires politicians with vision though, but politicians only seem to have ego now because some idiots thought it was a good idea to turn politicians into celebrities and it ended up attracting a bunch of fucking narcissists looking for fame and attention instead of people who actually want to make things better. Gladys was fucking great though, and I'll die on that hill cunts.
Sydney has plenty of 19th century stations that are well over 100 years old, yet most have experienced modernization efforts that improve the experience. But even London, with the oldest stations of all, some of which are definitely dingy and showing their age, the tube is very desirable to use because of the efficiency of the service and its superiority to using a car. It is important for new and modernized stations to attract customers, but even more important is the myriad of new lines opening that are improving the places trains go to, and the efficiency of services.
Sydney train network opened in 1855 -with over 200 stations going from steam trains to electric, this video only is highlighting the new section open in 2024 - but the old Sydney network is just as clean and operating today i New York train network opened in 1904 making Sydney much older than New Yorks
A lot of Sydney City train stations are old and full of character. Museum and St James Stations are beautiful. Especially St James. I love the old tiles, the arches, and the signs. Very reminiscent of the old London Tube stations.
@@stephanieyee9784 Museum is the closest station to my apartment (about 2 minutes walk) and it has a delightful feel of coming home, partly because it is, but also because of the way the art deco atmosphere has been preserved. I know that young people like the style of the new stations, and it is necessary for them to be like that to attract customers, but personally I prefer the older stations, and Museum and St James are always my favorites.
In Australia ‘lifts’ are enclosed (press numbers to lift you). Escalators are similar to travellators (usually airports) except with steps. All capital cities are having the governments (state and council) upgrade their public transport stations, including busses. It’s to lessen air and noise pollution, reduce the need for expanding roads and upkeep, less need for parking 🅿️ complexes in the city, less fuel consumption, and to provide quicker and easier access. There are multi car parking facilities built in suburban regions ‘Park n Ride’ while many train stations also have connecting bus stops at train stations. Thank Labor Governments (similar to USA Democrats) for public services. That’s why we pay higher tax for better lifestyle, including Medicare, which Obama modelled theirs on our system. Australia has a balance of government and private sector.
Labor had little to do with the recent infrastructure development in NSW. Even Chris Minns recently acknowledged this when he opened the newest Metro stations.
China has made massive progress with their metro system, I was recently in Shenzhen & Shanghai - connectivity is fantastic, but design esthetic wise (excluding a few) it was very utilitarian, and bland, even the new stations, I think design wise, the Sydney metro is a level above, especially in the quality of materials and defused lighting used throughout. For a small country, it s a really great system from what I experienced.
Melbourne has the best public transport in Australia hands down. I can get into a stadium of 100,000 people in and out in 20-30 minutes, without driving door to door.
Not true in Los Angeles. Residents voted twice to increase sales tax to build a Metro system. It's been happening since 1990 and continues to expand. It's built more Metro rail transit than any other city in the USA in the last 34 years. The system went from ZERO miles of Metro rail in 1990 to around 110 miles with 101 stations. New lines and expansions coming online within the next 12 years including a connection to the LAX airport in late 2025 or early 2026.
@@lonnie224 Hell yeah, have you met America? They had a war about this and still the losers want to fight. They put up a bunch of statues 50 years after the losers were defeated and now they get all butthurt and snowflake if they’re taken away.
The appearance and feels of the Stations and trains does matter, i agree with you. But more importantly is this line is actually good - its fast, frequent, reliable, and it goes right into the heart of the places people want to go. Theres no corners that have been cut at all and that oozes quality and care in every part of this Project. Its not perfect but its damn good!
It's way faster and more efficient than the old network, it literally cut travel times in half. The aesthetics are the cherry on the cake.
I'd say there's also a more intangible benefit to aesthetics. In car dominated societies like Australia transport has to appeal to people to make them want to use it. Having nice stations that makes you feel like a VIP for using it rather than an afterthought helps improve the image of transport, and to beat certain, negative perceptions and stigmas related to it.
Edit... I just realised the video has already covered what I said but in better words XD
@@timtam53191 yeah and unfortunately the previous Sydney underground stations were basically all done cheaply and poorly (particularly town hall and Wynyard but really all the city circle stations, the eastern suburbs tunnel, and the airport tunnel are bad).
@@BigBlueMan118 I just think the “vibe” is underestimated. It sets the tone for the next century and how much it gets supported (used, but also maintained) and further built.
@@BigBlueMan118 tsk, 90 years is a long time, come on … St James station is like a luxury version of a London Underground station of the same age! Standards change.
@@whophd go back and read material about the original Sydney underground stations, they cheaped out on several of them it was a conscious decision to build them like shit, the original plan for circular quay was going to be absolutely epic but they ran out of cash.
US public transport is a pretty low bar haha
Looks more Chinese
@@MitchellBPYaoChina don’t have anything like this , can you name a station
@@Dreamer10888 where I'm from
@@theboybrian But it NEEDS to be recognised as the purposeful low bar, not a pure accident of cost or overlooked or “didn’t know better”. They know. Just be a tourist using metro buses in USA vs Europe. They bloody know.
@@MitchellBPYao there’s nothing
i remember when we had the Taylor Swift concerts in Melbourne with 93,000 people turning up at the MCG and the number of comments from Americans asking where we parked our cars. It was at railway stations!
Good video - well done.
Have a look at all American stadiums, they're surrounded by car parks 4-5 times the size of the stadium... They're insane.
When I think about parking lots in the US, the ones that are huge expanses of open-air parking, it feels so sad, frustrating and ridiculous. It’s like the main goal of the parking laws they were built under were to claim as much land as possible. I don’t care who owns the land or how they got it, they can do better than to bury it all under concrete.
Great commentary! Made a lot of sense. We have to look after our people, look after our city
I am so grateful I live in Sydney! I use public transport whenever I can, especially as a NSW senior cardholder. I only have to spend a maximum of AUD2.50 a day to travel on metro, train, bus, ferry and light rail services within the Opal transport network.
Sydney is the most tolled road in Australia and i think even around the around world.
Metro and public transport is just a better option for most people to get around the city at a afford cost.
@@JeremyChow-o9u Japan is expensive
I’m from Melbourne and I just spent a day examining the five Metro stations on Tuesday.
😂 even though you didn’t say much, this is probably the least shaded comment I’ve ever heard from a melburnian
To be fair, the ambiance of the older Sydney Underground stations like Town Hall and St James is not so different to the NY stations. (There has been a big upgrade of Wynyard and Central, though.)
Are you kidding me? Townhall station is the same as NY stations?
@@christopherbai9271 americans are hilarious lol
Some were actually modelled on the New York Subway and some on the London tube
Some of Sydney's City Circle line stations are, in fact, based on what was done in parts of the NY system...the so called cut and shut technique used from late 1800's. NY is also building a new line so it would be expected to be modern in comparison.
For their era the Circle stations compare with London and Paris stations from the same time they were built.
Town Hall was directly inspired by New York subway stations. John Bradfield travelled to the US in 1915 and was inspired by their design. Plus St James and Museum were inspired by the London Underground.
Good points.
When announcements are made over the public address system on the rail network in Sydney, passengers are addressed as "customers". The word "passenger" was dropped some years ago. I used to think "customer" reflected a narrow profit-driven attitude - but your discussion here has given me another perspective.
I agree. However I still prefer to be addressed as a passenger not a customer.
I really dislike being addressed as a customer when my relationship with an organisation is more specific.
For example in a medical setting being called a customer not a patient. Doctors and nurses owe a pretty high duty of care to patients. Using the term customer gives an impression of undermining that duty of care.
@@brontewcat thats got me thinking; do airlines in Australia address their passengers as "customers"? what about ferries? cruise boats? I should know, I live here, but I mustn't have been paying attention the last time I flew or boarded a vessel
@@a24-45 I think they do. I will listen next time I am on a plane.
@@brontewcat The biggest problem is that we have to play semantics. It shouldn't matter what we are called, we deserve better! The issue is not the word, it is the attitude!
@ The language can impact attitudes.
I am a lawyer- I have clients not customers. I owe an exceptionally high duty of care to a client that is not owed to a customer ( eg to their interests above my own). Yet I am starting to see some staff call our clients customers, which is concerning.
Brisbane public transport is now 50c a journey, with plans to make this fare permanent.
I live in Adelaide and we have a guided busway that turns an hours drive to the city centre into a 15 minute trip.
The public transport system in Adelaide is based around public transport hubs that are located at the major shopping centres. You pay for 2 hours of service so you can change buses, trains and trams as often as you need or want.
The timetables for each different route are designed to allow people to transfer to different routes without waiting.
The buses have right of way on the road, so other vehicles must allow them to merge.
Because of the reliability and frequency, around 80% of people use the public transport system to get to work.
The passenger numbers are huge! An interesting stat is that the North Shore heavyrail line has had an increase in passengers, with them tranferring to Metro at Chatswood. The off peak daytime frequency has now changed from 7 to 5 minutes!
In the first week of operation of the Metro extension through to the CBD the numbers that normally use North Sydney station almost halved due to the new stations of Victoria Cross and Crows Nest.
@flamingfrancis yes indeed. There was a 6,000 increase on a Wenesday for people tapping off in the city!
We love our new fast Metro. The first driverless train system in Australia
Make that driverless PASSENGER train system in Australia.
The artwork reminded me of some metro stations in Athens where ancient artifacts are shown when they were digging the tunnels/stations.
Yes! the europeans also use art in their stations and some of them are stunning! eg moscow. The aus have just woken up to it.
Good comparison. Actually subway systems and their stations have been like this for years in many top Asian cities, efficient and crime-free too, not to mention the punctuality of the trains in Japan. “In Japan, the average high speed bullet train arrives at its final stop just 54 seconds behind schedule, and that includes delays caused by uncontrollable factors such as natural disasters.
If a Japanese train is five minutes late or more, its passengers are issued with a certificate. They can show this to their boss or teacher as an excuse for being late”
i have been on Chinese, Japanese and Singaporean metros.. they are fantastic
Escalator in Australia. Lifts are enclosed and transports you up and down.
The US doesnt seem to invest in their infrastructure. Airports, train lines are all outdated and shocking..
That's beginning to change. Both LAX and JFK airports are in the midst of multi billion dollar expansions and renovations.
California is also building the first high speed rail line in the USA. Things are finally changing.
@mrxman581 hopefully the high speed rail happens soon. It's been years in the making already and billions of dollars over budget. Not sure why they haven't been investing in infrastructure in these past decades. Every other developed or developing country has been doing a much better job than the US.
LAX is a nightmare.
When you have to maintain over 950 military bases throughout the world and at the same time supply and fund wars all over the globe there is no tax money left to spend on the public. Anyway, thats communism! 🤪
@@sandraeastern9720 I transferred through LAX for the first time a few years ago and never again, such an unpleasant experience from the TSA agents to trying to navigate the terminal for our connecting flight. San Francisco can't be any worse.
Such a shame Sydney has wasted billions on road projects in recent decades, when we could have had even more of this amazing transport.
Both are needed. Not everyone has the opportunity to use public transport on their daily commute.
@@kaz1578It was far too neglected and too focused on making road developers happy for too long, that’s the issue. No one is saying both aren’t needed captain obvious.
@@rudalsxv Then why say they wasted billions on road projects?
@@kaz1578 I didn’t? Can you read?
Come on, you know why, don’t nitpick their words. Like you said, both are necessary. When it comes to roads, yeah, it’s a bit of a waste, but still necessary-even though it really shouldn’t have to be. The problem with pouring billions into roads comes down to urban sprawl. As cities spread, the cost to maintain infrastructure that’s only used by a few just keeps rising, and with inflation, it becomes less sustainable and more of a burden as things wear out. The only way to stop this disproportionate spend on roads is to limit the sprawl. We should be focusing on densifying metro areas and improving public transport and amenities. For areas where urban renewal can’t reach, cars will still be needed. But the point is, we’ve got to stop the sprawl, cap road expansion, and focus on improving and maintaining the roads we’ve already got, which are already costing us a fortune.
You're making a huge generalization about Metros in the USA. The Metro systems in the USA can very drastically. They are not all the same.
For example, the issue of incorporating artwork in the stations has been done from day one on the LA Metro, which opened its first line in 1990. All the stations on the LA Metro have artwork, and the subway stations have artwork as part of the actual architecture, not just an installed piece of artwork. The LA Metro also has classical music playing in their subway stations.
The LA Metro has been constantly expanding since its inception in 1990. It has built more public Metro rail than any other US city in the last 34 years. The first new section of the D subway line will open next year that will include 3 new stations. There will be three sections for a total of 7 stations and 9 miles of new track. The last section will open in 2027 and connect to UCLA and VA hospital.
Lastly, many cities in the US suffered from an explosion in homelessness during Covid. In Los Angeles, LA Metro decided not to enforce the fares on the network, which eventually resulted in many more homeless taking advantage of the public Metro. Only now are things beginning to improve noticeably. I believe LA Metro regretted not enforcing fares in retrospect.
Many more people are once again starting to use the LA Metro. Ridership has gone up every month for the last 19 months. That's a very good sign, and it will only continue to increase as new lines open and expand.
Yes built almost a century ago, old cute dirty, run down and potentially dangerous in a platform crush😮
Like Parramatta train station, Town Hall train station and Blacktown train station
I grew up in Sydney's outer west suburbs and had to travel on trains to St James station and walk to my high school. ( old single deck called Red Rattlers because they would rattle) and there were a few old double-decker trains. I remember adults would smoke too on trains. Most stations were in terrible shape, especially the subway stations. This was during the late 1960s and 1970s. I don't live in Sydney anymore because I am retired and moved to the Gold Coast area in Queensland.
It's stuff like this that makes me really wonder why the conversation *apparently* is so heated here in the south over Melbourne's version of effectively the same thing.
@@Raxecarical Because the “wrong” party was in charge when the ideas came up. And a bit of Melbourne’s endless jealousy out of insecurity, but nothing wrong with that if it generates results. What I shouldn’t undersell is the sheer rarity of NSW’s last conservative government to come up with simultaneous road AND rail projects … the normal history is a pendulum of policy, whenever governments change. The last Labor government was such a let-down in both departments (post Olympics, 10 years later when all the talent had moved on) that the conservatives grabbed the opportunity and low interest rates with both hands in the 2010s. But no getting past - Gladys Berejiklian had the vision thing. She wanted more than the bare minimum, and knew how to get it.
@@whophd I think there's also the factor that states are responsible for much of PT/transport delivery, but have much reduced fiscal capacity to create it with the expanded power of the federal government, which isn't nearly as interested in funding intraurban/interurban infrastructure outside roads.
Federation was 123 years ago and we still only have two extremely slow trains between Melbourne and Sydney and one between Sydney and Brisbane per day, contrasted with hundreds of flights available. Good thing we're spending all the federal cash "investigating" Sydney-Newcastle HSR...
@@Raxecarical I was happier when HSR between Newcastle and Canberra was a NSW project not a federal project … but it's fine, as long as they go ahead. The correct distance for a first phase of HSR is Newcastle-Gosford-Parramatta or Parramatta-Goulburn-Canberra, but not 3x or 5x that distance. All that being said, that's no excuse to invest NOTHING in the existing services - there's no reason not to have an excellent overnight train between Brisbane - Sydney and Sydney - Melbourne. The best approach is usually to rank each section of track based on maximum speed, and rebuild / redirect it. You get far more instant dividend replacing slow track than average track.
I hear nothing but good things about this brand new Metro line. It's true the ridership of trains and buses in the U.S.A. is distinctly ethnic and I did sense your assumption that anyone there who can afford a car will be driving, but Sydney's such an expensive spaghetti mess to drive in due to the topsy-turvy scenic lay of the land that taking the trains is a much more soothing way to go, and faster too! What a nice report.
Well said, and thank you.
The most baffling thing is, that unlike developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the United States of America does indeed have the freaking money to even build 50 lines of this kind of metro system. In all places, we still have the dream to see the US as the home of high-quality metros (as in Sydney and Singapore style)
I took the metro over the bridge and to Macquarie University. Also recently built. Excellent. Nice views, too.
The Metro goes under the harbour.
To be fair - I think Washington D.C has a great Metro system, with aesthetic stations.
Sydney train network opened in 1855 -with over 200 stations going from steam trains to electric, this video only is highlighting the new section open in 2024 - but the old Sydney network is just as clean and operating today- comparison - New York train network opened in 1904 making Sydney much older than New York
The video is specifically about the new Sydney Metro system. Not the trains.
@@stephanieyee9784Doesn't NYC have some great new subway stations, too? And San Francisco's BART recently opened some, too.
There is a difference between commuter rail and a metro.
Just like a typical metro station in any Chinese city, literally thousands of stations there with driverless trains, clean, litter free, frequent and safe.
What point are you actually trying to make? Also no, this is not like a "typical metro station in any Chinese city", that's absurd hyperbole. This is very much a step above in terms of quality and aesthetics.
Can you remind us of the population density of those areas?
Would disagree on several fronts. Outside of the Sydney metropolitan area public transport is beneath what it once was. Record numbers of workers travel by car from the cities of Wollongong and Central Coast to get to their workplaces every working day. This is in addition to a reasonable train service which, clearly, is inadequate. Hardly that much different to US cities like LA where public transport is improving. I travelled on a few Metro type systems back in 1991 and was impressed with Washington DC. At that time it was like drawing an analogy to these Sydney stations
The Metro in the north west has been operating since 2019 it's only the extension into the CBD that is new.
It's not the first 'metro' in Australia, it's an extension of existing metropolitan lines.
No, it's a seperate metro system, it's not part of the commuter rail system, and this is an extension of the first and only metro line in Australia. They use single deck triple egress carriages with minimal seating and the trains are fully automated and driverless.
The existing commuter rail lines are all double decker double egress carriages with generous seating allocation with the trains all having drivers and multiple other staffing requirements.
They're two distinct systems running on their own networks.
It is an extension, yes....but of the Tallawong to Chatswood Metro ONLY, thus far.
@@flamingfrancis for sure, all good rail systems are ultimately about connectivity.
Wow what the hell. I haven’t been to the city in a while then. I’ve seen Central’s renovation though.
Anything is better than US stations
I just hope Brisbane will get something like this in the future. The PT in Brisbane is so poor. Had to wait for nearly 1 hour sometimes outside of CBD.
@@haha-eg8fj Brisbane is probably the closest aligned to American philosophy out of Australia’s cities, when you account for its size. Its trains are the most “minimal”, once you forgive Adelaide and Hobart for being smaller populations. And hey, Gold Coast is even more American! It’s a miracle they built that light rail.
I think by world standard the new Transport Infrastructure built in Sydney Australia is excellent.
Globally China is far ahead of the rest of the world their transport hubs and diversity of next generation technology is beyond any country at the moment.
I've used the metro in Washington DC and thought it was fast and efficient.
Car Dependency is still pretty bad in Sydney, but definitely are better off than MOST US cities.
Calling it a product to sell to customers really is still a very American way of looking at it. Public transport in Australia is simply a public utility that is expected to be provided by the government. We just aren't allergic to government-provided services here!
It's going to take a lot to change the American mindset about their obsession with cars. Car manufacturers have been dictating to the US population on how to get from point A to Point B for generations. There's a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the world, sadly.
Australia was going the same way...but I feel, especially the younger generations, are changing and desire for more Public transport
@@kennylee8936 Hoping for more in this in Australia. As much as I like cars and nodding them, I would love a better public transport since it give us more options, it helps develop the town and cities better in pretty much every way and pedestrian streets more lively, and as car enthusiast people, having great public transport benefit us as well since we can take it for daily work commuting and drive our cars leisurely on weekends, meets and even on occasion to work with way less traffic and far safer streets. There is too much drivers in the road that number of them should not be driving based on how horrible few drivers are.
@@kornkernel2232 With less cars on the road...we also reduce the likelihood of car accidents, especially those caused by impatient drivers. Promoting public transport would also promote walking, therefore improving health.
Sadly Public transport has powerful enemies...including the toll companies, airline companies, oil, cars, mechanics etc...
@@kennylee8936I love comments from people that think it’s one or the other and fail totally to understand why cars are popular and will remain popular even in Australia. Hint: rail is point to point. A car is door to door in every single degree of the compass.
@@xr6lad Amongst the younger generation, they're either preferring public transport/bikes/walking over driving and would be willing to move to areas where that is readily available.
People are beginning to realise that they're able to do more on public transport and on the move as oppose to a car where your focus needs to be on the road and nothing else. People are realising the health benefits of public transport over driving as it promotes walking.
This is not to say that driving won't be around. It will still be needed (carshare, delivery, disability servicing, tradies etc...) however car enthusiasts like yourself will most likely be the minority in the future...which you should be excited for because it means that the roads will be less congested as the people who had no choice but to drive will be given public transport choices.
Public transport may not be door to door...but driving isn't without its problems too (parking, congestion, costs for upkeep, more parts of Sydney becoming less car friendly like CBD and Parramatta etc...).
In short...better public transport benefits everyone...car dependency does not.
The new stations are fantastic and new. I wish it could stay that way. It appears that trhese public interiors will be very high maintenance to keep them "fresh".
A work in progress starting around the late 1990's, pre 2000 Olympic Games.Cityrail Network Expanding Existing Lines, Station & Platform Access, introducing the Lightrail Network new stations & suburbs into the rail network. Now the expanded Metro System the 3rd rail link transit system began operating 2019 from Tallawan to Chatswood, now operating to Sydenham. With at least 10 to 15 more years of expansion projected by the State Gov, this current metro system will become the main hub & link to areas in Sydney.
No Aussies see Sydney train system as bad… generally it’s pretty reliable and clean. Only whingeing locals not happy, but they are not happy about anything
The metro in NYC is pretty disgusting for such a dense and wealthy city. Why do trains look like they're from GTAIII
Well Liberty city trains system was copied off the subway not the other way around 😂
The real interesting thing about the metro system and light rail is that it is all designed to be self contained with key features that make rolling stock and signalling different. The theory behind that,(along with heavy rail separation) is so that a future right wing government can sell it off bit by bit without needing to sell it as a single bulk lot at discount, Once sold the cost will escalate out of proportion to distance frequency or condition. Just like the public roads that we paid for and free to transit, or had constructed from public funds were given to privateers to "manage" by collecting a toll. A toll which has caused travelling from one end of Sydney to another and thus through several tolls now requires a bank loan.
No wonder we have a big inflation problem, thank you coalition.
Remember who to vote for next time. ;)
Meanwhile in Melbourne .....
Your new rail line under the city centre is due to open soon. 👍
Meanwhile in Melbourne. We have the world’s biggest tram network and integrated tram/rail/bus network with a flat $9 fare in regional areas. Next?
@@xr6lad Our airport rail link project is delayed, Doncaster line and Rowville line is yet to be built, trains only run every 30 minutes in evenings on most lines and our buses are terrible.
@@xr6ladAnd no train rail to airport, aging trains ,infrastructure, woke corrupt govt, that’s covered up the Andrews cycle accident fiasco..
Sydney and Melbourne, soon to be 2 proud cities, with 2 airport rail links in 2026
People will still ruin it eventually
The US subways are like slums
Yeah great if you live in the state capitals ike Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane etc. but for the rest of Australia public transport is pretty poor we still need our cars to get around. Politicians know where the votes are so that isnt likely to change.
or that australia is too vast and not enough people to pay for it. Imagine if Newcastle put $20billion for this sort of public transport. The fiasco that was the light is prime example. Your token comment is too simplistic
@@phunk8607 i live in Newcastle my friend the light rail was put in as a token gesture by a government who had leased the port of Newcastle for billions to boost their treasury. It goes nowhere near major population centres where someone could actually make use of it. Even when the people of Newcastle said it wouldnt serve any purpose they went ahead anyhow. NSWs second biggest city has been left to stagnate for the last 50 years. I wouldnt have spent that 20 billion in Newcastle but I would have split it up and spent it on other smaller projects around the state.
It has everything to do with economics. Public transport requires a critical mass of population to viably support it otherwise the nation would go bankrupt trying to fund it. You basically allude to this when you say "politicians know where the votes are"... votes are people. If the people aren't there, the public transport isn't viable economically. You're not being discriminated against or shafted, it just isn't something that can work in a lot of places.
@@Davo-i1s I do however agree that Newcastle has been left to languish and they should never have closed the heavy rail line and should be investing heavily in Newcastle and encouraging population growth there. That requires politicians with vision though, but politicians only seem to have ego now because some idiots thought it was a good idea to turn politicians into celebrities and it ended up attracting a bunch of fucking narcissists looking for fame and attention instead of people who actually want to make things better. Gladys was fucking great though, and I'll die on that hill cunts.
To be fair, it’s not a high bar to be better than US in terms of infrastructure.
Let’s be real, American infrastructure is a joke. Compare it to European countries or Japan/Singapore etc. that’s the real challenge.
Interesting
It wouldn’t work in America, the escalators are revered L-R
I think it's because it's brand spanking new . America's is already 100 years old I think
Sydney has plenty of 19th century stations that are well over 100 years old, yet most have experienced modernization efforts that improve the experience. But even London, with the oldest stations of all, some of which are definitely dingy and showing their age, the tube is very desirable to use because of the efficiency of the service and its superiority to using a car.
It is important for new and modernized stations to attract customers, but even more important is the myriad of new lines opening that are improving the places trains go to, and the efficiency of services.
Is the age of a system an excuse to be lacklustre?
Sydney train network opened in 1855 -with over 200 stations going from steam trains to electric, this video only is highlighting the new section open in 2024 - but the old Sydney network is just as clean and operating today i New York train network opened in 1904 making Sydney much older than New Yorks
A lot of Sydney City train stations are old and full of character. Museum and St James Stations are beautiful. Especially St James. I love the old tiles, the arches, and the signs. Very reminiscent of the old London Tube stations.
@@stephanieyee9784 Museum is the closest station to my apartment (about 2 minutes walk) and it has a delightful feel of coming home, partly because it is, but also because of the way the art deco atmosphere has been preserved. I know that young people like the style of the new stations, and it is necessary for them to be like that to attract customers, but personally I prefer the older stations, and Museum and St James are always my favorites.
In Australia ‘lifts’ are enclosed (press numbers to lift you). Escalators are similar to travellators (usually airports) except with steps. All capital cities are having the governments (state and council) upgrade their public transport stations, including busses. It’s to lessen air and noise pollution, reduce the need for expanding roads and upkeep, less need for parking 🅿️ complexes in the city, less fuel consumption, and to provide quicker and easier access. There are multi car parking facilities built in suburban regions ‘Park n Ride’ while many train stations also have connecting bus stops at train stations. Thank Labor Governments (similar to USA Democrats) for public services. That’s why we pay higher tax for better lifestyle, including Medicare, which Obama modelled theirs on our system. Australia has a balance of government and private sector.
Labor had little to do with the recent infrastructure development in NSW. Even Chris Minns recently acknowledged this when he opened the newest Metro stations.
@@mltoob NSW are renown for being ‘special and precious’. Always have been, always will be.
But honestly, East Asia (Japan, South Korea, China Taiwan )public transport is better than Australia
Well it's brand new and they overspent on the stations to make it look more flashy upon opening.
Well at least we have grand central!
Not as good as most of the new Chinese stations, but still nice and beats most US stations.
China has made massive progress with their metro system, I was recently in Shenzhen & Shanghai - connectivity is fantastic, but design esthetic wise (excluding a few) it was very utilitarian, and bland, even the new stations, I think design wise, the Sydney metro is a level above, especially in the quality of materials and defused lighting used throughout. For a small country, it s a really great system from what I experienced.
Melbourne has the best public transport in Australia hands down. I can get into a stadium of 100,000 people in and out in 20-30 minutes, without driving door to door.
Whoop-dee-doo, at least Sydneysiders aren't waiting more than 15mins for trains throughout the majority of the network.
Prefer driving my own car any day.
Have fun contributing to traffic you hypocritically complain about.
This new expensive station is just because the people who will use it, were the only ones forced to pay for it. Oh wait, sorry, that's wrong.
ummm wtf are you on about mate.
@@phunk8607 don't worry. Just think of a whooshing sound.
0:21
No Americans
Let’s be real - the American taxpayers don’t want to pay for this kind of thing, in case black people might use it and have nice things
That comment is so loaded with racism its ridiculous. 😂
Not true in Los Angeles. Residents voted twice to increase sales tax to build a Metro system. It's been happening since 1990 and continues to expand. It's built more Metro rail transit than any other city in the USA in the last 34 years. The system went from ZERO miles of Metro rail in 1990 to around 110 miles with 101 stations. New lines and expansions coming online within the next 12 years including a connection to the LAX airport in late 2025 or early 2026.
@@mrxman581 Also, 1990? I’d love to think the Roger Rabbit movie had an impact on LA 💕
@@lonnie224 Hell yeah, have you met America? They had a war about this and still the losers want to fight. They put up a bunch of statues 50 years after the losers were defeated and now they get all butthurt and snowflake if they’re taken away.
@@lonnie224 I think he nailed it.