You can always tell someone who is passionate about their work, because they're always willing to talk about it. Glad you're getting the access - you deserve it from the work you've put in.
absolutely chuffed to see you getting access to these sites! I hope they continue to bring you in - such an awesome resource for the public to see the work being done.
Thanks Lachie, yes hopefully this will be the first of many visits like this! It helps Sydney Metro spread awareness of the work that is happening and it’s obviously good for my channel as well!
Paul, you’re getting the official recognition you so richly deserve. Thanks for asking all the questions buzzing in my head. I don’t know how you do it! Really enjoyed this after watching endless true crime videos (and falling asleep while bedridden with the flu). Still from California. Thanks so much.
Thanks David! Some of those questions have been in my head for years, and also when you notice things (such as the rigid bar), that sparks questions. (no pun intended!) Hope you feel better soon and always lovely to hear from international viewers!
@@TransportVlog Paul, yeah, the rigid overhead pipe was intriguing. I’m sure it’s more expensive than the conventional catenary, but I wonder if there’s more wear and material fatigue? An awkward question to ask, I’m afraid. I hope you’ll get to see the underwater section sometime in the near future. So much anticipation!
Thanks Reece, yes I put some extra effort into this one, especially with the cutaway / B roll bits and the audio too. It was fun reducing some of the background noise for the Q&A bits with Hugh!
You must have been so excited to have had this opportunity and you completely did it justice! I am excired that your passion, enthusiasm and hard work in making the content that you produce has been recognised by the Sydney Metro team and I encourage the Sydney West Metro, Parramatta Light Rail, Sydney Western Airport Metro and slightly off your normal commuter rail topic, the Sydney Western Freight line project to give you a 'private' viewing opportunity! Great video Paul and kudos to the fact that you have replied to almost all the comments, certainly shows your passion!
Thanks Brett, Yes I will thrilled to bits to be invited to go inside Chatswood Dive Site. Parramatta Light Rail invited me to see the new CAF tram late last year, and I've met some of the Sydney Metro people involved with Sydney Metro West. So I reckon you'll see more videos like this over the coming months, and Sydney Western Freight line could be an interesting one. One thing I don't mind is a long commute, as long as its by train! Yes I do enjoy responding to the comments and it's just about possible to reply to all of them at the moment!
Thanks for your lovely comments! Yes it's wonderful to get this type of recognition for my work and I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to go behind the scenes!
Hi Paul, thanks for another fantastic video! It's really great that your efforts have been recognised first by the PLR team and now by Sydney Metro! I look forward to many more updates as SMW and SMWSA pick up pace! And a little bit of an explainer about the kinematic envelope and how it factors into tunnel design just in case you're interested.... The kinematic envelope is the space which a train could occupy when running along a track. When calculating/modelling it, you have to take account of the things you mentioned like speed, suspension and curvature but another important factor is track movement. Ballasted track is not fixed in place and tends to shift over time. Slab track on the other hand is fixed so there is very little movement. Because the kinematic envelope for ballasted track has to take movement into account, it's a bit larger than slab track. Now, in tunnels, there is a whole host of equipment attached to the lining like Hugh mentioned. We want to build the tunnels as small as possible to keep costs down, while making sure there's still enough space to fit the equipment without it clashing with the kinematic envelope because then it could be struck by a train. So, using slab track in tunnels helps minimise the tunnel diameter because the kinematic envelope is smaller than ballasted track. Slab track also has other benefits in tunnels but I'll stop the lecture here!
Thanks! yes its wonderful to be getting the recognition from PLR and Sydney Metro. I have been making some contacts within Sydney Metro West too. Thanks for your extra information on Kinematic Envelope and how slab track keeps this movement to a minimum. I took a trip to Lithgow last week and noticed that most (if not all) of the track in the tunnels between Bell and Lithgow was slab track, and quite a few of the short cuttings between the tunnels had track slabs as well.
Amazing engineering! I’m supplies Sydney metro gave you opportunity to film this amazing project and I hope Sydney metro gives you opportunity to film inside, Marrickville dive site, Waterloo, Central, Martin Place, Pitt Street, Barangaroo, Victoria Cross and Crows Nest and I hope to see more videos of Sydney Metro
Thanks, Paul for yet another great video and so pleased you had the cooperation of the Metro management. I wondered about the rigid power bar as opposed to the overhead wires that move so as not to wear out a particular area on the pantographs.
You're very welcome Geoff. Yes, it was lovely to be invited by Sydney Metro to view the dive site and tunnels. I felt very special! Yes, the reasons for using a rigid bar has been a question I've wanted to ask since I first saw one at Bella Vista station in 2019!
Another fantastic video Paul.... I have enjoyed them all... love the tunnels especially all the old ones on the City Circle.... when I lived in Sydney I used to go to all the City Circle stations ( my faves were Museum and St James) and sit there for hours just watching the trains travel through.....always loved the gush of wind announcing the arrival of a train, I was always down the arrival end, ha ha.... also I reckon the rigid bar with the copper contact was a great idea,,, so take care, stay safe and will look forward to your next one cheers :)
Thanks Lorraine, yes the City Circle is great and I'm a fan of St James and Museum Stations as well. Yes the rigid bar makes a lot of sense. I first noticed it at Bella Vista Station just after metro northwest opened in 2019, and had always wondered why they are used in the tunnels.
Top shelf Paul! Great Metro has provided access to you. Looking forward to seeing some Metro West if you get to have a look. Special mention to Hugh for such good information.
Thanks Darren, yes plan to cover the remaining Metro West stations and do a general update on how the station boxes are progressing over the next few months.
Thanks Tacit, I must admit, I didn't give much thought to filming underground! I just filmed in the same way as usual with no flash and using my iPhone. The temporary lighting was pretty good. I guess it has to be for the construction workers to see what they're doing! I was impressed with how well the audio came out, as there was a fair bit of noise in the tunnels!
I am an avid public transport fan and I love watching your videos. I really want to move to Sydney in the future and the active investment in the metro especially just seems like all the motivation I need
Great video Paul and well done for getting access behind the scenes. I'm looking forward to more like this (as well as your usual highly informative and detailed walkarounds).
Thanks William, glad you enjoyed it! - Yes I have many more interesting videos in the pipeline, including one for Brisbane and hopefully one for Melbourne too!
Thank you Paul and congratulations on such an exciting and revealing look inside these new metro Tunnels . I am so looking forward to boarding some time soon down the line T Crows Nest.. Magnificent work.
Hi Paul, Wow!! That must have been an exciting tour. Thanks for sharing. Many years ago, my dad and I actually walked along the Cahill Expressway tunnel from Circular Quay to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, not long after the Cahill Expressway had officially opened. We only found a sign saying "No Pedestrians" at the bridge end and had to walk all the way back the same way, as there was no other way out. It was quite a memorable experience!!! Anyway, take care and all the best from Rob in Melbourne Australia.
Hi Rob, yes it certainly was! Yes that must have been memorable. Now there are a set of stairs at the bridge end, and quite a few people do walk along Cahill Expressway footpath. I rode my bike on it once during a special cycling event! That was pretty cool!
@@TransportVlog From memory, at the bridge end was right near a former tram stop, which allowed passengers to use the stairs from the bridge down to Millers Point and the Rocks area. It is also located just next to the former tram tunnel entrance to Wynyard.
Thanks Vijay, glad you appreciate the work involved and it’s lovely to get the recognition for this too, and being able to see the tunnel and dive site first hand for a lovely reward!
Hi Paul, this is such an interesting episode. Even for me, who has no technical knowledge or ability of any kind. I must confess that your wonderful presentations have converted me from a Metro hater to an interested Metro observer. I was interested in the term "Kinematic Envelope" as Kinema is an old term for cinema. There is a Kinema (cinema) in Narooma on the South Coast of NSW. They show Kinematic movies ( Cinematic), and interestingly, the Kinematic Envelope diagram shown in this video is shaped like an old Kinema (cinema). I predicted some time ago that the Metro management would reach out to you, and I am so happy that they have. You can't hide your excitement because you're like a kid in a candy shop. I can't wait for the next instalment from Paul the Metro King.
Thanks John, Glad you enjoyed it! Kinematic Envelope was a new term for me too!, and interesting that it comes from the word "cinema". Yes it's wonderful that Sydney Metro reached out to me, and it was a lovely reward for all my Chatswood Dive Site and other Sydney Metro videos! Yes I was excited and it was such a cool thing to do.
Noise in the tunnels was originally a big problem when the Eastern suburbs Railway first opened in 1979. They installed noise reduction after passengers complained about getting headaches from the loud noise.
The next train to arrive on Platform 1 goes to Chatswood via Central, First Stop Penrith, then all stations to Rooty Hill, then Blacktown, Seven Hills, Westmead, Parramatta, Granville, Clyde, Auburn, Lidcombe, Strathfield, Burwood, Redfern, Central, Town Hall, Wynyard, Milsons Point, North Sydney, St Leonards, Artarmon, and Chatswood.
Feb 21: news from a metro worker. Last weekend they tested the overhead wires between Chatswood/Sydenham going live, and it went well. By April testing will commence instead of June. Towards end of the year they would have done 6 months of testing. Stay tuned.
Thanks for the update. I was there last week, and the overhead wires didn't look quite finished, so I guess they must be now! Great to hear that testing will start in April. Looking forward to seeing metro trains at this end of the line!
Yes I'm hoping to get to Melbourne in March. I'm already editing a video for Cross River Rail in Brisbane, so that will be my first "interstate" video!
I can't wait to board on the New Sydney Metro Rail Line from Chatswood Train Station to Sydenham Train Station once the New Sydney Metro Rail Line from Chatswood Train Station to Sydenham Train Station open I gonna board on the Sydney Metro
Looks incredible. Amazing work Paul. Thank you so much for allowing us in with you. If only they made the tunnels just 1 extra metre bigger. 7 metres in diameter not 6 metres, (I have my reasons ☺️) It would of been perfect. Nevertheless looks amazing. 🤗
@@TransportVlog you are most welcome thank you. YES, it would make it the same size as the Chatswood to Epping run. Unfortunately, I think the government deliberately selected a smaller size tunnel to have a physical incompatibilty with the rest of the Sydney rail network. Even though the metros will remain stand alone always. Its logical to have mathamatical consistency in public infrastructure. Larger tunnels would of also allowed for better air flow at higher speeds, avoid rocking of trains, future equipment being installed, larger tunnels for maintence equipment, track repairs, passenger evacuations. I guess I should be grateful we at least got a rail line in the first place 😊.
I live just 500m away from Cherrybrook metro ... my family & I have been using North West Sydney Metro regularly since it opened in May 2019. Looking forward to going straight from Cherrybrook to Sydney CBD when this line opened in 2024. I wonder though when it will open next year (early or mid or late 2024). As I still remember with the North West Sydney Metro line ... the testing was done for more than 6 months. It is already 8 April 2023 and there seems to be a lot to be done in each station.
Hi Herman, must be wonderful to live so close to the metro and Cherrybrook is one of my favourite stations! Apparently testing is starting later in April, so that could opening in early in 2024. The stations below ground are more or less finished, with platform screen doors, lifts and escalators all in place. They look unfinished because of the over-station developments happening above, but the stations could open whilst work on these developments continue. Also the line could open with some stations, rather than all from day 1. I think the Bankstown line conversion will happen later, perhaps even opening in 2025.
Paul .. any inside info on when they will start trialing trains under the city? Also how will they be delivering new carriages? Do they come by ship? Then transported down to somewhere to be place on the tracks?
I reckon test running will be later in the year. We might see the occasional train going through the tunnel section under manual control sooner, especially to test all the infrastructure at Trains Facility South. Yes the new trains come by ship and then by road. Many have been delivered already and I believe some are already in service on Metro North West.
Hi Peter, Sydney Metro reached out to me! However, I've been keeping in touch with the public affairs team over the last few months, so that might have helped.
Paul, Good to see you getting noticed by Transports NSW and being offered access. With regarding the over head wiring, I noticed it does not go in a exact straight line. Is this to ensure the pantograph does not get warm out?
@@andrewr2825 I heard they didn’t do that on a section of the Rouse Hill to Chatswood line until engineer realise it and they had to redo the section. Looking forward to when they start testing the trains in the tunnels and then parking some at Sydenham.
Yes that’s right Fittipaldi. I covered this in this video if you want to know more ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sfyHwZGLfuI.html&feature=share
I knew a worker in the Epping/Chatswood project. It took a year to fit out the tunnel after it was constructed. No doubt this is well underway to make it work in 2024.
@@TransportVlog the tunnel you were in had most essentials installed like cables, overhead electricity and pipes installed already. Hopefully this is like that through to Sydenham already.
In the original Epping to Chatswood tunnels which were converted over to Metro use, those access platforms that ran the length of the tunnels were actually designed as evacuation pathways - they were not simply maintenance walkways. That may be the case in the new sections but that guy misrepresented the original intent of the infrastructure.
Hi Kevin, thanks for that. Yes it's quite possible that the purpose of the maintenance walkways was different for the Epping to Chatswood Line, especially as evacuating a train from the front or back would be much harder on a Waratah, Tangara etc.
Great video. Though don’t think the Sydney Metro guy explained WHY the rigid overhead in the tunnel. Main reason of course is to reduce maintenance costs, but the reason it used used in the tunnels and NOT in the open is in the tunnels the temperature doesn’t vary by much so rigid system can be used. But in the open there is a wide variation of temperatures and wind etc so a catenary system is required to give the line flexibility to withstand wind and temperature variations but still able to be tight enough to allow pantographs to keep good contact.
Hi Ashley, Glad you enjoyed this video and thanks for the extra information on the rigid bar system. I'll include this when I do a front of train video on the tunnel sections of Sydney Metro North West.
Nice video Paul. I like this Chatswood Dive Site. The Sydney Metro between Chatswood and Bankstown are still under construction until 2024 but getting a huge Upgrade Update. On the Bankstown Line, The Orange Sydney Trains Signs will be replace into Blue Signs on the Sydney Metro. The connection site of the Chatswood Dive Site is connected to a tunnel for a construction frequency that head north to the Bankstown line with an underground tunnel tracks will be the same as the Northwest Line between Tallawong and Chatswood, and it will be an impacted Sydney Metro Diversion of Sight. For each tunnel, they have Tunnel Ventilation Fans used for tunnel construction of the Sydney Metro. The actual tunnel portal is an underground Sydney Metro development of the Northwest Line, which was an operational facility of the Sydney Metro Construction of sight. The Southbound tunnel is going to the Bankstown line and Central as a transit route to the tunnel down sight of the tunnel. The original sight is the Sydney Metro Construction Upgrade at Central, the Bankstown line and the tunnel that goes after Chatswood station. The high voltage on the Sydney Metro has a concrete track to the Sydney Metro Tunnel Package. Some of the Sydney Metro is impacted to Hunter Street and three station of Eastern Tunnel Package near the sight of Martin Place station. The opportunity of Sydney Metro is impacted of the Chatswood Dive Site through the Tunnel of Southbound to Bankstown, Central or the Dive Site of Chatswood Station. This video is interesting, I like it and it’s very cool and nice. Nice video Paul, and Keep going. You are making great content.
Thanks. I was invited by Sydney Metro. Quite a few Sydney Metro employees watch my videos and my channel is now large enough to make it worth their while to do this, as it’s great publicity for them and it helps my channel grow too!
Great question! I think it's easier to bore smaller tunnels, and it also allows more flexibility to go around building foundations. In the CBD, the southbound tunnel goes under Elizabeth Street and the northbound tunnel under Castlereagh Street, so they are quite far apart. Single tunnels seem to be common practice on most new metro systems these days. I'm sure there are other reasons that I'm not aware of, but hope this helps for now!
I think it went to a variety of different locations for reuse. The reason for the temporary shed was to store the spoil until it could be moved away. Only a certain number of truck movements were allowed, so it wasn't always possible to get the spoil away immediately, hence the need to store it on site for a few days.
No matter how many times I watch the supposed reasons for this project, I am still baffled by the decision of prior governments to construct a separate rail system with separate operators, seperate knowledge pools and separate fleets and then claim its more beneficial than a DD line. I'm sorry, it isn't. Please change my mind on this, I hate to see so many billions thrown into what I can only see so far as a waste.
@paintbrushguy the double deckers would would be 10 - 15 minute slower than the metro .. that is a game changer. I can currently get on a bus from Baulko/north rocks and if there is no traffic I am in the city with 25 minutes. With a double decker stopping at all stations it would be around 1 minute slower per station than a metro train. The current media from the the metro says it will take around 35m from Castle Hill to the city. That is very quick and there will be no traffic like the bus
@paintbrushguy have you been on a metro station in the North West? The door are lucky to be open for less than 30 second and the acceleration of the metro is much quicker than the double decker snail rail
Old time table pre Metro for the double deckers had Epping to Chatswood take 16 minutes. Metro it takes 13 minutes. That is for a small section. Metro from castle hill to city once city extension is open is anticipated to be 35 minutes. Old snail rail would be 45m plus. You can do thar quicker on a bus with no traffic. Metro times smash the old snail rail.
@TheTrainGuy4 - It is much easier to bring in new technology such as CBTC and driverless trains on a new dedicated railway. Look at Crossrail in London for the challenges involved in integrating 3 different signalling systems. I tend to think of Metro is a different type of service to conventional trains. In London, they have conventional trains and tube trains. Tube trains run on dedicated lines within minimal junctions and that allows up to 30 trains per hour, which wouldn't be possible otherwise. Sydney Metro could potentially run at 24 trains per hour through the CBD, and I think the existing Sydney Trains lines though Wynyard and Town Hall would struggle to achieve that. Finally, I'm very pleased that Sydney is building more railways and that's got to be a good thing in itself!
Downgrading the Bankstown line would be a disgraceful waste. There should be a new line going to a different destination. Also the fact that the new airport will not be directly connected to Sydney airport is an idiotic decision.
Thanks for explaining Kinematic Envelope. As someone with no knowledge of any of this stuff, is it me or are the tunnels really big relative to the train already? I feel like the "Kinematic Envelope" is quite big/conservative/overkill? Especially compared to like London's tube with really small clearance space. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loading_gauge#/media/File:Why_London_Underground_is_nicknamed_The_Tube.jpg
Hi William, you're very welcome. Modern tunnels have to be wide enough to include a walkway on one side. As the tube is much older, the tunnels never included a walkway. The only exception is the newer part of the Jubilee Line from Westminster to Stratford. Tube trains also have a smaller loading gauge, especially in height, except for the sub-surface lines which are similar to metro trains in terms of loading gauge. Hope this answers your question.