‘Car-mageddon’: Seven months of transport chaos to blight Sydney as key train line shuts down

Sydneysiders have been warned of impending transport chaos as a major train line in the city’s north shuts down for seven months.

The underground rail line between Chatswood and Epping is being closed to allow construction work for the new single-deck Metro North West rapid link, with buses replacing trains from Sunday.

‘We don’t want car-maggedon on Tuesday so that’s why we’re trying to get everyone to think in advance about how they might get to and from the precincts,’ NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.

A total of 120 high-frequency bright-pink buses have been added on routes between closed stations, tacking on 20 minutes to commuters’ journeys

‘Ultimately everyone is going to go through some short-term pain for long-term gain in the corridor,’ Mr Constance told reporters.

The Metro North West rapid link could be up and running by as early as April next year, but in the meantime authorities have asked commuters to plan their journeys and use the replacement services rather than driving. 

It is the last piece of the $8.3billion Sydney Metro North West project that includes new stations, new track, maintenance facilities and operations centres. 

The switch to buses will add 20 minutes to commuters’ journeys.

‘Businesses and the community still don’t know the full effect of what will happen here. It will be chaos on roads here in Ryde,’ Mayor of Ryde Jerome Laxall said

A total of 20,000 people use the Chatswood to Epping line every day. 

‘Businesses and the community still don’t know the full effect of what will happen here. It will be chaos on roads here in Ryde,’ Mayor of Ryde Jerome Laxall said.

Other services to be affected include Hornsby express services no longer stopping at Town Hall or Wynyard, meaning commuters will have to change at Central, and two more morning express services will be added to the Revesby line heading into the city.