Major construction work at Tallawong Station in Rouse Hill is now complete, the first of 13 new Sydney Metro Northwest stations to be built before the opening of the new line early next year.
The new Tallawong Station has been provided with the new safety features that will be present at all new Sydney Metro stations, including platform screen doors – glass barriers at the edge of the platform that open only as train doors do.
NSW transport minister Andrew Constance, who inspected the station with premier Gladys Berejiklian on Sunday, said that this kind of technology would maintain passenger safety.
“Platform screen doors keep people and objects like prams away from the tracks, creating a physical barrier at the edge of the platform which also allows trains to get in and out of stations much faster,” Constance said.
“These doors only open and close at the same time as the train doors and are a key safety and technology feature of Sydney Metro.”
The platform screen doors are being tested as part of the commissioning process, and are being calibrated with the communication-based train control system, which lines up the train with the doors and only opens both sets of doors when both are aligned.
At the underground Metro stations, the barrier reaches all the way to the station ceiling, enabling platforms to be heated and cooled.
Tallawong Station has 1,000 commuter car parking spaces, four bus bays, 13 kiss-and-ride spaces and parking and storage for 55 bicycles. As will eventually be the case with all the Metro stations, Tallawong Station features lifts, level access between platforms and trains, two wheelchair spaces per train carriage and two multi-purpose areas per train for prams, luggage and bicycles.
Sydney Metro Northwest will open in the second quarter of 2019.