Second airport metro prototype carriage unveiled

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This life-size prototype metro carriage for the new Western Sydney Airport Metro line has been unveiled, revealing the first look at future travel to the city’s second airport by some residents.

Assembled from a flat pack in a Western Sydney warehouse, the carriage is a full-scale replica which closely mimics the final product’s shape, size and design features.

The mock-up will allow future passengers to test out the carriage and provide feedback on comfort, usability, accessibility and safety – including seat design, boarding experience, and handhold placement.

It will also help transport authorities and manufacturers evaluate and finalise aspects of the train like the interior lighting, emergency features, and passenger information display systems.

Engineers and designers will be able to use the prototype to validate the final design choices, ensuring the layout, materials, and ergonomics meet the intended specifications.

The feedback collated from the extensive assessments has helped refine the final design for the 12 new trains for the Western Sydney Airport line before they go into production later this month. The contract for the new trains was signed in 2022.

Final checks are also being made to confirm the upholstery design for the train seats, which will feature a specially commissioned artwork by Western Sydney creative team BBR, led by Dharug artist Leanne Redpath, with Tina Barahanos and Alexandra Byrne.

The artwork called Ngurra Baduwa includes reference to Ngurra (Country) and Badu (water) running through Cumberland Plain, the region where the new 23-kilometre metro line will be located.

About 2,300 square metres of fabric, equivalent in length to five basketball courts, will be needed to upholster every seat in the 12 new trains.  

Once operational, the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport line will have the capacity to move up to 7,740 passengers each hour in each direction between St Marys and Bradfield via Sydney’s new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport.

Unfortunately, the Macarthur region and outer South west Sydney missed out once again, despite a business case backing rail links with the new airport.

It could be 10 or 20 years before the metro is extended south of the new airport.

Bus services will be introduced to and from the airport to cover for the rail gap in the meantime.

Or you can just drive to the airport from Campbelltown, Liverpool, Picton or Camden…

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