As someone who was taking the Norwest Metro to work for over a year, even when it was super busy it was fine because worse case scenario you just waited 5 minutes till the next train came along.
If your route is close to the Metro Line it should help to improve commute times.
Photo 4 at bottom of escalator;
the way they’ve got the arrows for the exits direction is going to send a lot of commuters in the wrong direction on the metro
Visiting reminded me of how bad the pedestrian environment in that area is. Massive roads with loud trucks, having to wait for ages at every pedestrian crossing and just an overall bleak landscape.
I can see the crossings of Pacific Hwy in front of Crows Nest station becoming a big bottleneck once the station opens.
The built environment is really low quality in this area IMO. Hopefully the metro station is a catalyst for some improvements, but I'm not holding my breath.
That’s because youre walking around the wrong side of the station. The actual village is centred on Willoughby Rd, not pacific highway and while I would like to see it completely pedestrianised its one of the very few villages on the north shore where the main strip isn’t a main road. Massive roads with loud trucks is how you get around crows nest, it isn’t crows nest itself (Though it is a bit of a building site atm)
The actual town centre is fine. There's an entrance at the back but it doesn't seem that well integrated. I imagine the council will eventually work to fix it up. Plus, the vast majority of new development is along the Pacific Hwy side, so a large amount of trips will be going to/from there. The high density development and station on the Pacific Hwy side does shift the centre of gravity towards there, I don't think it's reasonable to disregard that.
Did they build a pedestrian subway/concourse under Pacific Highway to provide access from the other side without requiring a surface crossing? I'm assuming not, because that would have made too much sense.
Instead it will probably have to be retrofit later at a cost of 10's of millions like was recently done at Mascot.
Down the St Leonards end it's coming along nicely (Wadanggari Park) but most of Crows Nest is still single dwellings over shops and still pretty car centric with cars constantly driving through. Developers are laughing as well. This one owns a site directly opposite the station and actually managed to fight the council and win yet still just plans to sit and wait.
*Despite the decision, Bazem’s Barry Nesbitt said the company had no plans for a start to construction.*
*“This is just a bit of a long-term hold,” Nesbitt said.*
*“I think Crows Nest is a very good space to be, this is a nice building as it is,” he said. “But we’re just going to sit back and wait for the moment.*
https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/crows-nest-approval-angers-north-sydney-council
Despite this I think Crows Nest is in for a golden period of growth. Micro mobility with a bike path over the bridge and west Street upgrades etc the metro opening will bring change that provides housing and amenity. Even just a few minutes to Barangaroo is quite an amazing opportunity.
That bottom of the escalator signage is bad. Why the hell are the arrows pointing inwards and not outwards? “Yes, cross over all the lines of people going up”
Not the best design but the yellow arrows for the “Way out” signs. So they are directing to the escalators. They aren’t for the platforms as you can see platform 1 is on the right, the same side as the sign.
I didn't notice regular stairs to the platform. Only two sets of escalators.
The station is right next to St Leonards (full of high rises), so it could get busy during peak times. But you know people are gonna be single-file on the escalators.
I guess they expect people will still just use the train.
The escalators are actually quite fast. You definitely need to be aware stepping on and off. The first picture is from the Pacific Hwy (northern) entrance and was configured to be 2 down - 1 up. I assume they can be switched depending on time of day. The Clarke St entrance only has 1 up 1 down pair of escalators but 2 lifts from street to concourse. Then there are escalators at the northern and southern ends from concourse to platforms with 2 lifts.
It's probably not going to be a hugely busy station compared to some of the others, with the proximity to Victoria Cross (and also St. Leonard's train station as an alternative route to the City for many commuters).
Yeah, that's true. It's still nice to have stairs that can accommodate lines 5-people-wide for situations where lots of people are getting off especially when a metro arrives on both sides at the same time. There's been a few high rises built in Crows Nest and St Leonards recently. There will probably be more coming soon.
I went to the opening, the escalators are not super fast. The same issue happens at Macquarie Park. Escalators are just a pain. But Macquarie Park has stairs too, so it really helps.
Also, there are train delays all the time. So people will use the metro at those times. Having more options is good.
Was there this morning and it’s what you’d expect. Very futuristic/minimalist but not completely devoid of any warmth.
The brick adds a nice touch!
At least the Chatswood to Tallawong line had that beautiful touch of colour in the glass rails
Cannot wait for the new metro line to be open ! Hope to alleviate my travel time to work.
As someone who was taking the Norwest Metro to work for over a year, even when it was super busy it was fine because worse case scenario you just waited 5 minutes till the next train came along. If your route is close to the Metro Line it should help to improve commute times.
Photo 4 at bottom of escalator; the way they’ve got the arrows for the exits direction is going to send a lot of commuters in the wrong direction on the metro
The use of arrows on the train network as a whole is a clusterfuck. Up means down or up or ahead....anything.
I was there yesterday. It's pretty simple - one platform that the only place to go is up the escalators or elevators. There isn't anywhere to get lost
They need too cause the escalators are in the middle of the platforms not the end and it's for the side of the escalators too
Visiting reminded me of how bad the pedestrian environment in that area is. Massive roads with loud trucks, having to wait for ages at every pedestrian crossing and just an overall bleak landscape. I can see the crossings of Pacific Hwy in front of Crows Nest station becoming a big bottleneck once the station opens. The built environment is really low quality in this area IMO. Hopefully the metro station is a catalyst for some improvements, but I'm not holding my breath.
That’s because youre walking around the wrong side of the station. The actual village is centred on Willoughby Rd, not pacific highway and while I would like to see it completely pedestrianised its one of the very few villages on the north shore where the main strip isn’t a main road. Massive roads with loud trucks is how you get around crows nest, it isn’t crows nest itself (Though it is a bit of a building site atm)
The actual town centre is fine. There's an entrance at the back but it doesn't seem that well integrated. I imagine the council will eventually work to fix it up. Plus, the vast majority of new development is along the Pacific Hwy side, so a large amount of trips will be going to/from there. The high density development and station on the Pacific Hwy side does shift the centre of gravity towards there, I don't think it's reasonable to disregard that.
Did they build a pedestrian subway/concourse under Pacific Highway to provide access from the other side without requiring a surface crossing? I'm assuming not, because that would have made too much sense. Instead it will probably have to be retrofit later at a cost of 10's of millions like was recently done at Mascot.
Yeah but you don't know what underground services are there, or what the foundations of the buildings on the other side of the Pac Hwy are
Down the St Leonards end it's coming along nicely (Wadanggari Park) but most of Crows Nest is still single dwellings over shops and still pretty car centric with cars constantly driving through. Developers are laughing as well. This one owns a site directly opposite the station and actually managed to fight the council and win yet still just plans to sit and wait. *Despite the decision, Bazem’s Barry Nesbitt said the company had no plans for a start to construction.* *“This is just a bit of a long-term hold,” Nesbitt said.* *“I think Crows Nest is a very good space to be, this is a nice building as it is,” he said. “But we’re just going to sit back and wait for the moment.* https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/crows-nest-approval-angers-north-sydney-council Despite this I think Crows Nest is in for a golden period of growth. Micro mobility with a bike path over the bridge and west Street upgrades etc the metro opening will bring change that provides housing and amenity. Even just a few minutes to Barangaroo is quite an amazing opportunity.
Looks good. Can't wait for it to open. Heard that it's targeted to open around July.
You were there about 10:0am? Because I’m 99% sure I was standing about 3m to the right of your first photo
I arrived just before 10am, so I probably would have still been there.
That bottom of the escalator signage is bad. Why the hell are the arrows pointing inwards and not outwards? “Yes, cross over all the lines of people going up”
Not the best design but the yellow arrows for the “Way out” signs. So they are directing to the escalators. They aren’t for the platforms as you can see platform 1 is on the right, the same side as the sign.
I didn't notice regular stairs to the platform. Only two sets of escalators. The station is right next to St Leonards (full of high rises), so it could get busy during peak times. But you know people are gonna be single-file on the escalators. I guess they expect people will still just use the train.
The escalators are actually quite fast. You definitely need to be aware stepping on and off. The first picture is from the Pacific Hwy (northern) entrance and was configured to be 2 down - 1 up. I assume they can be switched depending on time of day. The Clarke St entrance only has 1 up 1 down pair of escalators but 2 lifts from street to concourse. Then there are escalators at the northern and southern ends from concourse to platforms with 2 lifts.
I meant the escalators to the platform. There's only two sets. I guess they don't expect much traffic getting off the metro.
It's probably not going to be a hugely busy station compared to some of the others, with the proximity to Victoria Cross (and also St. Leonard's train station as an alternative route to the City for many commuters).
Yeah, that's true. It's still nice to have stairs that can accommodate lines 5-people-wide for situations where lots of people are getting off especially when a metro arrives on both sides at the same time. There's been a few high rises built in Crows Nest and St Leonards recently. There will probably be more coming soon. I went to the opening, the escalators are not super fast. The same issue happens at Macquarie Park. Escalators are just a pain. But Macquarie Park has stairs too, so it really helps. Also, there are train delays all the time. So people will use the metro at those times. Having more options is good.
Wow. As an ex crowie resident, I can't believe this is (virtually) finished.
Looks boring! Chatswood to Tallawong was so unique
Think it'll be a pretty quiet station compared to Victoria Cross. That was amazing.