As Anna Masood and Esmeralda Quintal waited for their train replacement buses, their patience began to wear thin as it began sprinkling.
They were waiting for an express bus to Sydenham, from where they would be taking the metro into the CBD, but they got frustrated after two all-stops buses passed them.
“We had two buses come here within 30 seconds of each other, but that means another bus won’t be here for a while. Why are they coming together, and doesn’t that mean there will be more time before the next one?” Masood said.
“That’s the problem here, buses are more inconsistent than trains, they’re more beholden to traffic. There will be a good outcome to this, they just need to work it out.”
As she was speaking, an express bus turned up, and she climbed aboard alongside the waiting commuters at the temporary train replacement bus station set up in Punchbowl.
The temporary stops litter the Bankstown line, which covers various suburbs in Sydney’s south and inner west, including Belmore, Campsie, Canterbury, Dulwich Hill and Marrickville.
The train line was formally shut down on Monday, to allow for work to begin converting the 130-year-old train line into a metro service, that will allow for driverless trains into the city every four minutes during peak hour.
Thousands of residents who depend on the train line will now need to shift over to the buses, which the NSW government has promised will be able to service all the passengers along the train line.
The buses are free and will remain so for the duration of the conversion, but only go so far as Sydenham before commuters will need to jump on to a train or metro to get into the city.
And riding alongside the passengers, it was clear there were more buses than could be expected, with a number turning up in quick succession at every stop, many within minutes of each other.
“It will be a bit inconvenient, but I can see there are a lot of buses coming quite frequently, so it could be tolerable,” Ryan Ngo said.
He was on his way to his job as a kitchen hand at a coffee shop in the CBD, and he said he felt like the changes would be worth it.
“It will be worth the wait, these metros will be good for the area, it should be much faster. Or at least I hope so.”
“You have to do what you have to do,” is how Janine Hro put it.
The changes are adding over 20 minutes to her commute from Belmore in Wynyard, but she remained positive about the shift to buses.
“Look, we don’t have a choice in it, and the buses seem to come quite often, so it’s manageable for now.”
Much like many of the passengers, Therese Manuel had to wake up much earlier than she would have wanted, and depended on coffee to keep her going.
“It’s all a bit annoying to be honest. I understand why they are doing it, I understand the need for a metro, but you can’t deny that a bus is more annoying than a train.”
“Plus, a train took me direct to my destination, whereas there is a change I have to do now to get to the city.”
Asked how she feels about having to wake up earlier, Manuel just shook her head.
“Not good, it’s not good. These metro trains better be fast.”
• This article was amended on 30 September 2024. An earlier version incorrectly stated that the T3 Bankstown line was the only line to be shut down for conversion into a metro service. The Epping to Chatswood line was closed from 29 September 2018 for conversion into the Metro North West Line, opening in May 2019.
