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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Penry Buckley

Can a sprawling city make public transit work? Sydney may be on the right track

People stand on escalators at Sydney’s Central station
The entrance to the metro at Sydney’s Central station. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

At Penrith, a suburb on Sydney’s rural fringe 50km (30 miles) west of the central business district, you can catch a train to the city every four to eight minutes during the morning peak, and roughly every 10 to 15 minutes during off-peak hours before midnight.

On an express service, it takes 52 minutes to Sydney’s Central station, comparable to the journey by car, without factoring in the morning traffic on a tolled motorway.

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