HISTORIC DAY AS SYDNEY METRO OPENS

The NSW Government today officially opened the North West Metro – the first stage of Sydney Metro, Australia's biggest public transport project.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance joined the community and construction workers to open the rail line and deliver a turn-up-and-go train service from Rouse Hill to Chatswood.

"This is truly an historic day for NSW with services starting on one of the world's great metros," Ms Berejiklian said.

"I am so excited that our hard work and discipline has paid off with this rail line opening on time and more than $1 billion under budget.

"More than 22,000 people have worked on this important project since 2011 and I want to thank each of them for helping to connect Sydney's North West like never before."

Mr Constance said the project will leave a lasting legacy which will be felt for generations to come.

"Sydney Metro will forever change how we get around Sydney," Mr Constance said.

"It is a transformational public transport investment on par with the Sydney Harbour Bridge a century ago."

The North West Metro is a fully accessible railway and, in an Australian first, each of the 13 stations has platform screen doors to keep people and objects like prams away from tracks.

At full operation, trains will run every four minutes in each direction at peak times, with the ability to run up to every two minutes in the future.

The Metro line is currently being extended from Chatswood to Bankstown and by 2024 Sydney will have 31 metro stations and a 66 kilometre standalone metro railway.