19 August 2024

By Hannah Wilcox

After a long-anticipated wait, the Victoria Cross Metro Station finally opened its doors to travellers on Monday. Of extra interest is the launch of VicX as the area’s newest vibrant retail and foodie hub.

With two entrances at Miller and McLaren St in the north and Miller, Berry and Denison St in the south, the metro is North Sydney’s new, rapid transport option connecting the North Shore via the Metro West line, going all the way out to Bankstown. 

On Friday, new food, beverage and grab-n-go venues welcomed diners for the first time.

Alongside the station entrance on Miller Street is burger icon Mary’s, Koji Grill & Dumplings, Torotoro Ramen and Tempura and Doo Dee Thai.

Downstairs at Denison St are operators such as Sushi Hub, Machi Machi, Only Coffee Project, Dopa Donburi and Dessert, Top Impressions Bakery, North Sandwiches, Mcdonalds and Inner West favourite Marrickville Pork Roll which will provide commuters with quick and convenient foodie fixes.

Top Impressions Bakery is running a grand opening special on August 23 and 24 with the first 50 customers to score a free ice cream Cromboloni. 

Office workers will be pleased to hear their morning coffee fix can go towards supporting a good cause. Located on Miller Street social enterprise Two Good Co will be operating a coffee cart (plus pastries from Redfern’s neighbourhood bakery Breadfern) – with 50 percent of proceeds to be invested into their social impact programs supporting women who have experienced homelessness, domestic violence and complex traumas. 

The concourse is also home to Nails Avenue and florist Rose & Co, the first to open their doors as a part of the first phase of retailer openings.

More are still to open their doors in 2025.

“Once complete, this new 18-hour a day dining and recreation hotspot will buzz with activity beyond the nine to five,” the VicX website reads.

It comes following the announcement that premier health and wellness facility One Playground will join the precinct mid next year – sporting five studios across reformer Pilates, spin, HIIT and strength studios, a motion studio for dance and barre, and a studio for yoga and breathwork.

A full level will be dedicated to strength and conditioning alongside a recovery area complete with a plunge pool, recovery lounge and infrared saunas. 

“Victoria Cross is reimagining the workplace experience, with seamless integration to popular hospitality brands, and next-gen health and fitness facilities to come, the precinct is an exciting place to work and visit,” Lendlease Victoria Cross Project Director Alexander Frankl said.

“The calibre of retail and amenities coming to the precinct reflects the ongoing revitalisation of the North Sydney CBD.”

He added: “It will take just three minutes to the Sydney CBD thanks to the Metro, making Victoria Cross a natural extension of the CBD and offer a new destination for dining and recreation.”

New metro services will launch to a weekday timetable, which means a service every four minutes during the peak and every 10 minutes during the off peak. For Opal fare consistency, peak times are the same as all other modes of public transport, 6:30am-10am and 3pm-7pm.

There were few reported teething problems on the first day today, although the Sun was informed some lifts were non-operational at Victoria Cross.

There is a four-minute frequency for trains travelling from Tallawong Station between 6:08am-9:24am and 2:54pm-6:46pm. Sydenham Station will see a four-minute frequency from 6:54am-9:46am and 3:16pm-7:32pm.

Interpeak trains will run every seven minutes, increasing after the first month to a train every five minutes.

A total of 445 new metro services will run through the heart of the city each weekday. The 45 new metro trains can each carry more than 1,150 people.

This new section of railway is the next stage of the M1 Northwest & Bankstown Line, which now extends 51.5-kilometres through Sydney with stops at 21 stations between Tallawong and Sydenham.

Over the coming days and weeks, while commuters become familiar with their new city services, there will be additional staff at each station and on trains during operating hours.

Audio and video help points located at each station also connect directly to staff at Metro’s Operations Control Centre who will be available to answer enquiries.

While all city stations are now open, commuters will notice hoarding and minor ongoing work in the precinct areas at most new stations. This work largely involves work on roads, footpaths and traffic intersections and will not impact customer journeys.

The new buildings above Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Gadigal and Waterloo stations remain under construction and will progressively open as they are finished.

The remaining 13-kilometres of the M1 Line will open after the conversion of 10 existing stations on the T3 Bankstown Line. The T3 line will close for the works before the end of the year, once a consistent level of reliability is reached on Sydney Metro City.