Sydney Metro - Tallawong to Bankstown

[Glen]

Fair enough, but it would make for a great song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuWgE-u4keg

[boronia]

Need to call it Town Hall Metro. I recall the "Save the T3" mob were complaining that people on the Bankstown line would have to change from the metro to rail to get to TH after the conversion. We don't want them getting confused or lost.

They had some exotic names lined up for some of the the light rail stops, but sanity prevailed.

[tonyp]

Need to call it Town Hall #2. I recall the "Save the T3" mob were complaining that people on the Bankstown line would have to change from the metro to rail to get to TH after the conversion.

If there's to be a connection between Town Hall and Pitt St stations then yes, the station on both lines should be called Town Hall.

[Swift]

Perhaps Catholic Dom with six kids will step in and stop the woke mafia in their "tracks" hijacking the naming of new train stations!

[Transtopic]

Need to call it Town Hall #2. I recall the "Save the T3" mob were complaining that people on the Bankstown line would have to change from the metro to rail to get to TH after the conversion.

If there's to be a connection between Town Hall and Pitt St stations then yes, the station on both lines should be called Town Hall.

Agree. It was a mistake not to proceed with the original concept of an underground pedestrian link via the proposed Town Hall Square between the Pitt St Metro Station and the existing Town Hall Station. Could have provided additional retail outlets similar to other underground links as well as avoiding exposure to surface traffic and bad weather, even if commuters weren't transferring between stations.

[boronia]

Need to call it Town Hall #2. I recall the "Save the T3" mob were complaining that people on the Bankstown line would have to change from the metro to rail to get to TH after the conversion.

If there's to be a connection between Town Hall and Pitt St stations then yes, the station on both lines should be called Town Hall.

How hard would it be to put a connection from Park St under Pitt St to the Galleries. Call them Town Hall platforms 7 and 8. No more confusing than the current Central Station bus stands A-N, look how scattered and far apart they are.

[lunchbox]

"Gadigal" is a stupid, and more to the point, a confusing name, for Town Hall's Metro station. I've lodged my objection. But given that Transport for NSW has dumped the original plan for a below-ground connection to the existing station, "Town Hall" for the Metro platforms could well be misleading for millions of users. "Metro Hyde Park" might avoid confusion. Let's hope the Geographical Names Board justifies its existence in this case.
Ultimately, when City Council gets to own ( and demolish) the Woolworths Building on the corner of George and Park, sanity might prevail and we will get a pedestrian subway connection, or at least a direct surface link, between the two stations......
(866371)

[boronia]

Council has owned the Woolworths building (and a few others there) for years. They're probably more hooked on the rent they get.

Melbourne has its Southern Cross station, rather than the eponymous Spencer St. Similar confusion until you get used to it.

[Swift]

I agree with the Town Hall idea with an eventual link up.
Town Hall East for the mean time, then erase the last word later.

Even Pitt St was too vague.

[jpp42]

I have always thought that Pitt St was an awful name because the metro runs underneath and parallel to Pitt St - if you're going to name it after a street, why was it not "Park St" (as the cross street) to start with? As Pitt St never told you where ALONG Pitt St the station is. So I'm glad to see it was only a placeholder.

As noted the new name is not suitable either, as no one refers to that area of the CBD as Gadigal, and unless this is part of some longer term effort to rename that whole district, it doesn't make sense on its own. I'm in favour of the "Town Hall East" idea to clarify that it's in the same district but not connected to the existing Town Hall station. Alternately, "Park St" would work.

[boronia]

There will also be an entrance in Bathurst St, but this is slightly more "remote" from the Town Hall itself, but not entrances to TH Station.

I wonder if an underground connection would be feasible between these two?

[jpp42]

On the name Gadigal, as per the GNB proposal:

Origin
The name derives from the original Aboriginal inhabitants of the surrounding locality, the Gadigal people. Gadigal is well-known and is the agreed name of the Traditional Custodians of the area, recognised by local, Greater Sydney and regional Aboriginal communities.

However, the GNB place naming policy ( https://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/__data/asset ... Policy.pdf ) has an entire section on Aboriginal names, including this important section:

"Prior to submitting an Aboriginal name for consideration by the GNB, the proponent should consult the Local Aboriginal Land Council and Aboriginal communities on all matters concerning Aboriginal place names occurring in their area of current occupation and traditional association, in line with self-determination policies. This includes any proposals to assign new names, alter spellings of existing names or assign dual names."

Has the appropriate council agreed to this usage, and if so, why is this not mentioned anywhere in the submission? It seems strange to me that the station which should refer to a specific locality, would gain a name that refers to an entire people/country - the traditional lands of the Gadigal people extend well beyond the Town Hall area. But if the council has agreed to this and supports it, fair enough - but this should be mentioned in the submission, right?

[tonyp]

Virtue signalling is exempt from any constraints. Be prepared to constantly answer questions from tourists about where Gadigal is.

[jpp42]

Well, it's certainly the worst kind of virtue signalling if they didn't even consult the elders if they even wanted their name used in this way! (It might be that they were consulted and it's just not mentioned in the submission.)

[boronia]

I seems calling it "Gadigal" would be the same context as calling it "Sydney"?

[jpp42]

I seems calling it "Gadigal" would be the same context as calling it "Sydney"?

A bit of research shows that the exact boundaries of the Gadigal clan is a bit unclear or disputed, partially owing to the lack of elders remaining after European contact and the resultant death/dispersion of most of the Eora nation population. But it seems the most likely boundary is Darling Harbour to the west, Sydney Harbour to the north, and inclusive of all of the eastern suburbs across to Watsons Bay/South Head/Bondi/etc. Possible map:
http://christiansinthemedia.org/aborigi ... s-east.png (the pink shaded area is the Gadigal lands).

So yes, the Pitt St Station is definitely in Gadigal land but so are many of the other stops (Baranagaroo, Martin Place, Central, etc)

[Swift]

On that basis, Sydney would be a more indicative choice of name.
This choice of Gadigal is obviously being employed as a way to promote a progressive agenda.

[tonyp]

One government Aboriginal heritage officer I worked with on guidelines for Aboriginal heritage years ago found the "white guilt" thing embarrassing and that it was being exploited by a slick grievance "industry", noting that all the original inhabitants of the tribe were dead anyway, so it hardly mattered. If I said that here, there'd be outrage!

NSW is the one state in Australia that has acknowledged the original inhabitants through place names on an industrial scale since 1788. It's hardly a deficiency that we need to rectify. The important thing in this case is to relate the stop name to an actual place. If they want to call it Gadigal, there has to be a locality or feature called "Gadigal" there.

[moa999]

If they want to call it Gadigal, there has to be a locality or feature called "Gadigal" there.

It's on Gadigal land. Simple.

What feature spawned Warrawee, Wahroonga, Woolloomooloo or Coogee?

[Swift]

It's like the ABC have been put in charge of naming train stations now.

[grog]

Maybe lay off the sky news talking points and stick to talking about transport?

[tonyp]

Maybe lay off the sky news talking points and stick to talking about transport?

It is about transport - stop names being associated with a locality. A precise locality, not one that extended from South Head to Cooks River. We need to give the passenger something more specific than that to identify where they are.

[Swift]

Maybe lay off the sky news talking points and stick to talking about transport?

Not when it's transport being affected.

[grog]

[rogf24]

I too hate station names like Southern Cross with no reference to locality.