The fear of missing your train and having to wait ages for the next one plays a big role in scaring people away from public transport. That’s not an issue with a metro train every four to five minutes. You don’t need to look at your phone to make sure you’ll make your train,just show up. This will all go a long way in convincing people to ditch the car.

I’m typing this article at Barangaroo metro station. It is breathtaking. Gorgeous sandstone adorns the station;words can’t do it justice. And every station is like this. The aesthetics of a station are crucial in making people want to take the train. No one wants to feel like an afterthought to transport planners;the Sydney Metro makes you feel like a VIP.

Is the Sydney Metro perfect? No. Stations are further apart than I would like;if I’d been in charge,I definitely would’ve added a few stations (I hear you,Schofields!) I might have even run it in a different corridor;the Labor government under Morris Iemma wanted to run it along Victoria Road before cancelling their original form of the Sydney Metro altogether. The project was far too expensive,a problem that afflicts most transit projects in the Anglosphere,and I’ll never agree that the metro should run to Bankstown,favouring a new corridor to the south-east (although I do see the conversion of the T3 as a net good).

But let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good. You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who believes the Sydney Metro has done more harm than good to Sydney. It’s now time for the Minns government to do what the previous Liberal government could not:ensure dense housing gets built around this once-in-a-generation project. That will allow more people to benefit from this project. And to their credit,they’re doing a good job,having promised to upzone stations such as Kellyville,Crows Nest and Macquarie Park.

Here’s to hoping they ignore the NIMBYs,who fail to reflect the predominant views of young Sydneysiders who want dense,affordable housing in their city. Movements like Sydney YIMBY have proven crucial to fighting fears of high-density living.

I can’t wait to see dense,vibrant,walkable neighbourhoods pop up along the new line. I’m excited that the next generation of Sydneysiders may get around more by metro than by car;they may never know the pains of sitting in soul-crushing traffic,spending thousands on tolls,petrol and maintenance every year.

As we look to the future,we can’t measure the success of the Sydney Metro solely by how many people use it. We must measure it by how it reshapes our city and our way of life.

Sharath Mahendran is a 22-year-old civil engineering student from UNSW who hopes to work on Sydney’s transport projects in the future.