Central Walk, a key element of the $955 million renewal of Sydney’s Central Station, is now open – transforming the passenger journey through the heart of Australia’s largest rail hub.

Designed by Woods Bagot, Central Walk brings light and clarity to the passenger experience, a single broad concourse with easy connections to suburban and regional rail platforms, the light rail and Sydney Metro, due to complete in 2024.

It replaces a maze of commuter tunnels that made navigation challenging and crowded during peak travel periods, providing a clean east-west connection including escalator and lift access to suburban platforms 16-23.

“This was always a challenging part of the Central Station project, a very important connection to the Metro and rest of the station,” says John Prentice, Principal and transport leader at Woods Bagot.

“It’s the first time the suburban lines have had this level of connection, clarity of movement and orientation for passengers.”

For customer orientation, bringing daylight into the space through skylights and the lift apertures was important, while consistent sandstone materiality is integral to the design.

Prentice says the design team clad the interior of Central Walk with moulded Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) panels to echo the sandstone used in the original station buildings, completed in 1906.