“Nightmare” crowds at Vivid could be made worse this weekend as repair work is due to wipe out two major public transport services.
Trackwork will take place between 2am on Saturday and 2am on Monday, meaning that chaos could reign along the network on Sunday and on the Monday King’s Birthday public holiday when large crowds are expected to descend on the city for Vivid.
Buses will replace trains along the T1 North Shore and Western line as well as the T9 Northern line – both which cross from the north shore through the city – from Saturday to Monday as the trackwork is done.
Those who were hoping to board a train between Berowra and Hornsby or Hornsby and Strathfield will have to hop on a bus instead.
Trains will also run to a changed timetable between Hornsby and the City and Strathfield and the City.
The trackwork along these lines may also affect Metro travellers.
The Blue Mountains line will also be affected with most trains starting and ending at Blacktown until 10pm on Monday. To make matters worse, Transport for NSW is warning that replacement buses may be affected by driver shortages.
“We are doing all we can to minimise the impact to your journey and provide a safe service, however, cancellations or delays may occur,” they said.
Many trains will also not stop at Circular Quay due to large crowds in the precinct, to avoid this use Wynyard, Martin Place or St James stations instead and walk to Vivid.
A number of other lines will also experience trackwork from 4am to 6am on Saturday and Sunday, which is not expected to impact passengers for Vivid.
T2 will have buses replace trains between Ashfield and Central.
Buses will also replace trains between Sydenham and Central on the T3.
T9 will have buses replace trains between Strathfield and Wynyard.
Sydney’s festival of light is already famous for its crowds, however, attendees have complained about even larger throngs of people at this year’s event.
Footage of thousands of people crammed into train stations or along parts of the walk have gone viral as some people liken the city to New Delhi or Tokyo.
One such video taken on Sunday night showed people pressed together at Circular Quay train station, the major public transport option at the heart of the light walk.
Vivid has long warned attendees that weekends attract the largest crowds.
“Generally, Friday, Saturday, Sunday nights and the Monday public holiday night (June 12) attract the largest crowds,” the Vivid website reads.
“Those with young families and strollers should also consider coming to Vivid Sydney on weeknights when visitor numbers are expected to be lower than the weekends, and earlier in the night.”
Those viewing the viral videos were quick to say they didn’t believe the trip to the city for the festival was worth the crowds, with one commenter saying it was a “big reason why I hate going to Vivid”.
“I would rather be anywhere else but there,” another said.
“I’ll pass, everyone just wants their new TikTok video and Instagram photo.”
“The last time I went OMG the crowds were so bad will never go again,” one person commented