A real risk linked to platform overcrowding is anticipated as thousands of commuters switch from driverless metro trains to get to the city, according to an internal government document. 

A delay of only two to four minutes will cause massive overcrowding at Chatswood station as almost 4500 passengers transfer from metro trains to Sydney Trains on the North Shore Line between 8am to 9am, the busiest time slot of the morning peak. 

Overall, the total number of passengers switching trains or exiting Chatswood station between 8am to 9am is forecasted to double to 16,544 passengers as the metro line opens on 26 May. 

Thousands of commuters will be stranded on the platform causing massive crowd control risks. 

"The biggest challenge [at Chatswood] will be managing two train loads of Sydney Metro customers arriving on platform two to board one Sydney Trains service on platform one ... where the service on platform one is delayed by as little as 2-4 minutes," the document warns. 

The document predicts approximately 1400 passengers will be left on the platform if one Sydney Train service is late during peak hour. 

If two are late, there will be around 2000 passengers on the platform waiting. However, platform one only has a maximum capacity of 1000 people. 

"In addition to more services running on the North Shore Line, we’ve put in place a range of strategies to ensure customers can continue to make convenient connections on an expanded system," Transport for NSW said. "Comprehensive measures have been put in place to manage crowds and we will continue to monitor and streamline processes."

Station staff are expected to meet a target of 60 second dwell time for trains, as commuters need to be evenly spread across the station and staff need to “prevent customers from running to the closing doors of trains”. 

In addition, extra staff including “door controllers” will be allocated to manage crowds as part of the measure to control overcrowding. 

For instances of “overcrowding”, controllers may direct trains to skip stations before Chatswood to allow for more room capacity and minimise delays. 

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