The complex extension of Sydney Metro services from Sydenham to Bankstown will be completed in 2026 due to the ongoing impacts that industrial action has had on the project.
This conversion of a century old train line to a brand-new state of the art metro is a very complex and difficult project that the NSW Government warned last year could take over 1 year to complete.
The complexity of this project has been compounded by more than 130 days of work on the project that have been impacted by industrial action and its subsequent effects, placing increasing pressure on the construction and testing programs.
Industrial action limited access to work sites and restricted the provision of crucial work permits, which are required for contractors to safely complete work in a live electrical network environment.
This is particularly crucial at the interfaces between the future metro network and the existing Sydney Trains assets.
This has required significant reprogramming of vital construction activities including overhead wiring upgrades, electrification changes, disconnection from adjoining rail networks, track improvements, and platform extensions at Bankstown Station.
This resulted in a delay to the commencement of dynamic train testing, a crucial component of safely testing and commissioning the new railway.
Despite the significant disruptions, the project team and delivery partners have worked tirelessly to progress the Southwest Conversion.
Dynamic testing of Metro Trains on the Southwest conversion is imminent, following approval by the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator.
Passengers on the M1 Line will have experienced some disruption to their commutes with partial closures of the service to allow for work to progress when possible. These disruptions will continue as the testing program commences. We acknowledge passengers will be frustrated and apologise for any inconvenience caused. These possessions will allow the team to complete necessary work to extend metro services to Bankstown.
All platform screen doors and mechanical gap fillers along the line from Marrickville to Bankstown have been installed, taking teams approximately 500 hours to fit out each station.
Since the conversion began a large portion of works have been completed including new lifts installed at Wiley Park, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Punchbowl and Canterbury Stations, as well as new kiss and ride zones and refurbishing of station buildings and platform surfaces.
A total of 28.3 kilometres of high-tech railway fencing has been installed along the alignment, which is made up of 5.8km of segregation fencing to separate the existing freight line and the metro corridor and 22.5km of security fencing.
The security fencing includes first-of-its-kind intrusion and object detection system which uses fibre optic cables to monitor for possible intrusions.
Southwest Link buses will continue to operate and will continue to be free for passengers until the new Southwest Metro opens.
Minister for Transport John Graham said:
"The Government has always said that this complex and difficult project may take longer than 1 year. We need to let people know that over 130 days of work have been impacted by industrial action. That means we'll complete this project in 2026.
"Works like upgrades to overhead wiring and station platforms, as well as electrical work to disconnect the line from the wider train network haven't been able to proceed on schedule. Testing will start soon but industrial action has been very disruptive.
"Converting a 130-year-old rail line to metro standards is a highly complex project and we are very sorry that passengers will have to wait a bit longer to jump on the metro from Bankstown to the Sydney CBD.
"We promise it will be worth the wait - passengers can look forward to fast, safe and reliable trips, with a train arriving every 4 minutes in the peak.
"When the extension to Bankstown opens in 2026, a trip from Bankstown to Central will take just 28 minutes, Marrickville to Macquarie University will take just 36 minutes and Dulwich Hill to Victoria Cross will take 21 minutes."
