More Delays In Southwest Metro Opening

Commuters will be waiting until at least April for the final stage of the southwest metro line to open, following more delays to the long-awaited $21.6 billion conversion.

Sydney Metro is halfway through low-speed testing of the new single-deck trains between Sydenham and Bankstown, with high-speed testing not expected to start until September or October, subject to regulatory approval.

Premier Chris Minns dodged questions on whether the metro would open in the first quarter of 2026, saying he didn’t want to commit to a specific deadline.

“We’ve obviously got a target date and a completion date. But when you’ve got major infrastructure projects like the one that we’re trying to pull off here, things can go wrong, and it’s been with some bitter experience that that’s been the case,” he said.

“We want to make sure that when we announce that date, the public has got confidence that it will be completed. We believe it will be in 2026, but the date will be released as soon as possible.”

Minns warned that converting the existing rail line was incredibly complex, and a number of factors could “go wrong between now and the opening date”.

“This is not an easy build,” he said. “Reconfiguring an existing heavy rail operation is one of the most difficult transport projects you can imagine. To do it in an active corridor, on a tight time-frame with people watching over your back is particularly difficult.”

Metro conversion work at Bankstown Station has reached 80 per cent completion, with the former railway platform at the station undergoing rebuilds to create a central plaza between the Sydney Metro and Sydney Trains stations.

The 90-metre plaza will feature dining and retail options, and provide a pedestrian connection between north and south sides of Bankstown.

More than 100 workers are on-site daily at Bankstown delivering what the government says will be an “historic” transformation to the station that first opened to trains in 1909.

Repeated delays “incompetent Transport blowout” says union

Under the initial plans of the previous Coalition government, the Sydenham-Bankstown section of the metro was meant to open in 2024, along with the second stage of the M1 line between Chatsood and Sydenham.

Previous discussions of opening dates earlier in the year had the state government claiming metro delays were due to the large-scale industrial action, with Transport Minister John Graham claiming limited access to work sites and restricted provision of work permits was “very disruptive”.

At the time, the NSW branch of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union called the delay “another incompetent Transport blowout” on a post across their social media pages.

“Instead of taking responsibility, they’re once again playing the blame game on ‘industrial action’,” they said.

“It’s time for the government to stop shifting the blame and focus on actually improving transport in NSW.”

Nine stations along the 13-kilometre T3 train line between Sydenham and Bankstown were closed in September 2024 for the conversion, with up to 60,000 commuters switching to replacement buses or alternate transport to meet their travel needs.

Once complete, the converted metro would see a trip from Bankstown to Central station completed in 28 minutes, six minutes faster than the same journey on suburban trains.