Train commuters face 12-month closure of Bankstown rail line

Tens of thousands of train commuters will have to catch replacement buses for nearly a year after the state government decided to proceed with the troubled conversion of the Bankstown line to carry driverless metro trains in Sydney’s south-west.

The government will confirm on Tuesday morning that it will convert the 13-kilometre stretch of rail line between Sydenham and Bankstown to metro-train standards. Sydney Metro executives briefed Labor MPs late on Monday about the plans.

Replacement buses at Sydenham station.Credit: Edwina Pickles

The closure of the T3 Bankstown line for about 12 months is expected to begin mid next year after the main section of the $20 billion Metro City and Southwest line is opened to passengers.

The period that the Bankstown line is now set to be closed to allow work on the rail conversion is shorter than a worst-case scenario of up to 15 months.

The closure of the rail line between Bankstown and Sydenham for the work will be dependent on the completion of the main section of the City and Southwest line. The latter is expected to start carrying passengers in about the middle of next year, and testing of driverless trains on the line has been underway since April.

The government has been considering recommendations in an interim report from a review into Sydney’s $64 billion metro rail projects.

The Bankstown line conversion has been a key focus of the interim report. The extended closure of the existing heavy rail line is likely to spark concern that the extra replacement buses needed to ferry commuters will worsen congestion on local roads.

Transport for NSW has refused a request by the Herald under freedom-of-information laws for access to internal documents that Sydney Metro had prepared for Transport Minister Jo Haylen about options and recommendations for the Bankstown line conversion. The request was declined on grounds that the documents were “intended for submission to cabinet”.

Under the previous government’s original plans, the conversion of the 128-year-old line was meant to be completed next year, at the same time as the main section of the City and Southwest project.

However, the previous government conceded last year that the conversion had been delayed by at least 12 months due to the pandemic, industrial action and wet weather.

Under early plans for the conversion, the Bankstown line was to have been shut for shorter periods during the first stages of the project, and for up to six months towards the end of the construction phase.

Haylen’s office was approached for comment.

The 13-kilometre stretch of rail line to be converted cuts through Haylen’s Summer Hill electorate, as well as Industrial Relations Minister Sophie Cotsis’ seat of Canterbury and Customer Service Minister Jihad Dib’s electorate of Bankstown.

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