‘Disruptive for passengers’: Metro project to cost an extra $1 billion

A troubled project converting a key rail line in Sydney’s south-west to carry driverless metro trains will cost the state government up to an extra $1.1 billion and force tens of thousands of train commuters to catch buses for a year.

The surging cost will push the price tag for the Metro City and Southwest project to about $21.6 billion, up from an original forecast of $12 billion when the project was announced last decade.

The commitment to convert part of the Bankstown line comes as an interim review of Sydney’s metro projects canvassed the possibility of an “eastern extension” of the $25 billion Metro West line, which under existing plans was to terminate in the CBD. Zetland in Sydney’s inner south has long been touted as a potential site for a station.

Premier Chris Minns and Transport Minister Jo Haylen board a new metro train which is undergoing testing on the main section of the City and Southwest line.Credit: Nick Moir

The interim report has also raised the prospect of delays to work on Metro West to help pay for an extra $1.1 billion needed to complete the Bankstown line conversion.

However, it warned that changes to “procurement timings” may delay the Metro West opening beyond 2030 and push up its cost. Sydney Metro has previously considered a range of scenarios that would delay the opening of the Metro West rail line until as late as 2034.

The decision to proceed with the troubled Bankstown line conversion has forced the government to commit up to an extra $1.1 billion from existing transport budgets, which raises the spectre of potential cuts to other projects.

The Bankstown line conversion is a part of Metro City and Southwest project, which extends from Chatswood, under Sydney Harbour and the CBD to Sydenham and onto Bankstown.

Platforms at Central Station for the Metro City and Southwest rail line are largely complete.Credit: Nick Moir

Asked on Tuesday what cuts would be made to other projects to fund the $1.1 billion, Premier Chris Minns said the review into Sydney Metro was looking at other funding options, and the government was “investigating ways of providing revenue to Metro West”.

“The blowouts in projected budgets are a real concern for the NSW government. We have got the financing right for this [City and Southwest project]. We’ll release information about Metro West and other projects towards the end of the year,” he said.

Minns has left open the possibility of imposing levies – often referred to as value capture – on developers and other large landowners who benefit from the uplift in property values as a result of public infrastructure such as Metro West.

Commuters will be forced to catch replacement buses while a section of the Bankstown line is closed for about 12 months.Credit: Edwina Pickles

“I’m not closing the door on it. We are looking at potential revenue measures that could see money coming into the project and sustain and justify the cost,” he said.

The review led by former federal bureaucrat Mike Mrdak has asked bureaucrats to provide updates on the Metro West line so that the government can consider “schedule adjustments required to support cash flowing” to the Bankstown line conversion.

His interim report said that the increased cost of the Bankstown line conversion may require delays of up to a year on some work on Metro West that is yet to be contracted.

The work on converting the Bankstown line will result in it being shut to commuters for about 12 months after the main section of the City and Southwest is opened to passengers next year.

The temporary plan for disrupted commuters will require transport officials to use about 100 buses during the 12-month shutdown of the line between Sydenham and Bankstown, which comes amid a bus driver shortage.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said planning was starting 12 months before the closure to ensure dedicated bus routes which would have different stopping patterns. “It just won’t be a meandering rail replacement bus through every single station. There will be express services,” she said.

“We don’t want to sugarcoat this – it will be disruptive for passengers along the Bankstown line for 12 months.”

The government confirmed that the main section of the Metro City and Southwest line from Sydenham to Chatswood via the CBD was due to open between July and October next year. The section between Sydenham and Chatswood is due to open by October 2025.

Business Western Sydney executive director David Borger said the government had made the right call to bite the bullet and complete the Bankstown line conversion.

“This project has always bigger than just converting the Bankstown line to metro. The longer-term benefit is to improve the capacity and reliability of the wider Sydney Trains network,” he said.

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