Sydney’s metro extension might not be open by Christmas

A complex multibillion-dollar conversion of an existing rail line to metro train standards as part of the final stage of Sydney’s new M1 line is at risk of not opening this year as planned due to delays partly blamed on industrial action by rail workers.

The extent of the delay to the opening of the converted metro line between Sydenham and Bankstown will hinge on testing of driverless trains, due to start within the next few weeks and which will take months.

Part of the existing M1 metro line was closed for a third day on Monday to carry out overhead wiring connections for the Bankstown line’s conversion, forcing commuters to use double-deck trains or buses between Sydenham and Central station.

Premier Chris Minns (left) chats to Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan at a giant construction site near Rosehill Racecourse. Credit: Nick Moir

Questioned about whether the converted section will open this year, Sydney Metro chief executive Peter Regan said the agency was “working through that at the moment”, adding that the project had faced challenges including industrial action which forced a resequencing of work.

“Clearly we will be getting the line open as soon as possible,” he said. “We have got a way to go. It is pretty complicated work.”

He declined to provide a date for the start of testing other than to say it would “commence shortly”. The government and rail unions have been at loggerheads for months over a new pay deal, which had resulted in repeated industrial action until a halt was ordered last month.

The 13-kilometre section of what was a heavy rail line between Bankstown and Sydenham has been closed since September to allow it to be converted to carry metro trains. The Minns government committed up to an extra $1.1 billion in late 2023 to complete the troubled conversion, which will result in metro trains running between Bankstown and Tallawong in the north-west via the CBD.

A worker inside a tunnel boring machine about to weave its way under Parramatta for the Metro West line.Credit: Nick Moir

Last year, the then-transport minister Jo Haylen warned that the conversion of the Bankstown line could take longer than 12 months due to the complexity of the work. Since the heavy rail line was closed for conversion works, replacement buses have been shuttling up to 60,000 commuters each day between Bankstown and Sydenham.

The risk of a late opening of the final section of the M1 comes after it emerged that an $11 billion metro line to Western Sydney Airport is set to open up to six months later than planned.

The final configuration of the $25 billion Metro West line will also hinge on a vote on April 3 by Australian Turf Club members on controversial plans to sell Rosehill Racecourse to create 25,000 new homes and an extra metro station on the city’s biggest rail project between Parramatta and Sydney’s CBD.

Premier Chris Minns said the government would leave it up to turf club members to decide the racecourse’s future, and the site would not be compulsorily acquired.

A worker walks through one of the twin tunnels under Rosehill Racecourse near Parramatta on Monday.Credit: Nick Moir

“The government is only going to build a metro through the line … once. It can’t happen again. So it’s not as if the organisation will be able to revisit this opportunity in 10, 15, 20 years’ time,” he said.

Minns said the government had contingency plans if the turf club decided against selling the racecourse, but he declined to say if that meant it would consider building metro stations at Newington or Silverwater instead.

Giant boring machines have completed 80 per cent of the tunnelling for Metro West, and are weaving their way towards either end at Westmead in the west and the Sydney CBD in the east.

While tunnels extend under Rosehill Racecourse, Regan said the agency had preserved the ability to retrofit a station on the site if turf club members voted to sell it.

“The option is available. We’ve done the preparatory work [and are] continuing to look at construction opportunities along the route. Works on the existing nine stations are well under way,” he said.

Metro West is due to be completed by 2032 and will form the fourth stage of Sydney’s metro network. The 24-kilometre line will have initial service capacity for 15 trains an hour, transporting up to 21,000 passengers every 60 minutes in either direction.

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