Commuters of the Inner West, we’ve got good news. The major construction project converting the 130-year-old Sydenham to Bankstown train line into a metro line has just reached a major milestone, with the first metro train successfully operating on the shiny new track just this morning (Thursday, April 3).
After closing to the public back in September 2024, the popular train line – running through Sydney’s Inner West from Sydenham to Bankstown, serving 11 stations including Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Lakemba – has been under construction. As well as upgrading the stations to meet the accessibility standards of all existing Sydney Metro stations, the construction work involves transforming the entire line into an extension of the existing Sydney Metro City line which currently runs from Tallawong to Sydenham. Unsurprisingly, it’s no easy feat – with train strikes and construction challenges pushing back the opening date of the line from 2025 until 2026.
Today though, metro testing has officially begun – marking the first time a metro train has operated on the track, kicking off an estimated 6,500 hours of train testing due to be completed before the new line opens. The initial testing phase will see the first test train, titled ‘TS 28’, travel along the line at speeds under 25 kilometres per hour, under manual control. At 4am this morning, train set ‘TS 28’ completed the inaugural 6.5-kilometre journey to Campsie Station in five hours (a journey that will take just 11 minutes, without a driver in sight, when the line is fully operational).
When the line opens (with an opening date slated for 2026), the Sydney Metro City line will stretch for 66-kilometres, connecting Sydney’s north west with the south west via the CBD – zooming from Campsie to Central in just 18 minutes, and Campsie to Chatswood in 33 minutes, with services set to run every four minutes at peak times. In the meantime, passengers will be braving it out on the (free) rail replacement bus service (more on that here).
You can learn more about the progress and plans for Sydney Metro over here.
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