Sydney Metro - Tallawong to Bankstown

[tonyp]

Revealed: When the Southwest Metro will open

The long-awaited Sydenham to Bankstown Metro line will start service in spring with train commuters having been forced on to buses as the conversion of the old heavy track took place.

Exclusive and Linda Silmalis

May 29, 2026 - 5:37PM
The Sunday Telegraph

Internal Minns government documents have revealed transport officials expect the long-awaited Sydenham to Bankstown Metro to start commuter services in October.

Works began on Sydney’s newest Metro project in early 2021, with train commuters forced on buses as the conversion of the old heavy track took place.

Different opening dates have been mooted over the years, with the Minns government declaring the Metro would be operational in the second half of this year.

Internal Sydney Metro documents released in state parliament this week have outlined the key milestones of each of the works.

An older document shows officials were expecting the first passenger services to start in “January 2027”.

By February this year, the date had moved to “December 2026”.

In a sign of how quickly work is taking place, the most recent document – dated April 2026 – has declared the first passenger services would begin “October 2026” after an “asset handover” in July.

The date fits with the publicly available information on the progress of the Metro, which has entered an “on-track testing program”.

As part of the program, individual components of the railway are being trialled together as a unified system with the testing focused on ensuring trains, signalling, platform screen doors, mechanical gap fillers and station systems operate together.

Sydney Metro has declared the testing is one of the final steps in the goal of delivering a turn-up-and-go service from day one. .

The move follows the completion of more than 3,600 kilometres of loaded train testing, with transport officials using 115,500 litres of water to simulate a full passenger load of 1,540 customers.

When services begin between Bankstown and Sydenham, trains will run every four minutes in the peak with metro services expected to move around 18,000 passengers an hour in the morning peak between Bankstown and Central.

While not committing to an October date, Transport Minister John Graham said the documents confirmed “public advice” that the government was working towards “an opening later this year”.

“With multiple moving parts, this is a huge transformation of a former heavy rail line to world-class metro and we will name a date when we are confident that date won’t change,” he said.

“Commuters and businesses have shown such great patience during construction as work has progressed.

“We will respect the process of the rail regulator and required safety checks before we update Southwest Sydney further.”
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[rtt_rules]

yaH

[rtt_rules]

And this is why Bankstown will need a Metro and the previous DD service was never going to be adequate

Key Demographic Insights

Population Trends: Between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, the City of Canterbury Bankstown saw a massive increase in residents born in India (an additional 1,436 persons).

Local Suburbs: In specific neighborhoods such as Lakemba, people born in India make up roughly 8.8% of the population. Emerging Community: Alongside Nepali and Bangladeshi communities, the Indian demographic is one of the most prominent emerging communities in the region.

That number has likely crossed 10% by now.

Sub-cont typically go for apartment living, not houses as this is what most middle-class Indians (the ones that move to Oz) are used to.

[rtt_rules]

A few weeks back we were all bitching about the prolonged testing phase and requirement to test the entire M1 prior to opening the SW section.

This from Brisbane's Cross River Rail disaster project.

Testing, Commissioning, and Regulatory Requirements
Once construction is completed, the Cross River Rail tunnel must undergo a mandatory testing and commissioning phase overseen by the National Rail Safety Regulator. This process, which can take a minimum of two years, ensures safety compliance and operational readiness. The extensive testing and certification requirements were not fully accounted for in the original 2024 or 2026 completion targets, contributing to the revised 2029 operational date

That's for a manually driven railway in a long tunnel.

[Merc1107]

That's for a manually driven railway in a long tunnel.

I wonder what defines "long" in this context? Not sure about Melbourne's newest tunnel, but the last one in Perth (their first tunnel of more than trifling length) needed nowhere near as much testing.

[rtt_rules]

That's for a manually driven railway in a long tunnel.

I wonder what defines "long" in this context? Not sure about Melbourne's newest tunnel, but the last one in Perth (their first tunnel of more than trifling length) needed nowhere near as much testing.

True, I'm working on the basis that "long" and "complex" means that the tunnel has at least one but more likely two underground stations.

[tonyp]

https://www.sydneymetro.info/article/ne ... -tallawong

[tonyp]

https://transportnsw.info/news/2026/upc ... dney-metro

[tonyp]

A toss-up whether to post this in Rail Observations or here, given that this appears to double as the de facto general Sydney Metro thread at present.

Sydney Metro Corporate Plan update.

https://www.sydneymetro.info/media/document/51486

Amongst other interesting information, I see they're planning to nearly double the fleet size by 2028. This would presumably include stock for the lines under construction, but the figure of 80 suggests also extra stock for M1.

M1 - 45
Metro Western Sydney - 12
Metro West - 16

It seems unlikely that the Metro West fleet is included in a 2028 objective as the line won't open until 2032, unless they are delivered extremely early. So that would an extra 23 trains for M1, or if Metro West fleet is included in the objective, 8 extra trains.

[rtt_rules]

A toss-up whether to post this in Rail Observations or here, given that this appears to double as the de facto general Sydney Metro thread at present.

Sydney Metro Corporate Plan update.

https://www.sydneymetro.info/media/document/51486

Amongst other interesting information, I see they're planning to nearly double the fleet size by 2028. This would presumably include stock for the lines under construction, but the figure of 80 suggests also extra stock for M1.

M1 - 45
Metro Western Sydney - 12
Metro West - 16

It seems unlikely that the Metro West fleet is included in a 2028 objective as the line won't open until 2032, unless they are delivered extremely early. So that would an extra 23 trains for M1, or if Metro West fleet is included in the objective, 8 extra trains.

The number of stations and stabling facilities mentioned for 2028 seems to include M1 and MWSA (can we call it M2 yet?), only, likewise route km etc.

80 train sets is an odd number as all three Metro's add up to 73, so assuming MW isn't included then does this mean 19 more sets are to be ordered? Seems a large number as this is almost increasing the fleet by 50%. So a 4min timetable will would reduce to easily 3min with 4 sets spare. However, you would think the govt would have been very quick to announce they are improving M1's service capacity. Did Metro jump the gate?

Also as its June 2026, is two years enough time to order and deliver?

[tonyp]

The original metro planning anticipated additional M1 fleet by 2024, so it's going to be somewhat overdue by 2028. By then, the patronage of the completed line would be well over 100 million per annum, by far the busiest passenger rail line in Australia. I think there would definitely be a need for 3 minute peak headways by then. The Corporate Plan is either an early election promise in disguise, or a harbinger of another dropped ball by this government.

[rtt_rules]

The original metro planning anticipated additional M1 fleet by 2024, so it's going to be somewhat overdue by 2028. By then, the patronage of the completed line would be well over 100 million per annum, by far the busiest passenger rail line in Australia. I think there would definitely be a need for 3 minute peak headways by then. The Corporate Plan is either an early election promise in disguise, or a harbinger of another dropped ball by this government.

The minimum lead time would be I assume 18 -24 mth for the first sets so I'm thinking they are cutting it fine to announce this year and be delivered by June 2028.