Major Sydenham upgrade for Sydney Metro

The Sydenham Metro Upgrade contract was awarded to John Holland Pty Ltd and Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd.

When metro services begin at Sydenham in 2024, customers will have more trains, faster trips and new and direct access to job and educational precincts like North Sydney, Macquarie University and Macquarie Park.

The main features of the upgraded Sydenham Station include:

• Two new station entrances at Burrows Road and Railway Parade;
• A new concourse over the station with lifts and stairs to each platform, including the two Sydney Metro platforms – this means there will be two concourses at Sydenham, one at each end of the platforms;
• Straightened metro platforms and platform screen doors on the Sydney Metro platforms to keep people and objects away from tracks and allows trains to get in and out of stations much faster;
• Easy interchange for passengers between Sydney Trains and Sydney Metro services;
• Improved interchange for bus customers.

The contract includes major railway upgrade work to the existing rail system at Sydenham to allow for the introduction of the Sydney Metro system.  It also includes the reconfiguration of existing track and rail systems to segregate the T3 Bankstown Line and the goods line, installation of metro tracks and rail systems including crossover and turnback facilities.

Sydenham Station platforms 1 and 2 will be upgraded to Sydney Metro standards, while existing platforms 3, 4, 5 and 6 will continue to be used by Sydney Trains.

This is the second major contract to be awarded for the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project, which is Stage 2 of Sydney Metro. The $2.81 billion contract to build the 15.5km twin railway tunnels between Chatswood and Sydenham and six new stations announced in June. 

Due to the massive scale of the Sydney Metro project, the final contract value may vary due to ongoing fine-tuning and optimisation involving the five other major contracts, for which tenders have yet to be received.

The Sydney Metro City & Southwest project cost range has been set at $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion. The final project budget will be confirmed once all major contracts are awarded, following the same process used for the $8.3 billion Sydney Metro Northwest.

Major construction activity has already started in the CBD for the new Sydney Metro stations, and the first tunnel boring machine will be in the ground by the end of next year.

The planning process has also started on the Sydenham to Bankstown upgrade, with the community invited to have their say as part of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement.

Work is scheduled to begin at Sydenham in 2018.

Due to the massive scale of the Sydney Metro project, the final contract value may vary due to ongoing fine-tuning and optimisation involving the five other major contracts, for which tenders have yet to be received.

UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2018:

Due to the massive scale of the Sydney Metro project, the final contract value has been adjusted due to ongoing fine-tuning and optimisation.

Work as part of this contract includes:

• Constructing a new aqueduct over the existing heritage-listed Sydenham Pit while retaining the existing heritage listed pump station
• Diversion of the existing Sydney Water culvert drainage system to improve drainage capacity while enabling Sydney Metro construction
• Optimised staging of work to minimise disruption to suburban rail operations
• Additional design work on the interface with other contractors
• Major utility relocation works
• Ongoing design work with Sydney Trains in regards to operational services.