Metro Mania continues as Southwest delivers record-breaking week

More than 1.8 million passenger trips were recorded across the M1 Line during the first seven days of Southwest operations, including more than 250,000 trips on the Southwest section between Marrickville and Bankstown, with over 99 per cent of services running on time. This breaks the previous week record of 1.6 million metro trips in June 2026 during Vivid.

The bumper week follows a record-breaking opening day on Friday 30 October, when more than 300,000 trips were recorded across the M1 Line, eclipsing the previous daily record of 291,000 trips set on 12 March this year.

Metro mania didn’t stop after opening weekend, with 275,000 trips recorded on Monday, up 16 per cent on the previous Monday and setting another record as the busiest Monday ever on the M1 Line.

Friday’s record was then broken again on Thursday 5 November, with over 314,000 metro trips.

From early-bird train enthusiasts joining the first passenger service from Bankstown at 4.31am, to students, workers, families and curious Sydneysiders giving the new line a go, passengers have well and truly embraced the southwest metro.

Across the first week:
• Over 1.8 million passenger trips were recorded across the M1 North West & Bankstown Line
• Over 250,000 passenger trips were recorded on the Southwest section
• 2,750 metro services operated between Tallawong and Bankstown
• Over 99 per cent of services ran on time
• Bankstown was the busiest station on the Southwest section, followed by Campsie and Marrickville
• 14 per cent of Southwest journeys connected with Sydney Trains and 8 per cent connected with buses
• 83 per cent of passengers rated their Metro experience as easy.

The start of Southwest services has transformed the former 130-year-old Bankstown railway into part of a continuous 66-kilometre, 31-station metro railway from Bankstown to Tallawong, allowing Southwest customers to travel directly through the CBD, under Sydney Harbour and into the northwest without changing trains.

Weekday commuters are now seeing trains every four minutes during the peaks, with more than 15 services an hour. More than 2,600 services are scheduled to operate across the M1 Line each week.

The change is particularly significant at Southwest stations where some customers previously had just four services an hour during the morning peak.

With passengers continuing to turn out in record numbers, Sydney’s Metro mania is showing no signs of slowing down.

With another weekend just around the corner, customers are encouraged to get out and explore the new alignment, experience the new metro service and discover everything Sydney’s southwest has to offer.