Project overview
About Sydney Metro City & Southwest
Sydney Metro is Australia’s biggest public transport project.
From the north west, metro rail is being extended under Sydney Harbour, through new underground city stations and beyond to the south west.
In 2024, Sydney will have 31 metro railway stations and a 66-kilometre stand-alone metro railway system, revolutionising the way Australia’s biggest city travels.
Chatswood to Sydenham
The Environmental Impact Statement for this project was on display in 2017 and around 560 submissions were received. The Submissions and Preferred Infrastructure Report for the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro Upgrade was on exhibition during July 2018.
Project approval was received on 10 January, 2017.
Using five tunnel boring machines, tunnelling finished in early 2020 on new 15.5-kilometre twin railway tunnels between the end of the Metro North West line at Chatswood and Sydenham.
New stations will be delivered at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Pitt Street and Waterloo, along with new underground platforms at Central Station.
Sydenham to Bankstown
Sydney Metro received planning approval on 19 December 2018 to upgrade the T3 Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Bankstown to metro standards. In 2024, customers will benefit from a new fully-air conditioned Sydney Metro train every four minutes in the peak in each direction with lifts, level platforms and platform screen doors for safety, accessibility and increased security.
For more information see the Bankstown Line Metro Conversion newsletter.
The Submissions and Preferred Infrastructure Report for the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro upgrade was on exhibition until 18 July 2018.
You can view a summary of the project in the Sydenham to Bankstown Preferred Infrastructure Report Overview.
The Submissions and Preferred Infrastructure Report for Sydenham to Bankstown metro upgrade and accompanying documents may be viewed on the NSW Department of Planning and Environment website and the document library.
Project features
- An air-conditioned metro train every four minutes in the peak
- Fully accessible stations including lifts
- Improved CCTV surveillance, platform screen doors, platforms level with train floors, minimal gaps between platforms and trains
- New or upgraded concourses and new station entries
- Improved station interchange facilities
- All trains stopping at all local stations – no waiting for the right train
- Less time spent waiting due to higher frequency services
- Safe and efficient connections during the peak and non-peak periods between key centres along the T3 Bankstown Line
- Reduced travel times to key employment and education precincts
- New, direct and fast services to Martin Place, Barangaroo, North Sydney, Chatswood and Macquarie Park
- Interchanges to other rail services at Sydenham, Central and Martin Place.
Indicative timeline
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early works | ||||||||
| Tunnel construction | ||||||||
| Station excavation and structual works | ||||||||
| Services facility excavation and structural works | ||||||||
| Tunnel fit out | ||||||||
| Station construction and fit out | ||||||||
| Services facility construction and fit out | ||||||||
| Testing and commissioning |
Room for 100,000 extra customers across Sydney
Sydney Metro, together with signalling and infrastructure upgrades across the existing network, will increase the capacity of train services across Sydney from about 120 an hour today, to up to 200 services an hour beyond 2024.
After the conversion, metro trains from Bankstown will run at least every four minutes in the peak, or 15 trains an hour.
The metro network will be fully segregated from the existing Sydney Trains network between Sydenham and Bankstown, improving the reliability of services on the line. Interchange between Sydney Metro and Sydney Trains at both locations will be provided, with improvements to station way-finding and signage.