Railways and Tramways of Australia

Harbour and city

 

The Metro line under Sydney Harbour and through the central business district opened on 19 August 2024.

 

Australia’s first Metro line opened between Chatswood and Tallawong in May 2019. It provided passengers with fully automated trains running high-frequency services. Planning was underway to extend the Metro to Sydney’s central business district and further south. It involved construction of a new line from Chatswood through to Sydenham and conversion of the existing Sydenham to Bankstown railway to a Metro line.

 

Between Chatswood and Sydenham the line extends 15.5 kilometres and is almost completely underground. Chatswood and Sydenham stations are above ground, but the Metro line enters the tunnel south of Chatswood and north of Sydenham. Intermediate Metro stations were built at Crows Nest, Victoria Cross, Barangaroo, Martin Place, Gadigal, Central and Waterloo. Martin Place and Central stations included passenger connections directly to Sydney Trains stations. Extensive testing of Metro trains on the full length of the line took place before it was opened.

 

Plans to open the Metro between Chatswood and Sydenham on 4 August 2024 were delayed until final approval was received from the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR). It was finally opened to the public on 19 August, with the first trains departing from Tallawong at 4.38 am and from Sydenham at 4.54 am. Many people queued to be on the first services. The line between Tallawong and Sydenham was named the M1 Metro North West & Bankstown Line, anticipating its extension to Bankstown. By the end of the opening day, 190,000 passenger journeys had been recorded. Opening of the line between Sydenham and Bankstown is expected before the end of 2026.

 

The new Metro line provided enhanced travel for train passengers in Sydney’s central business district and under Sydney Harbour.

 

Bibliography

‘New Sydney Metro line opening delayed awaiting rail safety regulator sign-off’, Railway Digest, vol. 62, no. 9, September 2024, p 16.

O Roberts, ‘Trains, trams, metros…oh my!’, Railway Digest, vol. 62, no. 10, October 2024, p 34–41.

‘Sydney Metro extension opened’, Table Talk, no. 385, September 2024, pp 2–3.