While describing the full-length train trip as a breakthrough for the project, Graham said there was no way to convert the existing heavy rail line between Sydenham and Bankstown to metro train standards without some disruption to commuters.
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“There’s a lot of testing to go. There will be more disruption ahead. We’re warning that on the 17th and 18th of January, and the 24th and the 25th of January, the metro line will not be operating so that we can do this important work,” he said.
Coalition transport spokesperson Natalie Ward said Graham should explain when the final section of the M1 line would actually open. “Labor told commuters they’d be riding this metro in September last year. It’s now January 2026, and they’re still waiting,” she said.
The latest phase of high-speed testing of trains requires a minimum of 9000 hours and 30,000 kilometres of combined testing to be completed before the M1 line’s final stage opens.
About 79 per cent of work in the corridor in Sydney’s south-west and at stations has been completed. Tiling is largely finished at four stations and is progressing at the other six on the final section, while painting and landscaping are underway at most stations.
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Testing is also well progressed on the platform screen doors and 170 mechanical gap fillers, and the latter has passed its first round of tests at every station.
The installation of the gap fillers to platforms at eight stations has added complexity to the operation of driverless trains. The small hydraulic platforms extend to the metro carriages before screen doors open, ensuring commuters can safely step on and off when the line opens.
The cost of completing the final stretch between Sydenham and Bankstown has blown out the cost of what was formerly known as the Metro City and Southwest project to as much $23 billion, from a previous forecast of $21.6 billion.
The price tag of the city and south-west sections is now more than double the original forecast of about $11.5 billion last decade. Combined with the $7.3 billion cost of the first stage from Tallawong to Chatswood, which opened in 2019, the price tag for the entire 66-kilometre line is now $30.4 billion.
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