Businesses hoping for 'salvation' from Sydney's new metro line
After two years of economic pain, the small businesses along Sydney's Southwest Metro line are breathing a sigh of relief and hoping customers will return in droves.
The first passenger service on the new line will depart Bankstown Station early on Friday morning.
The opening comes after more than two years of commuters being forced onto replacement buses to allow for the 130-year-old heavy rail T3 Bankstown line to be converted.
The 10 stops from Marrickville to Bankstown have been transformed — automatic platform doors have been installed and tracks and corridors have been upgraded.
Business operators along the route are relieved that the interruptions are finally over. The Sydenham to Bankstown extension took more than a year longer than initially forecast.
A number of staff have been let go from Casablanca. (ABC News: Charle McLean)
Talia Gill, the owner of vintage shop Casablanca near Marrickville station, has been weighing up whether she should close her doors for good.
When the station closed in 2024, commuters and people visiting the popular food hub were forced to go through Sydenham, causing a major drop in foot traffic on Illawarra Road.
Within a month Ms GIll had to let almost 10 staff go.
"They all rallied around me and said, 'We'll work for free, let's all save Casablanca', but it really became apparent that, you know, I was not going to be able to," she said.
'A lot of those people felt like my children, you know? It was really sad because it was such a new business."
The pain was only meant to last for 12 months, but a combination of industrial action and the complex challenge of retrofitting modern metro infrastructure to 130-year-old curved train platforms saw the construction timeline double.
Ms Gill is hoping the long-awaited reopening of Marrickville station will be her passion project's "salvation".
"I have definitely hung on to Casablanca not for rational reasons. Like, anyone with any kind of business sense would tell me I was crazy," she said.
"This is the last hope."
Nora Lee says she has lost 40 per cent of her customers this year. (ABC News: Charlie McLean)
Ms Gill's neighbour, Nora Lee of Vanessa's Hair Design, has also been feeling the pain.
"We lost 40 per cent of our customers this year," she said.
"I'm wishing and dreaming and really want to see what they [customers] look like tomorrow."
Camaraderie from adversity
Businesses have struggled during the constuction of the line. (ABC News: Charlie McLean)
Ms Gill said there was also an element of fear when she thought about the metro opening.
"We've waited for this moment for so long and it's exciting," she said.
"But it's also like, shit, what if it doesn't turn around our business?"
Regardless of how things play out in the coming months, Ms Gill said she was grateful the experience had brought her closer to her fellow business owners on Illawarra Road.
"When we started to face adversity, we started to drop into one another's places and say, 'How are you doing? Have you been really quiet?'" she said.
"And there was this camaraderie that would never have occurred otherwise, and, you know, that's a lovely thing and that will endure now."
Transport Minister John Graham and Member for Canterbury Sophie Cotsis acknowledged the patience of business owners and their staff.
The NSW government said new and improved public spaces along the corridor were also designed to provide more welcoming connections between stations.
The MetroWay shared path is also in the works, in a bid to further invite foot traffic.
The planned 13.8-kilometre walking, running and cycling shared path is in the procurement stage and will be designed to run parallel to the Southwest Metro.
Farewell to pink buses
Pink train replacement buses have been a source of irritation for commuters. (ABC News: Charlie McLean)
Commuters in Sydney's inner and south-west suburbs are also optimistic about Southwest Metro, and thankful to be saying goodbye to the pink buses that have been irritating them for the last two years.
The buses meant some commuters faced lengthier travel times.
University student Afifa said she would miss the pink trim of the buses but not the delays they brought to her commute.
"To go to uni right now it takes me like an hour and 10 minutes. And I've checked out the metro and it should take me like 24 minutes," she said.
"So I can sleep in a lot more in the mornings."
Member for Summer Hill Jo Haylen joined residents in farewelling the train replacement buses.
"Inner Westies are so excited to say goodbye to the pink buses and say hello to the new metro," she said.
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