Opening date locked in for final stage of Sydney’s M1 metro line

The final section of Sydney’s $30 billion M1 metro rail line will open to passengers on October 30, ending more than two years of major disruptions for commuters who have been forced to catch replacement buses in the south-west.

The NSW government confirmed on Thursday the date for the opening of the 13-kilometre stretch of the metro rail line between Sydenham and Bankstown. The first metro passenger service along the south-west corridor will depart Bankstown station at 4.31am on Friday next week.

The long-awaited opening had hinged on final safety approval for passenger services by the national rail regulator, which was received by the government on Wednesday.

Premier Chris Minns said the opening would be a “huge moment” for south-west Sydney, and he paid tribute to local communities and businesses for their patience during the drawn-out project to convert the heavy rail line to metro train standards.

“We know it’s been a really difficult last few years. We know that you’ve forgone customers and had a dip in trade during that period,” he said.

“I hope that you’re rewarded as a result of staying in and digging in through that period, as we see literally tens of thousands of new people use this transport line.”

Sydney Metro is forecasting a 13 per cent rise to 300,000 passenger trips on weekdays along the M1 line when the final section opens and extends to 66 kilometres of track between Tallawong and Bankstown via the city.

Like the rest of the M1 line, trains will run every four minutes during weekday peak hours, every five minutes between 10am and 3pm, and every 10 minutes in the evenings and on weekends.

However, services will be boosted to one every seven minutes on the first weekend of the south-west section’s operation – October 31-November 1 – to accommodate increased interest from passengers.

A trip from Canterbury to Chatswood will take 31 minutes, a time saving of 23 minutes compared to the previous heavy rail commutes, while Lakemba to Victoria Cross in North Sydney will take 37 minutes, saving passengers 24 minutes.

The opening will finally put an end to pink-coloured replacement buses, which have significantly lengthened trips along the corridor and cost taxpayers about $200 million.

Padstow resident Shweta Ramakanth said locals were delighted that the metro line was finally opening. “We need a faster route from Bankstown to the city,” she said, adding she did not like catching replacement buses.

Tens of thousands of commuters have had to catch the replacement buses each day between Sydenham and Bankstown since September 2024, when the T3 heavy rail line was shut to complete the final 13-kilometre section of the M1 line.

Bankstown worker Sandra Jayaraj said having to catch replacement buses had been disruptive. “Everyone will be happy,” she said of the metro line’s opening.

While the replacement buses will continue during the first three days of metro services, Transport Minister John Graham said they were just adding to road congestion. “They’ll be there if required [for the first few days],” he said.

Although the government insisted the final stage was ready to open to passengers, it conceded there “may be some minor teething issues as services get under way”. Extra metro staff will be rostered on for the new services.

To assure safety regulators, the government will keep a tiny fraction of the 360 platform screen doors closed when the metro line’s south-west section opens. Three screen doors will remain closed at Dulwich Hill station, and one each at Canterbury, Campsie and Marrickville to reduce the risk of “even minor safety issue”.

Curved platforms have required 170 mechanical gap fillers to be installed at eight stations. The small hydraulic platforms extend to the metro carriages before screen doors open, ensuring that commuters can safely step on and off.

The ribbon cutting for the metro line on October 30 will come just over two weeks before a new rail timetable for the Sydney Trains network is introduced. This will have the greatest impact to services on the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line.

As part of the timetable changes on November 15, all T4 trains will stop at Sydenham station to enable passengers to switch to driverless trains on the M1 metro line.

The opening of the M1 line’s south-west section is about two weeks later than a target date of “mid-October”, which was detailed in confidential Sydney Metro documents earlier this year.

In mid-2018, the former Coalition government told commuters that the line would need to be closed for three to six months. Even before it closed in September 2024, the Minns government said the shutdown might last longer than its earlier estimates of 12 months.

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