Why some train doors will not open when final section of Sydney’s metro line starts

Sydney Metro has been forced to assure safety regulators it will keep six train and platform screen doors closed at stations along the final section of the city’s $30 billion M1 metro line when it finally opens to passengers.

While the six screen doors represent a small fraction of those along the south-west section between Bankstown and Sydenham, the measure signals the added complexity and challenges of gaining final approval from the national rail regulator for passenger services.

Transport Minister John Graham said it had been agreed with the regulator to keep the screen doors closed to ensure there were “not even minor safety issues” when the metro line opens to passengers.

“It is a complex rail system, and that’s one of the reasons why we’re making sure that at first passenger service, we can meet the safety case. We’re very confident that will happen,” he said.

Three screen doors will remain closed at Dulwich Hill station, and one each at Canterbury, Campsie and Marrickville. They are located at points on curved platforms where the distance between driverless trains and platforms is the widest. The doors on trains that line up with the screen doors on the platforms will also remain closed.

Graham would not be drawn on giving a likely opening date for the line, but he said the government was “very confident that we’ll be able to operate this railway safely very shortly”.

“We won’t be speculating or ruling out a date or ruling a date in,” he said.

He told a budget estimates hearing a month ago that he should be in a position by the end of September to give an indication of the opening date, “all going well”. Confidential Sydney Metro documents had cited “mid-October” as the most recent target date.

The curved platforms along the M1’s final section 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.

Graham said two key state approvals for the south-west section – including one from Fire and Rescue NSW – had been completed, clearing the way for final paperwork to be submitted to the national rail regulator.

“They’ll then run their important process. That’s a serious safety process, so we won’t be taking that for granted. We won’t be putting pressure on them,” he said.

Tens of thousands of commuters have had to catch 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.

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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