Sydney Metro

Sydney Metro
The Sydney Metro is a fully-automated, rapid-transit rail system in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The first component, the Metro North West Line, opened on 26 May 2019, running from Tallawong to Chatswood. It currently consists of 13 stations and of twin tracks, mostly underground. Work is progressing to extend this line from Chatswood to Bankstown as part of the City & Southwest project, which will run under Sydney Harbour and the Sydney Central Business District (CBD), with a scheduled 2024 completion. When completed, the entire line from Tallawong to Bankstown will have of twin tracks and 31 stations.
Two additional lines are also under-construction, as part of the Sydney Metro West and Western Sydney Airport projects. The Western Sydney Airport project will construct a line approximately from St Marys to the new Aerotropolis station in Badgerys Creek. It will comprise six stations and service the Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, which is also currently under-construction, upon its opening in 2026.
Sydney Metro West will run approximately from Westmead to a new station at Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD. It will comprise nine stations, serviced by underground twin tracks. The line will service Parramatta and Sydney Olympic Park upon opening in 2030.
The Metro North West Line of the Sydney Metro is Australia's first and only fully automated heavy rail system. It is controlled by the Sydney Metro agency, under the umbrella of Transport for NSW. Services are operated by Metro Trains Sydney and integrated with the established Sydney Trains network.
History
Earlier proposals
The first proposals for a metro system in Sydney were put forward in 2001, when Co-ordinator-General of Rail Ron Christie released his "Long-term Strategic Plan for Rail" report, outlining long-term goals for the expansion of the rail network. He suggested that some "metro" lines—operationally independent from the existing network—should be constructed past 2020 due to capacity constraints. This was later dismissed by the New South Wales Government as only a "shopping list" of potential projects.
The idea for a metro resurfaced in late 2007 when discussions about an underground 'Anzac Line' took place within the NSW Government. The line would have run from West Ryde in Sydney's northwest to Malabar in the southeast but did not come to fruition. In early 2008, following the shelving of various heavy rail expansion projects from the 2005 Metropolitan Rail Expansion Program (MREP), the Government officially announced the North West Metro. Expected to cost $12 billion, it would have linked Rouse Hill in Sydney's northwest with the CBD, with construction starting in 2010 and finishing in 2017.
The construction of the North West Metro was dependent upon the privatisation of the electricity network, but, after a change of the state's Premier in late 2008, it was cancelled due to budgetary concerns. Its replacement was the , $4 billion CBD Metro, a shortened route running from Rozelle in the inner-west and into the CBD through to Central railway station. Construction was scheduled to start in 2010, like its predecessor, but finished earlier in 2015. The CBD Metro was to have formed the "central spine" of a future metro network, with a planned West Metro extension to Westmead and Parramatta to be constructed soon after, subject to Federal funding.
Reception to the plans was mixed, with Opposition leader Barry O'Farrell accusing the Premier of "making it up as he goes along" after costings were not released until after the press conference; criticism came from the Greens because the route seemed designed to pass through marginal electoral seats. The Government's initial submission to Infrastructure Australia for funding was rejected due to "a lack of integrated planning". It was later revealed that the cost had jumped from $4 billion to $5.3 billion in six months, as well as that internal estimates showed that the metro would run at only 15% of its maximum capacity.
The CBD Metro was cancelled in early 2010 after the Premier was deposed a few months before in 2009. The Government had spent almost $410 million on the project. The new Premier Kristina Keneally chose instead to focus on the expansion of the existing heavy rail network, including the North West Rail Link and South West Rail Link.
Revival
In mid-2012, the newly elected Coalition government announced Sydney's Rail Future and the NSW Transport Masterplan. Under this proposal, the North West Rail Link would be built as a single-deck, privately operated metro connecting to a future second harbour crossing. These plans received criticism on the basis that they might not have the capacity of existing double-deck trains and concerns over the inability of trains on the existing network to use the new crossing. Later, the route was extended and the name changed to Sydney Metro.
In 2014, the Government announced the second harbour crossing under the name Sydney Rapid Transit, as part of the 'Rebuilding NSW' infrastructure plan funded through the sale of electricity infrastructure. The new railway would cross Sydney Harbour, tunnel beneath the CBD, and join a converted portion of the Bankstown line up to Bankstown railway station.
The system was officially renamed 'Sydney Metro' in June 2015 following the passage of power privatisation bills. Opposing parties warned the government that the sale of the power infrastructure may not provide the capital needed.
In July 2018, Sydney Metro was established as a statutory authority, tasked with leading the delivery of the metro system. , Peter Regan is the Chief Executive of the agency.
In January 2023, it was announced that the emergency exits in tunnels on the Metro West and Metro Western Sydney Airport lines will be spaced at where possible, matching the existing lines.
In February 2023, as part of the 2023 state election campaign, the government of Dominic Perrottet announced business cases would be produced for a further 100 km of extensions for the Sydney Metro network. This included the following links:
Tallawong to St Marys
Westmead to the Aerotropolis
Bankstown to Glenfield via Liverpool
Macarthur to the Aerotropolis
Operations
Sydney Metro services are operated by Metro Trains Sydney, a joint venture between MTR Corporation, John Holland Group, and UGL Rail, who will operate and maintain the network under a 15-year contract. The network is fully automated to the GoA4 level and uses CBTC signalling throughout.
Network
The Metro North West Line is currently the only line in the Sydney Metro network, linking Tallawong in Blacktown to Chatswood with 13 stations along a distance. Since July 2019, services take 37 minutes from end to end, at a frequency of every 4 minutes during peak hours and every 10 minutes at all other times. Before that, for the first few weeks after opening, the line operated once every 5 minutes during the peak hours until it was increased to every 4 minutes.
Services began in May 2019. For the first 6 months of operation, they were supplemented with trackwork-style rail replacement buses for late-night services from Sundays to Wednesdays.
Capacity
Stage 1 (Metro North West) operates with 6-car trains running on 4-minute headways. After the addition of the Stage 2 extension to Bankstown, the stations’ platforms will be configured to allow for future use of 8-car trains and the signalling system designed to allow for 2-minute headways, both of which are planned to be introduced once sufficient patronage demands it. Eight-car trains have a design capacity of 1,539 customers and increasing the running frequency to ultimately 30 trains per hour (2-minute headway) would provide a maximum capacity of 46,170 passengers per hour per direction.
Rolling stock
The network operates using 22 6-car Metropolis Stock trains, which are fully automated electric multiple units. Each single-deck train features two dedicated areas for prams, luggage and bicycles. There are three doorways per side per carriage and no internal doors between the carriages. In a 6-car configuration, the trains have a seating capacity of 378 people, with a total capacity of 1,100. Seating arrangements on the Alstom trains are longitudinal, following the style of most other metro trains. The trains utilise Alstom's trademark Urbalis 400 Grade-of-Automation signalling system that ensures that trains are capable of operating automatically at all times including door closing, obstacle detection and emergencies.
Before the introduction of services, a full-scale model of the new train was built for use on public display, including at the annual Sydney Royal Easter Show. The trains were built at Alstom's rolling stock manufacturing facility in India, with the first six-car Sydney Metro train arriving in Rouse Hill in September 2017 to undergo testing.
In February 2018, dynamic testing on the first of the trainsets began. Testing was done on brakes, passenger information displays, lighting and door operation.
Patronage
The following table lists patronage figures for the network during the corresponding financial year. Major events that affected the number of journeys made or how patronage is measured are included as notes.
Ticketing and costs
Sydney Metro uses the Opal card ticketing system. The fare system is fully integrated with the Sydney Trains network and the NSW TrainLink Intercity network, trips involving suburban, metro and intercity services are calculated as a single fare and there is no interchange penalty. Students who use the Sydney Metro network to get to and from schools can apply for a free School Opal card. Opal is also valid on bus, ferry, and light rail services but separate fares apply for these modes. The following table lists Opal fares for reusable smartcards and single trip tickets:
^ = $2.50 for Senior/Pensioner cardholders
As there are no return or periodical options available, reusable Opal cards include several caps to reduce the cost for frequent travellers:
Projects
Sydney Metro Northwest
The first stage connects Sydney's north-western suburbs to Chatswood. It consists of of new track between Rouse Hill and Epping, which includes eight new stations. At Epping, the line connects to the existing Epping to Chatswood rail link, which was separated from the Sydney Trains network and converted to allow the operation of single-deck autonomous trains with platform screen doors. Passengers can interchange with the existing system at both Epping and Chatswood. Construction on Sydney Metro Northwest began in late 2013. The line opened in May 2019.
In November 2016, Sydney Metro, in particular, the John Holland Group, Dragados and Transport for NSW, were awarded the 2016 NSW Premier's Award for Building Infrastructure for the twintunnels in Bella Vista and Epping, which are currently the longest tunnels constructed in Australia. The completion of these tunnels in early 2016 marked the completion of the first stage of Sydney Metro Northwest. The NSW Premier's award recognises "infrastructure projects in the state that make a difference to the local community".
Sydney Metro City & Southwest
The second stage will extend the Metro North West Line from on the North Shore, to in the south of the city centre. The centrepiece of the project is a new twin-tunnel rail crossing under Sydney Harbour. From Central, new track will be built to Sydenham railway station. From Sydenham, a portion of the existing Bankstown railway line will be converted to allow the operation of driverless trains as far as Bankstown railway station. Construction on the City & Southwest project began in mid-2017. The project is scheduled for completion in 2024, with the Bankstown line conversion set to open a year later.
Together with planned improvements to the Main Western line, the project is expected to increase capacity on the Sydney rail network by up to 60%, and allow for the movement of over 100,000 extra commuters across the network every hour. The City & Southwest extension represents the first phase of the "southern sector conversion" envisaged in Sydney's Rail Future.
Sydney Metro West
Sydney Metro West is a separate line between the Sydney CBD and Westmead. The line was announced as an official project in November 2016, with up to 12 stations being considered including station locations at Parramatta, Sydney Olympic Park, Five Dock, the Bays Precinct and the CBD. In March 2018, the government announced that an additional station would be built at Westmead, as well as one that connected to either of the existing stations at Concord West or North Strathfield.
The 2019–2020 New South Wales state budget in June 2019 allocated funding of $6.4 billion over four years to the project, with construction to be fast-tracked to start in 2020.
The government announced and confirmed seven station locations along the line in 2019, with a further 2 stations announced in 2021. Initial work site works began in 2020, and tunnelling commenced in mid 2022. The line is expected to completed by 2030.
Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport
In March 2018, the federal and state governments signed the Western Sydney City Deal and announced the development of stage 1 of the North-South Link as part of the deal. Stage 1 of the Western Sydney Airport line will operate between St Marys and Badgerys Creek Aerotropolis via Western Sydney Airport. Construction commenced in late 2020 and will be completed by 2026, coinciding with the opening of the airport.
In the 2019–2020 federal budget in April 2019, the federal government announced a contribution of $3.5 billion to deliver stage 1 of the rail link. This funding includes $50 million towards the business case process for the North-South Rail Link and $61 million for the Elizabeth Drive overpass. In the 2019–2020 New South Wales state budget in June 2019, the state government announced an investment of $2.0 billion to begin the construction of stage 1 for the next 4 years.
This line will utilise a much higher voltage than that of the North West, City & Southwest lines, this time a single-phase alternating current at 25 kV 50 Hz. As such, this line will operate with a different class of rolling stock, manufactured by Siemens Mobility.
Potential extensions
Western Sydney
The Northwest line is proposed to be extended to St Marys to the west via Schofields, connecting to the Western Sydney Airport line and North Shore & Western lines. Previous plans have shown connections between the Northwest line and Western Sydney Airport line potentially occurring at either Schofields, extending both lines, or Tallawong, through extension of the Western Sydney Airport line. It will not be possible for the two lines to be connected as a single line due to incompatible train lengths and power systems, 1500V DC vs 25kV AC.
The Western Sydney Airport line is planned to be extended to the Airport & South Line at Macarthur and Glenfield to the south.
The West line would be extended from Westmead to the Aerotropolis or Western Sydney Airport.
South Western Sydney
The City & Southwest line is being planned to be extended from Bankstown to Glenfield via Liverpool, with a further potential extension to the Aerotropolis via the existing South West Rail link that serves Leppington. The second phase of the southern sector conversion would see two of the four tracks between Sydenham and Hurstville, part of the Sydney Trains Illawarra line, converted to form part of the Sydney Metro network. This would increase rail capacity between Hurstville and the city by 10 trains per hour. Though a precise construction timeframe was not provided, the plan envisages all work being completed by 2031. The Hurstville conversion would add eight stations and to the metro network. Developing plans for this extension has proven difficult, and the Sydney Morning Herald reported in February 2016 that the project may have been dropped.
South Eastern Sydney
The South East Sydney Transport Strategy of the New South Wales government envisions a metro line starting from the CBD with stations at Green Square, Randwick, two at Maroubra, Malabar and La Perouse built by 2041, as well as another one from Randwick to Eastlakes and, via the Domestic and International terminals of Sydney Airport, further on to Brighton-Le-Sands and then Kogarah by 2056.
In media
A Seven News documentary on the early construction of part of the Sydney Metro aired on the Seven Network in July 2016 titled World's Best Metro.
A multi-part SBS documentary on the tunnelling for the metro titled Sydney's Super Tunnel aired in 2020.
See also
List of metro systems
Light rail in Sydney
Sydney Trains
Metro Tunnel
References
External links
NSW Government Sydney Metro Website
Transport NSW Metro Page
Rapid transit in Australia
Metro
Railway lines opened in 2019
2019 establishments in Australia