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Installing fire hydrants at a cost of at least $32 million on station platforms along the final stretch of Sydney’s M1 metro line will be left until after its planned opening in mid-October, raising the risk commuters will be disrupted if it cannot be done during scheduled maintenance shutdowns.
After years of dispute over whether to install hydrants, Sydney Metro has reached agreement with Fire and Rescue NSW to fit them on platforms at stations on the metro line between Sydenham and Bankstown.
A confidential briefing for Sydney Metro executives shows the total cost of installing hydrants and other safety measures – some of which can be done before opening – will reach more than $50 million and involve nine months of construction work. The hydrants alone are forecast to cost at least $32 million.
It warns of “impact to stations during operation” and the need for some of the work to be done during scheduled closures for maintenance.
Under the plan, hydrants will be installed on platforms at five stations after the line opens, while “droppers” would be fitted at four stations. Droppers extend access to hydrants located further away from platforms.
Another option to install hydrants on platforms at nine stations would have delayed the opening by more than eight months and cost $409 million. That option was ruled out despite Fire and Rescue NSW initially preferring it.
Sydney Metro plans to open the final 13-kilometre stretch of the M1 line in mid-October, although the date will hinge on approval from the national rail safety regulator for driverless passenger services to start.
By the time it opens, the line along which double-deck trains previously ran will have been closed for more than two years, during which commuters have been forced to catch replacement buses.
The stations without fire hydrants on platforms are Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Canterbury, Campsie, Belmore, Lakemba, Wiley Park and Punchbowl. Bankstown and Sydenham stations have hydrants on platforms.
Sydney Metro confirmed that an agreement had been reached with Fire and Rescue NSW to “enhance fire safety systems for this line”.
“The schedule for installation of platform hydrants is still being finalised so that disruption to metro operations is minimised,” it said in a statement.
Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said it was concerning that after a 24-month shutdown, passengers may be forced onto replacement buses so that work could be completed that should have been finished during construction.
The confidential Sydney Metro briefing was among internal documents released to parliament following a call for papers by Ward.
A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesperson said it had consulted Sydney Metro and other parties and was satisfied with the outcome of the “hydrant issue to date”.
Confidential documents have previously shown that Fire and Rescue NSW’s main concerns were that the absence of hydrants on platforms would lead to “excessive intervention times” and limit “tactical actions”.
The firefighting agency had also warned that the lack of hydrants risked exposing firefighters to “potentially unsafe” workloads while reducing their ability to protect lives and minimise property damage.
It recommended as far back as 2018 that hydrant systems be installed at the stations while they were converted to handle metro trains, and flagged concerns a year later about the prospect of street-only hydrants.
About 60 per cent of stations on Sydney Trains’ heavy rail network do not have on-platform hydrants. Stations on the south-west stretch of the M1 are above ground, unlike seven on the city section of the line.
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