Some trains on platform M1 are delayed until further notice

November 3, 2025 — 4.07pm

The rail line between Sydenham and Bankstown closed 14 months ago, hitting some 60,000 south-western Sydney residents with the new, grim reality of doubling their daily commute time.

Their pain was made tolerable by the prospect of the final stage of Sydney’s $29 billion M1 metro line opening in 12 months. It has not happened. Instead, it is likely they will have to stay on the buses until next September before the train arrives.

It is likely that commuters in south-west Sydney will have to stay on buses until next September. Credit: Steven Siewert

The commuters probably could not be blamed for feeling the same sort of battle fatigue that North Sydney ratepayers are suffering as their flailing and cash-strapped council seeks their support for a jaw-dropping 54 per cent rate rise after the pricing regulator knocked back its application for an 87 per cent rate increase.

North Sydney’s problems are well known, but the cause of the train hold-up is unclear.

The Herald’s Matt O’Sullivan reports that converting the former T3 heavy rail line between Sydenham and Bankstown to one for driverless metro trains has been one of the most complex parts of the M1 mega-project, leaving the Minns government reluctant to commit publicly to a date for its completion.

Premier Chris Minns on Monday refused to nominate a completion date, other than to say it was expected to open in 2026. “I don’t have that date, and there’s reasons for it,” he said. “It’s a complicated change to the model, and we’re moving from a fixed heavy rail network to a rapid metro system. There’s not many places around the world where one line is being substituted for another, and it’s a costly, expensive process.”

There have been difficulties with installing safeguards associated with the 100km/h driverless trains, and Sydney Metro has also been embroiled in a dispute with Fire and Rescue NSW over a lack of fire hydrants on platforms at nine stations.

The opening date for the 13-kilometre section will be subject to high-speed testing of automated trains on the line, which is expected to start within the next few weeks. The opening ultimately hinges on final approval by the national rail safety regulator for passenger services.

Much hangs on the completion of the M1’s final stretch. Other transport modes, such as buses and suburban trains, need a target date to plan scheduling to service the new line. Replacement buses, which have been ferrying tens of thousands of commuters each day along the closed T3 rail corridor since September last year, are contracted – if required – until the end of 2026.

The extended wait for the start of the Sydenham and Bankstown line remains the one dark spot since the city section of the M1 Metro line opened in August last year to wide acclaim and higher than projected patronage.

The ongoing delay is playing havoc with, and causing widespread dislocation for thousands of Sydneysiders whose choice of suburbs, businesses, working lives and those of their children were predicated on access to a rail service that has, for now, become a ghost train. It’s time to hurry up.

Bevan Shields sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.

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