Tracklaying to connect two Sydney Metro lines has been completed, ahead of testing starting later this year. The works consist of the construction of a new line linking the Sydney Metro City & Southwest with the existing Metro North West Line.
Connecting these two metro lines brings turn-up-and-go metro services deep under Sydney Harbour and through the CBD one step closer.
The Northern Connection, linking the Sydney Metro City & Southwest line to the Metro North West Line was constructed over two years, including the installation of tracks and all operational services in the 15.5 km twin tunnels between Chatswood and Sydenham.
The final connection of the two Sydney Metro lines was made with four sections of rail and almost 1 km of copper overhead wires between Chatswood Station and the new Sydney Metro City & Southwest tunnels.
Six teams and more than 200 workers worked around the clock over one weekend to make the final connection, completing a wide range of tasks including track laying, welding and grinding.
A rigorous testing and commissioning programme along the new alignment will commence later this year, ahead of passenger services starting through the Sydney CBD in 2024.
From 2024, passengers can travel from Tallawong in Sydney’s north, into the city in under 50 minutes, Castle Hill to Barangaroo in 33 minutes and Chatswood to Martin Place in 11 minutes on a fast and reliable metro service.
Sydney Metro City & Southwest project includes two main sections connecting Chatswood to Sydenham on 15.5 km twin tunnels between the end of the Metro North West line at Chatswood and Sydenham. The second section includes the upgrade of the existing T3 Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Bankstown to metro standards. The T3 Bankstown Line creates a significant bottleneck as it merges with other railway lines close to the Sydney CBD, including the T8 Airport and South Line and the Inner West and Leppington Line.
Moving Bankstown Line services to the new standalone metro system removes this bottleneck, providing capacity for more trains to run on the existing network across Sydney. When services on Sydney Metro City & Southwest start in 2024, there will be a train every four minutes in the peak in each direction, with plenty of space to
grow in the future. There will be ultimate capacity for a metro train every two minutes in each direction under the city.
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