Sydney's Bankstown line reopens as a driverless metro: one 66 km ride through the CBD, trains every four minutes at peak
Infrastructure Magazine has the new journey times station by station; Rail Express has the opening-day numbers.
The first Sydney Metro Southwest train left Bankstown at 4.31 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 30 (Sydney time), completing the conversion of the 130-year-old T3 Bankstown heavy-rail line to a driverless metro, Rail Express reports. More than 18,000 people rode it on day one. Passengers can now travel 66 km from Bankstown through the CBD to Tallawong in about 80 minutes without changing.
Trains run every four minutes at weekday peaks, every five minutes at other weekday times and every ten minutes in the evenings and at weekends, and the NSW Government says the line has 50% more capacity. Infrastructure Magazine lists time savings such as Marrickville to Gadigal in 12 minutes (16 faster) and Bankstown to Macquarie University in 54 minutes (25 faster). The Public Transport Association's Lauren Streifer pointed to eleven upgraded, fully accessible stations. Two-thirds of Sydney's 46 metro stations are now complete.
Instead of the old T3 line, ride straight through: Punchbowl to Barangaroo is now 32 minutes, 24 minutes faster.
-
Metro North West & Bankstown Line
After exploring Sydney Southwest Metro begins passenger services, for how the line grew, read about the Metro North West & Bankstown Line.
Wikipedia on Sydney's first metro line: opened in 2019 between Tallawong and Chatswood, extended to Sydenham in 2024 and to Bankstown on 30 October 2026.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
0