Sydney Metro has shared a first look at Bankstown Station’s “mega Metro transformation” as it reaches 80 per cent completion.
More than 100 workers are on-site each day at Southwest Sydney’s first major transport interchange.
Upgrades are being carried out on the century-old station to prepare it for “fast and reliable” metro services to start running beyond Sydenham to Bankstown next year.
The new Sydney Metro station entrance building at the eastern end of the site is now in its final construction stage, with paving of the concourse area underway along with the installation of 19 new Opal gates.
Crews are also working to complete the platform tiling and glazed balustrades on the 170-metre-long metro platforms lined with platform screen doors.
Meanwhile progress is being made on interior fit-out works for the ceilings and back of house rooms in the Sydney Metro station building.
The new Sydney Trains entrance building, which is situated opposite the new metro entrance, is also nearly finished, with the ceiling being installed and gate line preparation works to begin soon.
Next on the agenda is a new 90-metre long pedestrian plaza which will feature restaurants and shops and connect the north and south of Bankstown. Earthworks will level out the corridor area so it can be lined with trees.
Site works are progressing across all 10 southwest stations, with equipment being energised to support the testing and commissioning of key communication subsystems, including PA and CCTV systems.
Train testing is also ongoing, with the critical “kinematic envelope test” underway, which confirms the train has sufficient clearance from surrounding infrastructure, including station platforms.
To date, more than 700 kilometres of testing has taken place across different parts of the Southwest line, at speeds between five kilometres per hour and 25 kilometres per hour.
“The next critical phase of testing is set to start in the coming weeks, with a focus on the advanced smart signalling system that will enable fully driverless metro services,” a spokesperson for Sydney Metro said.
“Next year when the final section of the M1 Line opens, Sydney will have a 66-kilometre fast and reliable metro network and Sydney’s southwest will have fast metro journey times.”
