Southwest Metro testing has entered a new phase, with individual components of the railway being trialled together as a unified system for the first time.
Ahead of services opening between Sydenham and Bankstown later this year, testing is now focused on ensuring trains, signalling, platform screen doors, mechanical gap fillers and station systems operate together seamlessly to deliver safe services from day one.
This stage of testing will check complex operational sequences, including the precise and simultaneous opening of train doors, platform screen doors and gap filler technology at every station, as the railway prepares for passenger services.
More than 216 tests will be carried out during this phase, which will continue over the coming months.
This follows the successful completion of more than 3600 kilometres of loaded train testing, using 115,500 litres of water to simulate a full passenger load of 1540 customers.
Since higher-speed testing began on 10 November 2025, more than 2500 of the required 9000 testing hours have been completed. The train has reached the maximum line speed of 100 kilometres an hour, alongside around 17,000 of the required 30,000 kilometres of testing.
Integrating the Bankstown extension with the existing M1 line requires a series of closures, including a full line shutdown over the upcoming Easter long weekend.
When services start between Bankstown and Sydenham in the second half of the year, trains will run every four minutes during peak periods, with metro services expected to carry around 18,000 passengers an hour in the morning peak between Bankstown and Central.
