Shorter platforms on the final section of Sydney’s $30 billion M1 metro line will restrict the operator to providing more frequent services rather than longer trains as passenger demand grows.
asserted
demand → restrict → trains
Despite the costly and disruptive project to convert the old T3 heavy rail line, platforms at five refurbished stations along the metro line’s 13-kilometre stretch between Sydenham and Bankstown would need to be extended to fit longer eight-carriage trains, which span 176 metres.
asserted
which → convert → metres
The six-carriage trains running on the existing M1 line, and which will carry passengers along the final stage when it finally opens, are about 132 metres long.
asserted
it → run → stage
The final stage is set to miss Sydney Metro’s internal target date of “mid-October” for its opening.
asserted
stage → set → opening
The first service hinges on approval by the national rail regulator, which will then allow the government to reveal a date.
asserted
government → hinge → date
Any proposal to lengthen the platforms after it opens would be more disruptive, costly and take longer than buying extra trains to increase frequency to a service every three minutes during the peak, from every four minutes at present.
Sydney Metro customer and operations head Hugh Lawson said the agency would probably first recommend, if required, increased frequency, which would involve buying more trains of the same length as the existing six-carriage sets.
asserted
which → lengthen → sets
“Frequency is the easier and quicker pathway to provide more capacity, and also we know from our customers that frequency is something they really value,” he said.
asserted
he → provide → customers
Lawson, who was project director for the M1 line’s city and south-west sections for six years, said longer eight-carriage trains would involve significantly more work to extend platforms at stations along the south-west corridor.
asserted
trains → say → corridor
While some stations could be more easily extended, others would require train tracks to be moved before constructing platform extensions.
uncertain
tracks → extend → extensions
“It’s certainly quite an involved piece of work to go to longer trains.
asserted
It → ’ → trains
It’s much more straightforward to implement more trains because all the infrastructure is already configured for trains of that length.
asserted
infrastructure → ’ → length
It’s just about running them more frequently,” Lawson said.
asserted
Lawson → ’ → them
“If you wanted to go to longer trains in the future, then there would be work needed, and it varies from platform to platform and station to station.
asserted
it → want → station
Apart from lengthening platforms at stations in the south-west, Lawson said glass panels at underground stations on the M1’s city-section between Chatswood and Sydenham could have to be replaced with screen doors while a major change to the signalling system would be needed to accommodate eight-carriage trains.
uncertain
change → lengthen → trains
“They obviously are heavier [and] brake differently.
asserted
They → brake → ?
They need to stop in slightly different locations, dependent on whether the extended bit of the platform is at the front or back of the train,” he said.
asserted
he → need → train
“It’s all achievable, but it’s certainly quite an involved piece of work to go to longer trains.
asserted
it → ’ → trains
In 2018, the then Coalition government decided to retain existing curved platforms on the line for the metro conversion.
asserted
government → decide → conversion
Straightening them would have required some stations, tracks, bridges and roads to be shifted, and would have proven costly.
asserted
stations → straighten → them
When the south-west section opens, trains will be able to carry about 18,000 passengers an hour in each direction between Bankstown and Sydenham during peak periods.
asserted
trains → open → periods
An increased frequency to a train every three minutes would provide capacity for about 23,000 passengers an hour in each direction.
asserted
frequency → increase → direction
In contrast, the T3 heavy rail line carried about 12,000 people an hour before it was permanently closed in 2024 to be converted to metro train standards.
asserted
it → carry → standards
Asked in September whether the purchase of extra trains was under serious consideration, Transport Minister John Graham said the government was thinking about “long-term decisions including new rolling stock”, but it would depend on patronage once the south-west section was bedded in.
asserted
section → ask → patronage
The Aporia
