The Sydenham to Bankstown Alliance welcomes the commencement of Sydney Metro services from the North West to Sydney CBD via the new Second Harbour Crossing on 19 August 2024. It is important that access has been provided to Sydney CBD for North West to support a reduction in car dependency for commuters previously without rail access.

 

However, construction of the North West Rail Link and new rail corridor through Sydney CBD as a Metro instead of expanding the Sydney Trains Network will be remembered as a decision undermining the achievements from Australian Federation for rail unification.

 

We remain opposed to the conversion of the Sydenham to Bankstown corridor into Metro.

 

The NSW Government is reminded of that the NSW Parliament Inquiry into the Sydenham to Bankstown line conversion (2019-20) that found the Sydney Metro Southwest project to be unjustified and recommended the Metro line be terminated at Sydenham.

 

The Sydenham to Bankstown Alliance remains concerned about the inadequate number of bus drivers and lack of community consultation for the Temporary Transport Plan to replace trains on the T3 Bankstown Line for 12 months starting from October 2024.

 

We call on the NSW Government to also better support local businesses impacted by the closure of the T3 Bankstown Line and to engage with the community regarding the long-term future of train services in the West of Bankstown (towards Lidcombe and Liverpool).

 

The Sydney Metro Southwest will remove the final direct train to Central from Birrong and Yagoona. Commuters will be required to interchange at Lidcombe or Bankstown to travel to Sydney CBD as the NSW Government has not committed to restoring the Inner West Line service from Bankstown to City Circle via Regents Park.

 

The Sydenham to Bankstown Alliance notes that the claim that Sydney Metro (single-deck services) can carry more people compared to Sydney Trains (double-deck services) has been found to be untrue, and that digital signalling upgrades can equally be applied to the existing Sydney Trains Network to improve capacity for more services.