Two Rail Projects Chug Along as Another Sputters

While clouds hang over Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop project and the Victorian Government disagreement with Melbourne Airport over the placement of the airport train station continues, elsewhere in Australia metro rail projects are running more smoothly.

In South Australia, testing has begun on a new spur rail line into Port Dock at Port Adelaide after a $51-million rebuild of the line.

The line runs from the current Outer Harbour line at Grand Junction Road, providing more connectivity for those living and working at Port Adelaide. 

A new Port Dock Railway Station and plaza has been created at Baker Street as well as a bus interchange at the Lipson Street carpark. 

Rail signalling is being tested ahead of the scheduled return of train services on August 25. 

New timetables for the Outer Harbour train line and several bus routes will be released in mid-July with service extensions included for the new bus interchange. 

▲ The trains being tested on the new line extension into Port Adelaide’s Port Dock, South Australia.

In Sydney, the NSW Government has announced that trials of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest trials of the full-service train timetable have begun.

The current trial will test services between Chatswood, under the Sydney CBD and through to Sydenham. 

Other testing has been ongoing for more than a year.

Since then about 9800 hours of the 11,000 required hours of testing have been completed along the 51.5km line from Tallawong to Sydenham.

The tests include running operational procedures and replicating emergency exercises, such as customer evacuations, drills with emergency services, and stopping and restarting trains stopped in tunnels, according to NSW transport minister Jo Haylen.

“Around 1000 people will be involved in the simulated scenarios, playing the role of the customer, to ensure we are ready to welcome commuters on board mid this year,” Haylen said. 

Proper Metro services are also expected to begin in August this year with travel times of 6 minutes from Martin Place to Waterloo, 33 minutes from Sydenham to Macquarie University, 15 minutes from Central to Chatswood and 3 minutes from North Sydney’s Victoria Cross to Barangaroo via a tunnel under the Harbour. 

The next stage of works for the Sydney Metro project will be extending services from Sydenham to Bankstown. The T3 Bankstown line will close for 12 months.. 

Alternative arrangements will be in place for travellers.

▲ A render of the Pyrmont Station on the Sydney West Metro line.

West of the city on the Sydney Metro-Western Sydney Airport project, tunnel-boring machine Marlene has broken through at St Marys, signalling the completion of major tunnelling work. 

The next stage will involve track laying and six new stations being built. 

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the infrastructure was a key part of ensuring the push for more housing was supported. 

“These metro lines are part of a city-shaping public transport project that will support more housing for a generation of young people who have been locked out of homes for too long,” Minns said.

“If we are going to address the housing crisis, we have to build homes near public transport like this and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”