AUSTRALIA: Sydney’s Southwest Metro has entered its final Trial Running phase, launching more than 120 operational scenarios before the converted railway can complete regulatory approvals and open to passengers.

Driverless Sydney Metro train approaching Sydenham station on electrified tracks.
A Sydney Metro Alstom Metropolis train approaches Sydenham station. Illustrative image; it does not depict the August 2026 Trial Running exercises. Photo: JenperTV, CC BY-SA 2.0.

The official Trial Running program is the final operational-readiness phase for the railway. Over the coming weeks, teams will test normal service as well as rare incidents to assess how the infrastructure, operating procedures and staff respond.

The program includes two major emergency exercises with up to 400 volunteers acting as passengers alongside emergency services and transport personnel. Fire and Rescue NSW, the NSW Police Force, the Transport Management Centre and Sydney Trains will take part.

Scenarios cover disrupted train operations, station evacuations, crowd management, lift and escalator failures, security incidents and service recovery. Six scenarios will also be completed under automated operation.

Through-running trains connect the future M1 route

Alongside the exercises, some trains will continue travelling across the full route between Tallawong and Bankstown. These through-running services will initially operate overnight and on weekends, then progressively increase in frequency.

Trains on the Southwest section will soon run under fully automated conditions controlled by the Operations Control Centre, replicating the operating model planned for passenger service. Until this stage, an operator has been on hand to oversee the safe movement of each test train.

The transition is therefore broader than technical train testing: it checks whether the railway and its operating teams can manage a working timetable, interruptions and recovery before passengers are carried.

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Passenger opening still depends on approvals

Passenger services can begin only after Trial Running is complete and all remaining regulatory approvals have been obtained. Sydney Metro did not give an opening date in its 3 August announcement.

Once the extension opens, the M1 Metro line will become a continuous 51.5-kilometre service between Tallawong and Bankstown. Sydney Metro says the integrated line will be capable of moving around 17,000 passengers in each direction per hour through the Sydney CBD at the busiest times.

The Southwest Metro conversion separates the railway between Sydenham and Bankstown from the Sydney Trains network and upgrades stations with lifts and level access between platforms and trains. An April 2026 project update describes 13.5 kilometres of works across 10 stations.

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