Australia awarded $227 million contract to upgrade Sydney Metro's Bankstown Line

Sydney, Australia (Urban Transport News): Sydney Metro has awarded a contract worth $227 million to John Holland Pty Ltd and Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd to upgrade to metro rail standards the more than 125-year-old Bankstown Line between Sydenham and Bankstown.

The scope of work includes:

• Upgrading 15 bridges that cross over or under the railway, including installation of safety screens;
• Civil construction including work on retaining walls, culverts and track drainage;
• Fencing along the rail corridor and the segregation of the existing freight line from the new driverless railway tracks;
• Rail systems work including new track crossovers, upgrading and refurbishing overhead wiring and work to support signalling and communication equipment; and
• Utility modifications.

Apart from this, a contract worth $98 million has been awarded to Downer EDI Works Pty Ltd to upgrade Hurlstone Park, Belmore and Wiley Park stations to metro rail standards. The scope of work under this contract includes:

• Upgrading and re-levelling of existing platforms to provide level access to the new fully-air conditioned metro trains – no more step into the train for customers;
• New lifts at Hurlstone Park and Wiley Park Stations connecting existing concourses to platform level;
• New family accessible toilets at Hurlstone Park and Wiley Park stations;
• New service buildings and cabling for the new rail systems;
• Upgrades to stations like painting, improved lighting, tiling and paving;
• Upgrades to security fencing adjacent to each station, including installation of anti-throw screens to existing overbridges adjacent to each station; and
• Improvements to interchanges including bike parking, taxi spaces, kiss and ride and accessible parking.

According to the new contract, the stations will also be prepared for the installation of platform screen doors. These glass safety barriers keep people and objects like prams away from the tracks and are being used for the first time in Australia on Sydney Metro.

Metro services on the upgraded Bankstown Line start in 2024, when customers will have a train every four minutes in each direction in the peak – that’s 15 trains an hour each way.

Currently, some stations like Wiley Park and Canterbury only have four trains an hour.

The T3 Bankstown Line will remain open during the majority of construction.

The next stage of major work to upgrade the T3 Line to metro standards will take place in the upcoming June/July school holidays when there are fewer customers on the rail network.

The T3 Line between Sydenham and Bankstown will be closed from 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021 for these important upgrade works. Rail replacement bus services will be provided during this period. Final transport plans that will keep customers moving during the upgrade will be shared with the community well in advance to give people plenty of time to plan ahead.

Further contracts will be awarded this year.