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The cost to NSW taxpayers of putting on replacement buses during the two-year closure of a key rail line in Sydney’s south-west while it is retrofitted for driverless metro trains is set to hit about $200 million.
Illustrating the cost of delays to the Southwest Metro project, the NSW transport department has confirmed the state is paying about $8 million a month for buses to run on three routes between Bankstown and Sydenham.
Apart from the cost of operating the pink-coloured buses, the bill is for marshals, traffic control and rental of infrastructure such as marquees.
Dubbed “Southwest Link”, a mix of all-stops and express buses have served three routes between Bankstown and Sydenham carrying up to 60,000 commuters a day since the T3 heavy rail line was closed in September 2024.
Unlike other public transport services, the state cannot partially offset the cost from tickets because the buses are free for commuters whose trips have been severely disrupted by the prolonged closure of the 13-kilometre rail line.
The high-frequency bus services have three dedicated routes – SW1, SW2 and SW3 – which require about 100 buses and 200 drivers. Transit Systems has the main contract to provide the replacement buses, which was initially awarded for 23 months and was due to expire by September.
Transport Minister John Graham said the government had extended the provision of replacement buses as it finalised details of the transition period to metro services beginning between Sydenham and Bankstown.
“The conversion of an old rail line to metro is a complicated, brownfield project with many challenges, which is why there is contingency built into its budget,” he said.
Graham said residents in Sydney’s south-west had shown “great patience” as the government prepared the 100-year-old former heavy rail line to reopen as the “newest addition” to the metro rail network.
“We don’t apologise for providing free travel while people are being inconvenienced,” he said. “Everyone loves the metro, but these new lines don’t come cheaply.”
The government has repeatedly declined to give a target date for opening the M1 metro line’s final stage, other than to say it would be in the second half of this year.
Coalition Treasury spokesman Scott Farlow said that if taxpayers were having to spend an extra $100 million for bus services due to the delay in the project, the least the government could do was tell commuters when their new metro line was going to open.
Apart from final commissioning and testing, the opening of one of the most complex parts of the mega project will hinge on final approval by the national rail safety regulator for passenger services.
On-track testing on the south-west section of the line is paused until May 1 to complete work such as the installation of 1140 fixed gap-fillers on station platforms and overhead wiring and signalling.
Once train testing on the south-west section resumes early next month, the entire M1 line between Tallawong and Sydenham via Central will be closed over the weekends of May 9-10 and May 16-17. Almost 1.5 million passengers use the M1 line each week.
The total cost of the city and south-west sections of the 66-kilometre M1 line is now forecast to cost as much as $23 billion, up from $21.6 billion previously.
