NSW Metro end‑to‑end test run: systems and geometry lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on Roads & Infrastructure (AU)
30 Second Briefing
A New South Wales metro train has completed the first full end‑to‑end test of the 66‑kilometre M1 Metro North West & Bankstown Line, running from Tallawong to Bankstown and stopping at all 31 stations. The test run reached 100 km/h on new sections of track, validating signalling, platform interface and timetable assumptions across both the existing North West Metro and the converted Bankstown corridor. Successful completion signals progress towards integrated operations, with implications for track geometry verification, ride quality, and systems integration before passenger service.
Technical Brief
- Full-line dynamic test enables validation of automatic train protection braking curves at line-speed over mixed infrastructure.
- End-to-end run checks continuity of CBTC signalling handover across legacy North West and converted Bankstown sections.
- Continuous operation allows thermal and vibration monitoring of slab track, viaducts and tunnel linings under metro loading.
- Trial provides a live systems-integration check for traction power sections, substations and emergency power changeover logic.
- Safety validation includes proving emergency communication, CCTV coverage and driverless control fail-safe behaviour across the whole corridor.
- Data from the inaugural run will refine maintenance access planning, possession lengths and safe-work protocols for future shutdowns.
- For other brownfield metro conversions, such whole-of-line proving runs are becoming a de facto safety assurance step.
Our Take
Within the 480 Infrastructure stories in our database, very few cover single continuous corridors as long as the 66-kilometre Tallawong–Bankstown route, signalling that this line will be one of the more operationally complex urban railways in Australia once fully commissioned.
Running at up to 100 kilometres per hour through 31 stations implies tight signalling and dwell-time control; in comparable metro projects in our coverage, this has typically required early integration testing of platform screen doors, automatic train protection and emergency egress procedures to satisfy safety regulators.
New South Wales features prominently in our infrastructure coverage, and the M1 Metro North West & Bankstown Line’s end‑to‑end testing phase will likely become a reference point for subsequent high-capacity rail upgrades in other Australian states looking to justify similar automation and safety systems.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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