Pain Before Gain as Commuters Brace for Railway Closure

One of the nation’s oldest suburban railways will carry its final service before being absorbed by Australia’s biggest public transport project. The first line on the Sydney Metro to the city’s northwest opened in 2019, followed by its driverless trains running under the city’s iconic harbour to Sydenham in the city’s southwest since August. But further expansion southwest to Bankstown will come at the cost of a busy heavy-rail line that has been carrying passengers since 1895, when trips terminated a few stations earlier at Belmore. “There will be long lines and delays, but in the end, this period of pain will be worth it,” Transport Minister Jo Haylen said ahead of the line’s closure for conversion to metro standards....