To make way for the all-new Sydney Metro, the 130-year-old Trains T1 North Shore Line, which serves the Artarmon railway station, had to be relocated in March 2021. The process of picking it up and moving it elsewhere only took an amazing 48 hours.
The Trains T1 North Shore Line, which was first built in 1890, was permanently relocated to accommodate the new city-bound metro, dubbed the Metro North West Line, as the tracks were blocking the site of the new line. These old tracks have not been made redundant, however, as they have merely been connected to newer tracks 20 metres to the west of its original position.
A total of 250 local workers were involved with the process of moving the track, and the operation only took 48 hours to cut, slew, and join the existing line with 900 metres of new track and an estimated 2.5 kilometre stretch of overhead wiring.
The Metro North West Line will extend into the newly-created twin metro tunnels, and is currently the first and only line in what constitutes the Sydney Metro network. With trackwork completed in Chatswood, the new line can finally extend towards the Sydney CBD and even further to Bankstown.
As part of the Sydney Metro City and Southwest project, almost 11 kilometres of track and over 10,000 railway sleepers have been installed and implemented in order to connect various Sydney suburbs.
Sydney Metro rail services between Chatswood, the Sydney CBD, and Bankstown are expected to begin sometime in 2024. By then, the city will have 31 different Metro railway stations and a 66 kilometre standalone railway system.