Project overview

There are 16 Sydney Metro Northwest construction sites.

Sydney Metro Northwest is delivering eight new railway stations and 4000 commuter car parking spaces
 to Sydney’s growing North West. Trains will run every four minutes in the peak, that's 15 trains an hour. Customers won’t need a timetable, they will just turn up and go.

Sydney Metro Northwest, formerly the North West Rail Link, is the first stage of Sydney Metro and
 will be the first fully-automated metro rail system in Australia. Sydney Metro City & Southwest is the second stage.

Sydney Metro Northwest will deliver, for the first time, a reliable public transport service to a region which has the highest car ownership levels per household in NSW. Over the coming decades, an extra 200,000 people will move into Sydney’s North West, taking its population above 600,000, or twice the size 
of Canberra.

Major construction is underway at the 16 construction sites along the project alignment.

Three major contracts were awarded in 2013 and 2014 to deliver and operate Sydney Metro Northwest.

Tunnels and Stations Civil works


$1.15 billion contract awarded to CPB John Holland Dragados (CPBJHD), formerly Thiess John Holland Dragados on 24 June 2013. This contract involves building the 15 kilometre twin tunnels between Bella Vista and Epping. The longest railway tunnels to ever be built in Australia.

Surface and Viaduct Civil works

$340 million contract awarded to the Impregilo-Salini joint venture on 17 December 2013. This contract involves building the four-kilometre elevated skytrain between Bella Vista and Rouse Hill, including a 270-metre cable-stayed bridge over Windsor Road at Rouse Hill.

Operations, Trains and Systems


$3.7 billion operations contract awarded to Northwest Rapid Transit on 15 September 2014. This contract involves delivering eight new railway stations, 4000 commuter car parking spaces, Sydney’s new metro trains and upgrading the railway between Chatswood and Epping. It is the largest Public Private Partnership ever awarded in NSW. 

Safety of customers is the number one priority. Tunnel safety measures include:

• Constant tunnel monitoring by the operations control centre
• More than 230 cameras in the tunnels, including new cameras in the existing Epping to Chatswood tunnels where there were originally no cameras
• A walkway on the side of the new tunnels. For Sydney Metro Northwest, this is the same width and in the same position as the existing walkway in the Epping to Chatswood tunnels
• Cross passages link the twin tunnels every 240 metres, allowing customers to quickly evacuate a tunnel in the event of an incident, and when directed to, for the safety of the adjoining tunnel
• The entry into cross passages are wide enough for wheelchairs to turn into. The cross passages themselves are enough for wheelchairs, as well as for people to get around wheelchairs
• All cross passages have self-closing sliding doors and provide refuge
• At Cheltenham, a new surface services facility provides emergency stair and lift access to the tunnels below. The lift is big enough to evacuate people on stretchers.

Sydney Metro Northwest has a clear vision around delivering sustainable infrastructure. This means demonstrating the delivery of environmental, social and economic improvements throughout the project.

Sustainability measures for the project have been established for:

• Water efficiency
• Waste management
• The community and future master planning
• Land use integration
• Biodiversity conservation
• Our supply chains in relation to workforce and local industry participation
• Industry associations and project rating tools.

The Sydney Metro Northwest project team has won major industry awards, including a prestigious Banksia Award and an Australasian award for outstanding community consultation on Australia’s biggest public transport infrastructure project.
 
The awards are:

• 2014 Planning Institute of Australia - Public Engagement and Community Planning Award for Stakeholder and Community Engagement on Northwest
• 2014 International Association for Public Participation - Transport Award for Northwest
• 2014 Banksia Foundation - Innovation in Social Infrastructure Award for Northwest
• 2014 Planning Institute of Australia - NSW Award for Promotion of Planning on the Northwest Education Program 'Fast Tracking the Future'
• 2015 Infrastructure Partnerships Australia - Government Partnership Excellence Award for the Operations, Trains and Systems (OTS) PPP contract on Northwest
• 2015 Partnerships Awards (London) - Best Transit Project Award for Northwest Public Private Partnership (PPP)
• 2015 Partnerships Awards (London) - Judges Award for Projects Grand Prix on Northwest PPP
• 2015 Public Relations Institute of Australia - Golden Target Award (Highly Commended) for Community Relations on Northwest
• 2015 NSW Premier's Award - Making NSW A Better Place to Live Award for the Pre-Employment Program on Northwest
• 2016 Infrastructure Partnerships Australia - Contractor Excellence Finalist for the Tunnel and Station Civils (TSC) contract on Northwest
• 2016 Training Services NSW - NSW Training Finalist for Industry Collaboration
• 2016 NSW Office of Environment and Heritage - Green Globe Award for Public Service Leadership
• 2016 NSW Premier's Award - Building Infrastructure for the Tunnel and Station Civils (TSC) contract on Northwest
• 2016 Transport for NSW - Recognition Awards (Highly Commended) for Workforce Development Team Collaboration