Siemens Mobility, together with Parklife Metro consortium partners Plenary Group, Webuild and RATP Dev, has delivered the first of 12 fully automated metro trains for the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project in Greater Western Sydney, Australia. 

The project has reached a major milestone with the delivery of the first of 12 three-car metro trains for the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport turnkey project. The train will undergo extensive testing and commissioning, initially at the Stabling and Maintenance Facility in Orchard Hills, New South Wales, before moving to testing on the main line. Once operational, the trains will run at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4), providing fully automated services along the new 23-km metro line connecting Greater Western Sydney with Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport. Based on Siemens Mobility’s Inspiro High Capacity platform, the train has been specially adapted to meet the requirements of the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport line. The project is being delivered by the Parklife Metro consortium, comprising Siemens Mobility, Plenary Group, Webuild and RATP Dev, under a PPP with Sydney Metro.

Based on Siemens Mobility’s Inspiro High Capacity platform, the metro trains are designed to combine advanced technology with passenger comfort and accessibility. Features include large windows, flexible interior layouts, level boarding, dedicated wheelchair spaces, wide doors and low-noise engineering, supporting a safe and comfortable journey for passengers. The interiors also incorporate real-time passenger information displays, CCTV, emergency intercoms and wide open gangways to improve safety, passenger awareness and movement throughout the train. Before delivery, the trains underwent extensive commissioning and testing in Vienna, Austria, and at the Test and Validation Center in Wildenrath, Germany. Testing included wind-performance trials conducted in a climate chamber to verify that the trains can operate reliably across a range of environmental conditions.

In 2022, Siemens Mobility secured a turnkey contract for the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport project, covering the delivery of Australia’s first fully automated airport metro line. The 23-km route will connect Western Sydney International Airport with the future Bradfield City Centre. Under the contract, Siemens will supply 12 fully automated, driverless metro trains and provide key digital rail systems, including signalling, electrification, telecommunications, platform screen doors and a depot.

The company will also deploy Railigent X, its IoT-based digital platform, to enable advanced fleet monitoring, remote diagnostics and AI-powered analytics, helping identify and address potential issues at an early stage. These services form part of a 15-year full-service maintenance agreement. Siemens Mobility is delivering the project as a member of the Parklife Metro consortium, alongside international infrastructure partners, with its share of the contract valued at approximately €900 million.