First Driverless Siemens Metro Train Arrives for Sydney's Airport Line

Siemens Mobility has delivered the first of 12 driverless trains for Sydney Metro - Western Sydney Airport, opening the testing and commissioning phase for the 23 km line that will link Greater Western Sydney with Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport and the new Bradfield City Centre.

The three-car train is based on the Inspiro High Capacity platform and will run at Grade of Automation 4, meaning fully unattended operation. Interiors are tailored to airport traffic, with wide double doors for faster boarding, wider aisles and a mix of seating and standing space.

The unit arrived after testing in Vienna and at Siemens Mobility's test and validation centre at Wildenrath in Germany, including climate chamber trials. It now moves to the stabling and maintenance facility at Orchard Hills in New South Wales before running on the main line.

Siemens Mobility is part of the Parklife Metro consortium alongside Plenary Group, Webuild and RATP Dev, which won the contract in 2022 - Australia's first turnkey rail project, delivered as a public-private partnership. Siemens' own share of the deal is valued at roughly $1.5 billion; the total consortium contract value has not been disclosed. The scope covers trains, signalling, electrification, telecommunications, platform screen doors and the depot, and marks the first Australian deployment of Siemens' Railigent X monitoring platform. It is also the first Siemens metro fleet delivered to Australia since 2006. The airport is scheduled to open in October 2026.