Sydney’s new metro line offers 110km/h speeds and an end to replacement buses – just don’t ask about the start date

Commuter disruptions will soon be over, but Chris Minns doesn’t want to ‘tempt fate’ with a date the NSW government can’t meet Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast For almost two years, thousands of passengers in Sydney’s inner west and south-west have queued daily for every commuter’s nightmare: the replacement bus. In Marrickville, the queue for the bus to nearby Sydenham metro station snakes past artisan butchers and bánh mi shops. During the morning peak, commuters sometimes have to wait for three or four bright-pink buses before they can secure a spot. But with “through running” testing starting on Tuesday on the Sydenham to Bankstown metro extension, which passes through Marrickville, those replacement buses will soon be just a bad memory. Just don’t ask the state government for a start date for passenger services. “We are still in the hands of the national safety regulator, and we don’t want to tempt fate with a date that we don’t meet,” the premier, Chris Minns, says on Tuesday, pre-empting questions from reporters ahead of a media opportunity to ride all the way from Sydenham to Bankstown. As the doors beep shut at Sydenham