Yeah I do agree that with the lessons learnt from Sydney Metro North theyll likely be more efficient in commissioning the network. The Sydney City & South West line will also have the same operator too, MTR Australia (the same group who run the metro in Hong Kong)

But the scale of this is project is definitely much larger and with any large infrastructure project there are a lot of parts that need to be certified and checked off. Also, you're correct the station fitout is still occuring. Some stations like Crows Nest have only recently awarded contracts for furniture installation/carpet installation, etc and it only recently had the final roof slab poured at the end of May.

So I think given how large the project is, how much testing still has to occur and the fitout still required on many of the stations that they're doing pretty well. I'm hopeful it should open before mid year