Construction problems have delayed the reopening of two-thirds of the Armadale train line’s length, with thousands of commuters forced to wait an indefinite period for their service to return despite earlier promises by Transport Minsiter Rita Saffioti of “100 per cent” confidence it would open in time.
On Sunday, Saffioti announced the new $1.3 billion Thornlie-Cockburn Link would open on Monday, June 9, marking the latest major milestone in Metronet’s transformation of Perth.
Work on the Perth to Armadale rail line.Credit: Colin Murty
The “inner” part of the Armadale line, which is around 14 kilometres long from the city to Beckenham, will reopen on the same date, including sky rail stations at Carlisle, Oats Street, Queens Park and Cannington.
However, around 25 kilometres of the “outer” part of the line, from Kenwick to Byford, won’t reopen until a “few months later”.
“There were some construction issues, and we were anticipating to claw back that timeframe but unfortunately, we haven’t,” Saffioti said.
“We apologise to all of those passengers affected, but … the team is working really hard to get it open as soon as possible.”
Saffioti said the delay was due to issues with piers and beams which had to be replaced.
Armadale trains ground to a halt in November 20, 2023 for a record-breaking 18-month shutdown, pushing 13,000 regular users onto the roads.
The state government said it was the quickest, easiest and safest way to give the 130-year-old train line a $2 billion makeover.
The cost of the Metronet project has ballooned significantly, with the total now exceeding $12 billion, after a $3 billion estimate ahead of the 2017 state election.
Saffioti said, however, there would not be further cost blowouts.
“We’re working really hard within the budgets,” she said.
Opposition leader Basil Zempilas said Metronet was a project that was $10 billion over budget, plagued with continual delays.
“While it will be fantastic to welcome more West Australians into Perth on the Armadale line, we need to know when that will be,” he said.
“Every delay prevents workers from building houses and vital infrastructure across our state, and costs West Australian taxpayers.”
Perth’s first east-west cross line connection includes two new stations at Nicholson Road and Ranford Road, with upgrades to Thornlie, Cockburn Central, as well as Perth Stadium stations, providing a direct route from the Mandurah line to Optus Stadium for the first time.
Commuters will have a 27-minute journey to Perth from Nicholson Road station and a 31-minute journey from Ranford Road station.
The remainder of the line will reopen when the new elevated Armadale and Byford stations reach completion in the next few months. This will include the reopening of stations at Sherwood, Challis, Kelmscott, Seaforth, Gosnells, Maddington and Kenwick.
Rail replacement bus services will continue until the entire Armadale line has reopened, but these services will be amended from June 9. Under the changes, the majority of rail replacement bus services will conclude their journeys at Cannington, where commuters will be able to connect to the train line.
Any passengers receiving free public transport due to the Armadale Line closure will continue to receive the concession until their regular train station reopens.
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