By Hamish Hastie
Labor has pledged to halve regional transport fares on TransWA services as it looks to shore up votes in regional seats.
Speaking in Pinjarra next to the currently idle Australind line, WA Premier Roger Cook also committed to build two new Australind line trains, and announced the state had begun negotiations to bring privatised Wheatbelt rail lines back into public hands.
The Australind service to Bunbury will get more trains.Credit: Hannah Barry
The fare cut is in addition to the plan to introduce a $2.80 flat fare on Perth’s metro rail network from 2026, and Cook said it would save someone travelling between Albany and Perth $72 on a return bus trip, and a traveller $100 on a return journey between Perth and Kalgoorlie on the Prospector.
The promise would cost the state $13 million in foregone revenue across the forward estimates.
“This is a real cost-of-living relief measure for everyone living in regional WA, it will take cars off regional roads and make our regional cities more attractive places for people to live and work,” he said.
The new Australind rail cars would cost $18 million to complete, and Cook said it would mean more frequent services between Bunbury and Perth.
“This is about securing the future of Australind and delivering regular and reliable travel to and from Perth for regional Western Australians,” he said.
The Australind line is currently idle thanks to works ongoing on the Armadale line, which Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said would be completed by the middle of the year.
The state government is currently building six new diesel railcars to replace the existing three-car Australind fleet. The promised new cars would take the fleet to eight.
The state’s plan to take the remaining 25-year lease of the state’s freight rail network off current owner Arc Infrastructure was uncosted and negotiations had only just begun.
Cook said a final decision to purchase the lease would be made only if it was economically and financially responsible.
“The demands on the state’s freight rail network have grown significantly, and we want to make sure we’re moving as much by rail to and from our ports as possible,” Cook said.
Liberal transport spokesman Tjorn Sibma lashed the government’s decision to embark on negotiations while parliament was prorogued and demanded they reveal the letter sent to Arc Infrastructure.
Sibma said industry sources told him the entire project could cost the state $5 billion but did not provide further evidence of the figures.
He said he understood the freight rail network needed looking at but his party would not commit to anything without seeing financial and legal advice.
“What strikes me about this announcement is it seems to be a return to almost 1930 state paternalism. It is socialism by stealth,” he said.
“It is very easy to purchase assets when you are using other people’s money but we intend to be a responsible government.
“We will entertain deals which are in the industry interest, in the interest of regional communities, but overall in the interests of the Western Australian taxpayer.”
Opposition Leader and transport spokesman Shane Love said the uncosted commitment was nothing more than a hollow promise from a government which had failed to deliver for regional WA over the past eight years.
“A leopard doesn’t change its spots, and WA Labor doesn’t care about regional WA except in the weeks leading up to the election,” he said.
“Labor’s empty announcement offers no details on the cost to taxpayers, how it will be funded, or how it will facilitate the long-term management of the network for its various stakeholders, including our vitally important grain freight network.”
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