Airport railway line, Perth

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Airport railway line
Airport Central railway station under construction, May 2020 04.jpg
Airport Central railway station under construction, May 2020
Overview
StatusUnder construction
OwnerPublic Transport Authority
LocalePerth, Western Australia
TerminiBayswater
High Wycombe
Stations3
Websitewww.forrestfieldairportlink.wa.gov.au
Service
TypeCommuter rail
SystemTransperth
Operator(s)Transperth
History
OpenedFirst half of 2022 (planned)
Technical
Line length8.2 km (5.1 mi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
hide
Route map

Legend
to Perth     
 Bayswater
to Midland     
to Ellenbrook     
Swan River
Tonkin Highway
 Redcliffe
Perth Airport
Airport Central
 High Wycombe
This diagram:
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The Airport railway line is an under construction railway line on the Transperth network in Perth, Western Australia, scheduled to open in the first half of 2022. The line is intended to link Perth Airport and the Perth foothills at High Wycombe with the Midland railway line at Bayswater railway station. It is the shortest railway line in Perth, with the 3.2-kilometre-long (2.0 mi) railway to Thornlie currently considered a spur of the Armadale line.

History[]

In 2004, Perth Airport's twenty-year Master Plan proposed a rail link to connect with the Midland line between Bayswater and Ashfield stations at the Tonkin Highway. The rail link was proposed to continue above ground along Tonkin Highway to the Great Eastern Highway where it is believed it would go underground along Brearley Avenue and to the terminals in operation at completion of the line.[1]

In December 2013, the Government of Western Australia announced its intention to construct a railway line to Forrestfield via Perth Airport.[2] In August 2014, the scheme was endorsed by the Cabinet.[3][4][5]

In March 2015, it was announced five parties had lodged Expressions of Interest to build the line:[6]

A shortlist of Forrestfield Connect, JHL Joint Venture and SI-NRW Joint Venture was announced in April 2015.[8] In January 2016, the SI-NRW Joint Venture was named as the preferred tenderer. Construction on the project commenced on 3 November 2016.[9][10][11]

In December 2018, WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti announced that the project's opening has been delayed to mid-2021 due to the project's numerous problems, including a sinkhole, flooding, the boring machines moving slower than expected and two workplace incidents related to the project. Despite this, the project budget of $1.8 billion remains the same.[12]

Originally conceived as the Forrestfield-Airport Link,[13] it will be named the Airport line when it opens. Additionally, Forrestfield station was renamed to High Wycombe station.[14]

After initially denying that construction was behind schedule, Saffioti said in May 2021 that the planned completion date of the line had been again pushed back, this time to the first half of 2022. She put the delay down to the COVID-19 pandemic causing a delay in the production of steel and other materials, however the project will still come in on budget due to contingencies in the contract.[15][16][17]

In July, the head contractors commenced legal action against GHD Group, alleging it was negligent in failing to prepare an adequate design concept. The contractors, Webuild and NRW claimed they suffered a loss in the construction of the railway line as a result of GHD breaching the tender design agreement.[18]

On 16 July 2021, track laying was completed. Installation of the overhead conductor rail and overhead line equipment is still continuing as of July 2021, as is the final fit-out of the three stations on the line.[19][20][21]

Route[]

Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Approximately 8 km (5.0 mi) of the 8.5 km (5.3 mi) line is underground. The deepest tunnel point of 26 m (85 ft) is located under the Swan River. Below the airport the average depth is 15 m (49 ft).

The 8.5-kilometre-long (5.3 mi) line will diverge from Transperth’s existing Midland line near Bayswater station and run in twin-bore tunnels, initially paralleling the Tonkin Highway, then run under the Swan River to reach Perth Airport.[22] It continues in tunnels under the airport, before emerging to terminate at a new bus-rail interchange at High Wycombe.[4][5]

A new service that in part traverses the new line will terminate at Claremont Railway Station.[23][citation needed]

Stations[]

The new line will have the three new stations being built, and link to the Midland line at the pre-existing Bayswater railway station.[4][5][24]

Airport Line
Name of station Code Zone Serving suburbs Pattern stops at this station Connections
All
Bayswater MBR 1 Bayswater ● Link with Midland line

Bus transfers

Redcliffe TBA 2 Redcliffe, Belmont, Ascot, Cloverdale ● Bus transfers
Airport Central
 		TBA 2 Perth Airport ●
High Wycombe TBA 2 High Wycombe, Maida Vale, Forrestfield, Kalamunda ● Bus transfers

References[]

  1. ^ "Public Transport Link Option, 2024 Masterplan, Perth Airport". Westrailia Airports Corporation. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2007. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
  2. ^ "Treasurer Troy Buswell says airport link could be built entirely underground". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. ^ Barnett, Colin; Nalder, Dean (9 August 2014). "8km Forrestfield-Airport Link tunnel revealed". Media Statements of the Government of Western Australia (Media statement). Western Australia: Government of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Perth airport rail link approved". Railway Gazette International. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Forrestfield-Airport Link" (PDF). Public Transport Authority (WA). August 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  6. ^ EOIs received for Forrestfield-Airport Link Government of Western Australia 18 March 2015
  7. ^ Forrestfield-Airport Link EOI open Minister for Transport 29 January 2015
  8. ^ Kakulas, Vetti (30 April 2015). "Perth Airport rail link: Firms short-listed for design, construction". Perth Now. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  9. ^ Preferred respondent for new rail line announced Public Transport Authority 18 February 2016
  10. ^ Forrestfield airport rail link to be built by Italian firm ABC News 18 February 2016
  11. ^ Construction starts on Forrestfield-Airport link Government of Western Australia 18 November 2016
  12. ^ "Perth Airport link delayed by one year after sinkhole". ABC News. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  13. ^ "Forrestfield Airport Link > Home". Forrestfield-Airport Link. Public Transport Authority. 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  14. ^ Community names new Metronet station High Wycombe Minister for Transport 26 June 2020
  15. ^ "Joint media statement - METRONET Bayswater Junction hits the switch". Media Statements. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  16. ^ Hastie, Hamish. "WA's biggest rail project to be nearly two years overdue after more delays". WAtoday. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  17. ^ Law, Peter. "McGowan Government refuses to deny completion of Perth's airport rail link could be pushed back to 2022". The West Australian. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  18. ^ Burton, Jesinta. "Webuild, NRW sue GHD over $1.86bn Airport Link works". Business News. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  19. ^ Stone, Caitlyn. "Forrestfield-Airport track complete". Business News. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  20. ^ "Joint media statement - Track laying complete on METRONET Forrestfield-Airport Link". Media Statements. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  21. ^ Lowther, Amber. "Major Step Forward For The Forrestfield-Airport Link With Last Piece Of Track Laid". Hit. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Forrestfield-Airport Link Rail Route". Public Transport Authority. 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Upcoming disruptions pave the way for more trains and more choice at Claremont Station". METRONET. Public Transport Authority. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  24. ^ "Construction overview". Forrestfield-Airport Link. Public Transport Authority. 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2019.

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