❓ The Minister for Transport provides an update on the Armadale Line transformation, highlighting progress on boom gate removal, station demolition, and replacement bus service uptake. She thanks the public and workers for their patience and efforts.
AnsweredQoN 899Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
METRONET — ARMADALE RAIL LINE — SHUTDOWN
899. Mr H.T. JONES to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
record investment in public transport infrastructure, which is creating local
jobs and supporting local businesses.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the progress of this government's
transformation of the Armadale line, the biggest in its 130-year history?
(2) Can the minister outline what
this means for the communities that live along the Armadale line?
899. Mr H.T. JONES to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
record investment in public transport infrastructure, which is creating local
jobs and supporting local businesses.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the progress of this government's
transformation of the Armadale line, the biggest in its 130-year history?
(2) Can the minister outline what
this means for the communities that live along the Armadale line?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for Darling Range for the question. Last Sunday night, as
Coldplay finished its last song, the Metronet team was out getting ready for
the biggest transformation of the Armadale train line in its history. A few hours after we closed that rail line, we started
removing the boom gates. I acknowledge all the work being undertaken by
the workers across the entire area—from Victoria Park, Cannington,
Beckenham, Armadale, Byford and through to Thornlie. The workers have been
working through this extreme heat to progress the Armadale line transformation.
The boom gates that have been removed were at Oats Street, gone; Welshpool
Road, boom gates gone; Hamilton Street, Wharf Street, William Street, Armadale
Road, Forrest Road and Church Avenue. All those boom gates have been removed.
We started the demolition of the stations. In fact, Carlisle station has now
been removed. Cannington is now a pile of rubble, member for Cannington.
Mr W.J. Johnston : The
station.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The station
is a pile of rubble.
This work will make way for a brand
new set of stations. It will mean no more boom gates in those areas and of
course reduced congestion and a better public transport experience.
Member
for Darling Range, we were out there in Armadale, and through to Byford. We
have already seen the work that has been done on the Thomas Road rail
line overpass. Unfortunately, the member for Armadale could not do much work
with his injury, but he came out and we looked at the boom gate removal from
Church Avenue. People were surprised that we were removing the boom gates from
Armadale Road, which is a major congestion point.
Touch wood, as I always say, what
we have seen with the Western Australian public is patience but also people
getting on with it. We have seen incredible results across the network. We were
estimating that 55 per cent of those using the Armadale train service would
move on to our bus replacements. That has now moved to 76 per cent. We
estimated 55 per cent and we are getting 76 per cent on our public transport
replacement services. Importantly, also in
relation to traffic, we were estimating 17 per cent extra vehicles on the
roads. Last week, I am happy to report that
the number of extra vehicles ranged from four per cent to 11 per cent in the
morning peak, less than we forecast . Member for Bunbury, we also took
that journey on the last Australind train before it was replaced with a new
locally manufactured train.
I thank the Western Australian
community for its patience and for being excited about the future of that
corridor. The feedback that I get is that
people understand that although it may take a little longer, they know the
transformation that is coming. I also thank the workers out there. As I said,
when we closed that rail line, I wanted to see activity the next day, and we
definitely have. People in the member for Darling Range's electorate
have already seen a lot of activity through Darling Range. Very soon we will
start seeing new rail lines, the new viaduct structure in place and also the
construction of new stations, in particular, Byford train station, a station
that this Labor government is proud to be delivering.
thank the member for Darling Range for the question. Last Sunday night, as
Coldplay finished its last song, the Metronet team was out getting ready for
the biggest transformation of the Armadale train line in its history. A few hours after we closed that rail line, we started
removing the boom gates. I acknowledge all the work being undertaken by
the workers across the entire area—from Victoria Park, Cannington,
Beckenham, Armadale, Byford and through to Thornlie. The workers have been
working through this extreme heat to progress the Armadale line transformation.
The boom gates that have been removed were at Oats Street, gone; Welshpool
Road, boom gates gone; Hamilton Street, Wharf Street, William Street, Armadale
Road, Forrest Road and Church Avenue. All those boom gates have been removed.
We started the demolition of the stations. In fact, Carlisle station has now
been removed. Cannington is now a pile of rubble, member for Cannington.
Mr W.J. Johnston : The
station.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The station
is a pile of rubble.
This work will make way for a brand
new set of stations. It will mean no more boom gates in those areas and of
course reduced congestion and a better public transport experience.
Member
for Darling Range, we were out there in Armadale, and through to Byford. We
have already seen the work that has been done on the Thomas Road rail
line overpass. Unfortunately, the member for Armadale could not do much work
with his injury, but he came out and we looked at the boom gate removal from
Church Avenue. People were surprised that we were removing the boom gates from
Armadale Road, which is a major congestion point.
Touch wood, as I always say, what
we have seen with the Western Australian public is patience but also people
getting on with it. We have seen incredible results across the network. We were
estimating that 55 per cent of those using the Armadale train service would
move on to our bus replacements. That has now moved to 76 per cent. We
estimated 55 per cent and we are getting 76 per cent on our public transport
replacement services. Importantly, also in
relation to traffic, we were estimating 17 per cent extra vehicles on the
roads. Last week, I am happy to report that
the number of extra vehicles ranged from four per cent to 11 per cent in the
morning peak, less than we forecast . Member for Bunbury, we also took
that journey on the last Australind train before it was replaced with a new
locally manufactured train.
I thank the Western Australian
community for its patience and for being excited about the future of that
corridor. The feedback that I get is that
people understand that although it may take a little longer, they know the
transformation that is coming. I also thank the workers out there. As I said,
when we closed that rail line, I wanted to see activity the next day, and we
definitely have. People in the member for Darling Range's electorate
have already seen a lot of activity through Darling Range. Very soon we will
start seeing new rail lines, the new viaduct structure in place and also the
construction of new stations, in particular, Byford train station, a station
that this Labor government is proud to be delivering.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.