❓ Opposition questions the government's decision to not assess the Kenwick route for the Perth-Mandurah railway, citing sustainability concerns. The government defends its choice of the freeway route, citing capacity, travel time, and service impact issues with the Kenwick alternative.
AnsweredQoN 2811Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) Recognising that the Minister for the Environment gave environmental approval for the Perth to Mandurah railway in November 2003, is the Premier aware that the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure was not prepared to submit, for EPA assessment, the Kenwick route as an alternative to the freeway route?
(2) Recognising the Government’s commitment to sustainability, will the Premier ask the EPA to urgently assess the Kenwick route as an alternative to the freeway route so that the actual economic, social and environmental sustainability of the two routes can be compared by the Government’s independent adviser?
(3) If the Premier is convinced that the direct route up the freeway is the most sustainable route for the Perth to Mandurah railway, what reasons would there be for not asking the EPA to carry out this assessment, recognising that the decision to proceed with the freeway route has already been made and cannot be reversed?
(4) Is the Premier aware that, around the world, integrated land use and public transport planning principles now require all new passenger railways similar to the Southern Rail project to be built in greenfield areas where such integration can be easily achieved?
(5) Will the Premier advise if there are any public railway lines anywhere in the world that are similar to the Southern Rail Project and which run at a profit or financially break even?
(6) Does the Premier accept that putting the railway up the freeway prevents higher urban densities along at least 10 kilometres of the rail route, seriously impairing the ability of the rail line to maximise passenger numbers and thereby consigning the line to run at a greater loss in perpetuity than if the Kenwick route was to be built?
(2) Recognising the Government’s commitment to sustainability, will the Premier ask the EPA to urgently assess the Kenwick route as an alternative to the freeway route so that the actual economic, social and environmental sustainability of the two routes can be compared by the Government’s independent adviser?
(3) If the Premier is convinced that the direct route up the freeway is the most sustainable route for the Perth to Mandurah railway, what reasons would there be for not asking the EPA to carry out this assessment, recognising that the decision to proceed with the freeway route has already been made and cannot be reversed?
(4) Is the Premier aware that, around the world, integrated land use and public transport planning principles now require all new passenger railways similar to the Southern Rail project to be built in greenfield areas where such integration can be easily achieved?
(5) Will the Premier advise if there are any public railway lines anywhere in the world that are similar to the Southern Rail Project and which run at a profit or financially break even?
(6) Does the Premier accept that putting the railway up the freeway prevents higher urban densities along at least 10 kilometres of the rail route, seriously impairing the ability of the rail line to maximise passenger numbers and thereby consigning the line to run at a greater loss in perpetuity than if the Kenwick route was to be built?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
2 June 2004
Response time
29 days
(1)-(4)
The Government is not prepared to delay the provision of a world class rail service to the people of the Southern Suburbs, nor waste resources within the EPA, to further assess the discredited Kenwick Deviation that, by any analysis, simply does not compare to the Fast, Direct Route.
The Kenwick Deviation had a number of significant problems and unresolved issues including:
Lack of capacity
The Kenwick Deviation funnels two rail lines on to one – the SW line and the Armadale line merging into a single track north of Kenwick.
The maximum capacity of this line is 20 trains per hour – although this would be hard to consistently achieve because we will have trains travelling at different speeds and trying to accommodate the Australind service.
The Armadale line currently has 8 trains an hour.
That would have left the SW line with a maximum of 12 trains an hour with no growth in capacity possible.
The entire southern suburbs rail system would have no capacity for growth from day one.
By contrast the Northern Suburbs line has already 14 trains per hour and will increase to 16 trains per hour in the near future.
When we start our SW rail services via the Fast Direct Route we will be delivering 14 trains per hour from Thomsons Lake and build to 20 trains per hour over the following decade.
Increased travel time
The Kenwick Deviation adds approximately 11 kilometres to the journey and at least 12 minutes each way in travel time from Thomsons Lake south. This undermined the competitiveness of the system with the motor vehicle.
The comparative travel times of the Fast Direct Railway, the Kenwick Deviation, bus and motor vehicle in the morning peak are as follows:
Trip
Fast Direct Route
Kenwick Deviation
Bus
Motor vehicle
Perth - Mandurah
48 mins
60 mins
73 mins
68 mins
Perth – Rockingham
33 mins
45 mins
57 mins
54 mins
Perth – Thomsons Lake
16 mins
28 mins
23 mins
34 mins
It is clear that the Fast Direct Railway will deliver travel times that are competitive with the motor vehicle and will attract people to public transport. The Kenwick Deviation and the bus simply do not deliver the travel times required to persuade people with a choice out of their car and onto public transport.
Impact on services
Even to achieve travel times of 60 minutes from Mandurah and 48 minutes from Rockingham under the Kenwick Deviation, significant alterations were required to both the infrastructure and train schedules on the Armadale line.
A number of stations were to be closed and the trains travelling to and from Rockingham and Mandurah would have stopped at only a limited number of stations between Kenwick and Perth. A major change was required to the operation of train services between Perth and Armadale to accommodate the integration of limited stop trains from the South West and the amended timetable for Armadale trains.
The Public Transport Authority is proud of its standards of performance, including 98% reliability, and takes the view that any addition to the existing service should be achieved without a lessening of that enviable performance.
Level crossings
There were a number of existing level crossings between Burswood and Kenwick that were to be retained under the Kenwick Deviation. These were Mint Street, Carlisle; Hamilton Street, Queens Park; Wharf Street, Cannington; and William Street, Beckenham. A significant number of vehicles pass through these crossings during the morning and afternoon peak periods.
There are currently eight trains an hour plus the Australind service operating each way on the Armadale line between Kenwick and Perth during the peak period. Under the Kenwick Deviation there would have been up to an additional 12 trains per hour from the SW line bringing up to twenty trains an hour each way in addition to the Australind service.
With up to 41 trains per hour (20 trains each way plus the Australind one way) passing through these crossings during peak periods they would have been closed off for approximately 26 minutes each hour during the busiest periods of the day. The additional trains on the Armadale line under the Kenwick Deviation would have pushed boom gate closures beyond acceptable limits and those crossings, in all probability, would have to have been grade separated. The cost of grade separating these four level crossings was estimated to be $20 million.
Perth station
Another unresolved issue was how to cater for the major increase of passengers at Perth Station. The Kenwick Deviation would have seen an additional 18,000 people per day entering the existing Perth Station.
The detailed design of how to deal with congestion, ingress and egress had not been done.
By comparison the provision of new underground platforms under the Fast Direct Route means that Perth City Station will be able to cater for patronage growth well into the future.
(5)
Not only will the Fast Direct Railway deliver significant benefits for a similar up front capital cost as the Kenwick Deviation it will save the taxpayers of Western Australia millions of dollars each year in operational costs.
As outlined above, the Kenwick Deviation required 117 railcars, 24 more than is required for the Fast Direct Route – costing significantly more on train crews, security, maintenance, electricity and so on.
As the Fast Direct Route will carry more than 10,000 passengers more than the Kenwick Deviation there is also a significant increase in revenue.
A comparative analysis of the two routes estimates that it would cost approx $15 million per year more to operate the Kenwick Deviation.
(6)
The Fast Direct Railway is expected to carry 28,500 people each weekday when services commence in 2006/07. This is almost 10,000, or 35%, more people than were expected to use the Kenwick Deviation.
The current modelling shows that for the section of the railway common to both the Kenwick and Direct routes (i.e. from Glen Iris southward) the Kenwick route would attract 11,290 boarders per weekday in year 2006, whilst the Direct Route will attract 15,890 boarders in year 2006, an increase of 40%. This patronage arises from a far more attractive service as a result of the reduced journey times and more frequent services particularly from Thomsons Lake.
There is a 110% increase in patronage at Thomsons Lake reflecting a 42% decrease in journey time and a 50% increase in service frequency at peak times compared to the Kenwick Route
This will be achieved using 20% less trains than for the Kenwick route.
The Government is not prepared to delay the provision of a world class rail service to the people of the Southern Suburbs, nor waste resources within the EPA, to further assess the discredited Kenwick Deviation that, by any analysis, simply does not compare to the Fast, Direct Route.
The Kenwick Deviation had a number of significant problems and unresolved issues including:
Lack of capacity
The Kenwick Deviation funnels two rail lines on to one – the SW line and the Armadale line merging into a single track north of Kenwick.
The maximum capacity of this line is 20 trains per hour – although this would be hard to consistently achieve because we will have trains travelling at different speeds and trying to accommodate the Australind service.
The Armadale line currently has 8 trains an hour.
That would have left the SW line with a maximum of 12 trains an hour with no growth in capacity possible.
The entire southern suburbs rail system would have no capacity for growth from day one.
By contrast the Northern Suburbs line has already 14 trains per hour and will increase to 16 trains per hour in the near future.
When we start our SW rail services via the Fast Direct Route we will be delivering 14 trains per hour from Thomsons Lake and build to 20 trains per hour over the following decade.
Increased travel time
The Kenwick Deviation adds approximately 11 kilometres to the journey and at least 12 minutes each way in travel time from Thomsons Lake south. This undermined the competitiveness of the system with the motor vehicle.
The comparative travel times of the Fast Direct Railway, the Kenwick Deviation, bus and motor vehicle in the morning peak are as follows:
Trip
Fast Direct Route
Kenwick Deviation
Bus
Motor vehicle
Perth - Mandurah
48 mins
60 mins
73 mins
68 mins
Perth – Rockingham
33 mins
45 mins
57 mins
54 mins
Perth – Thomsons Lake
16 mins
28 mins
23 mins
34 mins
It is clear that the Fast Direct Railway will deliver travel times that are competitive with the motor vehicle and will attract people to public transport. The Kenwick Deviation and the bus simply do not deliver the travel times required to persuade people with a choice out of their car and onto public transport.
Impact on services
Even to achieve travel times of 60 minutes from Mandurah and 48 minutes from Rockingham under the Kenwick Deviation, significant alterations were required to both the infrastructure and train schedules on the Armadale line.
A number of stations were to be closed and the trains travelling to and from Rockingham and Mandurah would have stopped at only a limited number of stations between Kenwick and Perth. A major change was required to the operation of train services between Perth and Armadale to accommodate the integration of limited stop trains from the South West and the amended timetable for Armadale trains.
The Public Transport Authority is proud of its standards of performance, including 98% reliability, and takes the view that any addition to the existing service should be achieved without a lessening of that enviable performance.
Level crossings
There were a number of existing level crossings between Burswood and Kenwick that were to be retained under the Kenwick Deviation. These were Mint Street, Carlisle; Hamilton Street, Queens Park; Wharf Street, Cannington; and William Street, Beckenham. A significant number of vehicles pass through these crossings during the morning and afternoon peak periods.
There are currently eight trains an hour plus the Australind service operating each way on the Armadale line between Kenwick and Perth during the peak period. Under the Kenwick Deviation there would have been up to an additional 12 trains per hour from the SW line bringing up to twenty trains an hour each way in addition to the Australind service.
With up to 41 trains per hour (20 trains each way plus the Australind one way) passing through these crossings during peak periods they would have been closed off for approximately 26 minutes each hour during the busiest periods of the day. The additional trains on the Armadale line under the Kenwick Deviation would have pushed boom gate closures beyond acceptable limits and those crossings, in all probability, would have to have been grade separated. The cost of grade separating these four level crossings was estimated to be $20 million.
Perth station
Another unresolved issue was how to cater for the major increase of passengers at Perth Station. The Kenwick Deviation would have seen an additional 18,000 people per day entering the existing Perth Station.
The detailed design of how to deal with congestion, ingress and egress had not been done.
By comparison the provision of new underground platforms under the Fast Direct Route means that Perth City Station will be able to cater for patronage growth well into the future.
(5)
Not only will the Fast Direct Railway deliver significant benefits for a similar up front capital cost as the Kenwick Deviation it will save the taxpayers of Western Australia millions of dollars each year in operational costs.
As outlined above, the Kenwick Deviation required 117 railcars, 24 more than is required for the Fast Direct Route – costing significantly more on train crews, security, maintenance, electricity and so on.
As the Fast Direct Route will carry more than 10,000 passengers more than the Kenwick Deviation there is also a significant increase in revenue.
A comparative analysis of the two routes estimates that it would cost approx $15 million per year more to operate the Kenwick Deviation.
(6)
The Fast Direct Railway is expected to carry 28,500 people each weekday when services commence in 2006/07. This is almost 10,000, or 35%, more people than were expected to use the Kenwick Deviation.
The current modelling shows that for the section of the railway common to both the Kenwick and Direct routes (i.e. from Glen Iris southward) the Kenwick route would attract 11,290 boarders per weekday in year 2006, whilst the Direct Route will attract 15,890 boarders in year 2006, an increase of 40%. This patronage arises from a far more attractive service as a result of the reduced journey times and more frequent services particularly from Thomsons Lake.
There is a 110% increase in patronage at Thomsons Lake reflecting a 42% decrease in journey time and a 50% increase in service frequency at peak times compared to the Kenwick Route
This will be achieved using 20% less trains than for the Kenwick route.
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