Fremantle line

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The Fremantle line is a suburban railway and service in Western Australia that connects the central business district (CBD) of Perth with Fremantle.

History

The railway on which the service runs opened on 1 March 1881 as the first suburban railway line in Perth by William Robinson.[1] It originally operated as the Eastern Railway and ran between Fremantle and Guildford, via central Perth. In March 1884, the railway line was extended via Midland Junction to Bellevue[2][3] and later to Clackline, York and Northam. The railway line opened as a single track with a passing loop at Claremont, it was duplicated in 1896/97. A dedicated freight line was later added on the western side between Cottesloe and the Leighton Marshalling Yard.[4]

On 22 October 1898, the railway line was extended south to Robbs Jetty, on 1 July 1903 via Cockburn to Coogee and on 19 December 1955 via Woodman Point to Kwinana.[5][6] The Coogee to Woodman Point section closed on 16 September 1973, followed by Robbs Jetty to Coogee in February 1986.[3][7]

In July 1926, the Fremantle Railway Bridge over the Swan River was partly washed away in a flood, with one line restored in October 1926 and the second in April 1928.[4]

In the 1960s, as part of the standard gauge project, the section south of Cockburn was replaced by the Kwinana line on a different alignment.[8] One of the lines north of Cockburn to the container terminal at North Quay and Leighton Marshalling Yard was converted to standard gauge. The Fremantle Railway Bridge was converted to dual gauge.[4][9] A marshalling yard was built at Robbs Jetty.

In 1966, the eastern railway metropolitan passenger services were curtailed to terminate at Midland.

Two plaques on a tiled floor
Plaques at Perth station commemorating the closure and reopening of the Fremantle line

Passenger services on the Fremantle line were suspended on 1 September 1979. The decision was based on three one day counts in 1971, 1975 and 1977. The Liberal government of Charles Court planned to convert the railway reserve into a busway, citing figures which showed a loss of $1.14 per passenger-journey on trains versus a loss of $0.26 per passenger-journey on buses. The closure of the line was opposed by Friends of the Railway (FOR), which submitted a petition of 100,000 signatures and prepared a 98-page report arguing for its retention.[10] The railway was kept in working order despite the closure, initially because narrow gauge freight trains still used it to access Fremantle, there being no other narrow gauge access to the port.[11] Later when a narrow gauge link was constructed from Cockburn to North Fremantle, trade unions had placed a ban on working on dismantling any track or equipment.[12] The service was reinstated on 29 July 1983 following a change of government which saw Brian Burke and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) come to power.[1][4][13][14] During the closure of the rail line, patronage dropped by 30%.[15]

For the staging of the 1987 America's Cup, stations south of Fremantle were erected for use by special trains at The Esplanade, Success Harbour and South Beach. The Hotham Valley Railway operated a daily service on this section of the line with a W class steam locomotive as the Spinnaker Run between October 1986 and February 1987.[16] The narrow and standard gauge lines were rebuilt as a single dual gauge line at the same time. Having been disused since 1987, the three stations were demolished in September 2018.[17][18]

During 1990, work commenced on building a new North Fremantle station, Script error: No such module "convert". north of its original location, which opened for service on 28 July 1991. Leighton station, which was Script error: No such module "convert". further north, was demolished during the electrification of the line. Regular electric services started in September 1991.[1][19] Today there are 17 stations on the line.[20]

A railway tunnel portal surrounded by a brick retaining wall
The eastern portal of the Subiaco tunnel

As part of the Subi Centro project, Subiaco station and Script error: No such module "convert". of the line were sunk in 1998.[21] Between 2011 and 2014, the Fremantle line was sunk between Lake Street and the Horseshoe Bridge in the Perth CBD to allow for the redevelopment of the area.[22] Perth station's former Fremantle to Midland platform became an island platform, with an additional platform and track built on the north side. Platforms west of the Horseshoe Bridge were demolished.[22] In June 2011 a $237 million cost blow-out was revealed, added to a 2009 project estimate of $500 million.[23][24]

The new tunnel is the first in Western Australia to use a rigid overhead conductor rail instead of overhead wires, the same system as used on the Madrid Metro. With overhead wires, the clearance between the new tunnel and the existing Yanchep line tunnel is only Template:Cvt. The new tunnel could be built to a smaller diameter by using a conductor rail, allowing for an increased clearance between the two.[25] The new tunnel opened on 18 July 2013.[26]

With the privatisation of Westrail in 2000, responsibility for the Perth to South Beach section passed to the Public Transport Authority and the South Beach to Cockburn Junction section to Arc Infrastructure, although operational responsibility for the standard gauge line is with Arc Infrastructure.[27][28][29]

A new bridge over the Swan River Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".. This will carry the Fremantle line with the existing bridge retained for use by freight trains to Fremantle Harbour.[30]

Services

File:South beach south.jpg
Dual gauge track at South Beach station in February 2006

Transperth operate services on the line from Fremantle through the Perth CBD to Midland on the Midland line.[31][32][33] Freight services operate from Kewdale and Forrestfield to North Quay. Until July 2015 these were operated by Aurizon when SCT Logistics took over.[34][35]

Rolling stock

Until the ADG class railcars entered service in 1953, services on the Fremantle line were operated by steam locomotives. Some peak-hour services continued to be steam hauled until the arrival of the ADK/ADB class diesel multiple units in 1968 resulted in the end of steam haulage. When the line was electrified in 1991, A-series electric multiple units took over. B-series electric multiple units have been used irregularly (for example, for special events services to West Leederville). Two three-car B-series trains were introduced on regular weekday peak services from 21 July 2019.[36]

Patronage

Below is the annual patronage of Fremantle railway line from 2010 to 2011 financial year. Figures are provided as total boardings, which includes all fare-paying boardings and free travel on stations within the free transit zones as well as transfers between stations. The figures for rail replacement and special events services are not included in the total.[37]

Template:Div flex row Template:Transperth railway patronage Template:Graph:Chart Template:Div flex row end

Description

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The Transperth network currently uses fixed block signalling and automatic train protection, which stops trains that pass a red signal and slows trains that drive too fast.[40]Template:Rp These systems will be replaced by an automatic train control system, likely a communications-based train control system.[40]Template:Rp

Route

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Stations

Key
Icon Purpose
§ Special events station
Station Distance from Perth[41] Fare zone[42] Location Opened Connections
km mi
Perth 0.0 0.0 1/FTZ Perth Script error: No such module "Date table sorting". Bus at Perth BusportScript error: No such module "string".Australind, Airport, Armadale, Mandurah, Thornlie–Cockburn and Yanchep linesScript error: No such module "string".Services continue on the Midland line
City West 1.6 1.0 1/FTZ West Perth 1986 Airport line
West Leederville 2.7 1.7 1 Subiaco, West Leederville 1897 Airport line
Subiaco 3.6 2.2 1 Subiaco 1883 Bus, Airport line
Daglish 4.9 3.0 1 Daglish, Subiaco 1924 Airport line
Shenton Park 6.0 3.7 1 Shenton Park 1908 Bus, Airport line
Karrakatta 7.6 4.7 1 Karrakatta 1886 Airport line
Loch Street 8.0 5.0 1 Claremont, Karrakatta 1954 Airport line
Showgrounds§ 8.7 5.4 1 Claremont 1954 Airport line
Claremont 9.4 5.8 1 Claremont 1886 Bus, Airport line
Swanbourne 10.5 6.6 2 Claremont, Swanbourne 1904
Grant Street 11.2 7.0 2 Cottesloe 1954
Cottesloe 12.4 7.7 2 Cottesloe 1884
Mosman Park 13.6 8.5 2 Cottesloe, Mosman Park 1894
Victoria Street 14.2 8.8 2 Cottesloe, Mosman Park 1954
North Fremantle 16.1 10.0 2 North Fremantle 1991
Fremantle 19.0 11.8 2 Fremantle 1907 Bus

Stopping patterns and frequency

The Fremantle railway line has one all-stops service pattern. All stops services run every 15 minutes during the day from Monday to Sunday, every 12 minutes (five trains per hour) during the weekday peak period, and every half an hour or every hour at night; these frequencies are increased between Perth and Claremont due to Airport Line services.[43] Before the Airport line began operation,[44][45] weekday peak period frequency between Claremont and Fremantle was every 10 minutes. A special D stopping pattern servicing Shenton College previously ran between Perth station and Shenton Park station once daily in each direction.[42] This pattern last ran and was deleted on 7 October 2022, due to the Airport line taking its place.[46] The line previously ran some express stopping patterns in peak times, the two major patterns skipping many minor stations on different halves of the line, whilst both stop at Claremont, Subiaco, and City West.[47]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ a b c Our History Script error: No such module "webarchive". Public Transport Authority
  2. ↑ Legislative Council - The Governor's Speech The West Australian 12 July 1884 page 3
  3. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Robb's Jetty-Woodman's Point Railway Act 1902 Script error: No such module "webarchive". Parliament of Western Australia
  6. ↑ Coogee-Kwinana Railway Act 1952 Parliament of Western Australia
  7. ↑ Railway (Coogee-Kwinana Railway) Discontinuance Act 1973 Script error: No such module "webarchive". Parliament of Western Australia
  8. ↑ Kwinana-Mundijong-Jarrahdale Railway Act 1961 Script error: No such module "webarchive". Parliament of Western Australia
  9. ↑ Nomination of Western Australian Standard Gauge Railway for an Engineering Heritage Australia Heritage Recognition AwardScript error: No such module "Unsubst". Engineers Australia September 2011 pages 10, 15
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ A History of the Town of Cottesloe Script error: No such module "webarchive". Town of Cottesloe
  14. ↑ A Guide to the 1983 State Cabinet Records Script error: No such module "webarchive". State Records Office of Western Australia page 13
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ A Descriptive History of Hotham Valley Tourist Railway Script error: No such module "webarchive". Hotham Valley Railway
  17. ↑ Fremantle Line Platform Demolitions Public Transport Authority
  18. ↑ Fremantle line platforms removed Railway Digest November 2018 page 27
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ History of Stations on the Fremantle Line Right Track
  21. ↑ Official opening of the Subiaco rail tunnel and station Script error: No such module "webarchive". Government of Western Australia 12 December 1998
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese highlights urban rail as key election issue Script error: No such module "webarchive". ABC News 18 July 2013
  27. ↑ Network Map Script error: No such module "webarchive". Brookfield Rail
  28. ↑ Scope of the Network Rules Script error: No such module "webarchive". Public Transport Authority
  29. ↑ Trackwork resleepering Script error: No such module "webarchive". Public Transport Authority
  30. ↑ Swan River Crossings Script error: No such module "webarchive". Main Roads Western Australia
  31. ↑ Template:Cite Transperth train
  32. ↑ Fremantle Line Timetable Script error: No such module "webarchive". Transperth 18 July 2013
  33. ↑ Midland Line Timetable Script error: No such module "webarchive". Transperth 18 July 2013
  34. ↑ Trainline 2 Statistical Report Script error: No such module "webarchive". Bureau of Infrastructure Transport & Regional Economics 2014 page 39
  35. ↑ SCT WA picks up new business with Fremantle Port Rail Service Script error: No such module "webarchive". SCT Logistics August 2015
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Click Download Now, then Download for Information Only. Make sure HCS SWTR Book 1 - Scope of Works DRAFT 01-09-21_Redacted.pdf is selected, then click Download Documents.
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Distance from East Perth station to Perth station is 2.1 km. Distance listed for Fremantle line stations is their distance from East Perth station. Each distance listed on this article is the distance listed in the source minus 2.1 km.
  42. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

Template:Perth public transport Template:Public Transport Authority of Western Australia railway stations Template:Railway lines in Western Australia

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