Rail transport in Western Australia
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Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century mainly by the Government of Western Australia. Nevertheless the private Midlands Railway Company and Great Southern Railway built lines in the wheat belt with the support of land grants. The network in southwestern Western Australia were built as 1067 mm gauge ines. In the 20th century standard (1435 mm) gauge lines penetrated to Perth and Esperance and long distance heavy-haul railways were built in the Pilbara region by major iron mining companies, particularly BHP Billiton and Hamersley Iron.
Government railways were controlled by the Department of Works and Railways from 1877. This became Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) in 1890. WAGR became Westrail in 1975 and continued to manage both passenger and freight rail services in Western Australia until 2000, when its freight business was sold to Australian Western Railroad — a subsidiary of the Australian Railroad Group (ARG). This business was purchased by Queensland Rail in 2006. Westrail’s freight rail lines were leased to WestNet Rail — another subsidiary of the Australian Railroad Group. This business was acquired by Babcock & Brown Limited in 2006.
Passenger rail services are controlled by the Public Transport Authority (a department of the Government of Western Australia) through:
- Transperth - operates public transport, including suburban trains
- Transwa - controls public transport services outside of Perth, including passnger service from Perth to Kalgoorlie, Northam and Bunbury.
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[edit] History
The Western Australian lines developed as narrow (1067 mm) gauge ines from Fremantle (the port of Perth), Geraldton, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance, mainly for carrying grain and minerals. In the 20th century standard (1435 mm) gauge lines penetrated to Perth and Esperance, a number of heavy-haul standard gauge lines for iron ore traffic were built in the north of the State and the Perth suburban lines were electrified and extended.
[edit] Timeline
- 1871 - Private timber railway opens from Lockville to Yoganup, south of Perth
- 1879 - Government 1067 mm gauge line opens between Geraldton and Northampton
- 1881 - Line opens from Fremantle to Perth and Guildford
- 1893 - Line opens from Perth to Bunbury
- 1894 - Midland Railway Company opens line from Midland Junction to Walkaway, connecting with the Government line to Geraldton
- 1896 - Line reaches Kalgoorlie
- 1917 - Standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway connects eastern Australia with Western Australia, with a break-of-gauge at Kalgoorlie
- 1968 - Kalgoorlie to Perth standard gauge line opens
- 1986 - Electrification of Perth suburban lines from with a 25 kV AC overhead power supply commences
[edit] First lines
Private railways for carrying timber were built south of Perth from Lockville to Yoganup in 1871 (see Busselton) and from Rockingham to Jarrahdale soon after.
The first government railway in the State was a 3ft 6in (1067 mm) gauge line between Geraldton and Northampton and was opened in 1879 to transport lead and copper to port. It was closed in 1957.
The Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) opened line from Fremantle to Perth and Guildford in 1881. It was extended to Chidlow in 1884, York in 1885 and Beverley in 1886. Branch lines were built to Belmont, Northam and Toodyay by 1888.
[edit] Southern lines
The Beverly line was extended to Albany in 1889 by the Great Southern Railway, which was taken over by WAGR in 1896. A line was built from Perth to Bunbury in 1893, with branches to Collie, Busselton and Bridgetown.
[edit] Northern lines
The Midland Railway Company opened a line from Midland Junction to Walkaway in 1894, where it met the WAGR line from Geraldton opened in 1887. It was acquired by the WAGR in 1964.
[edit] Goldfields line
The Northam line was extended to Southern Cross in 1894 and Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in 1896. This line connected with the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway to eastern Australia in 1917 at a break-of-gauge. The replacement standard guage line was open in 1968
[edit] Timber Lines
[edit] Wheatbelt Branch Lines
[edit] Isolated Branch Lines
[edit] Pilbara Iron Ore Lines
[edit] Perth suburban network
[edit] References
- Affleck, Fred N. On track : the making of Westrail, 1950 to 1976 . Perth : Westrail, 1978. ISBN 0-7244-7560-5
- May, Andrew and Gray, Bill. A History of WAGR Passenger Carriages. Perth:The Author, 2006. ISBN 0-646-45902-3
- Quinlan, Howard & Newland, John R. Australian Railway Routes 1854-2000 2000. ISBN 0-909650-49-7
