| Transperth Trains | |
|---|---|
| Info | |
| Owner | Public Transport Authority |
| Locale | Perth, Western Australia |
| Transit type | Commuter rail |
| Number of lines | 6 |
| Number of stations | 69 |
| Daily ridership | 360,000 approx[1] |
| Operation | |
| Operator(s) | Transperth |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,067mm (3ft 6in) |
Transperth Trains is a division of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. It is responsible for operating Perth’s urban passenger rail system, as part of the Transperth network.
Contents |
Transperth runs five train lines with one spur line. These lines are:
All of the above services except the Transwa Prospector and Transwa Avonlink run on narrow-gauge tracks. The Prospector and Avonlink run on standard-gauge tracks and takes the same route as the Midland line services. Consequently the track between East Perth and Midland is dual gauge.
Diesel trains were used on the rail network until the three lines then in service (Midland, Fremantle and Armadale) were electrified in the early 1990s. The first service with the A-series train was introduced during Royal Show week in September 1991, with regular services beginning on the Armadale line on 7 October 1991. The Midland and Fremantle lines commenced service with the then-new A-series trains in December 1991. The conversion from diesel to electric trains was accompanied by many upgrades to the rail network, such as upgrades to stations and tracks, and the cost of the undertaking was estimated at around A$109 million.
To service the expanding northern suburbs, Joondalup line was built in the median of the Mitchell Freeway in the early 1990s, after several years of planning.[2] The line was later extended to Currambine in 1993 and to Clarkson in 2005.
Legislation for the construction of the Mandurah Line was passed in December 1999.[3] The original proposed route branched from the Armadale line at Kenwick, and then ran alongside the freight lines until Jandakot where it would run in the middle of the Kwinana Freeway. However, a bill passed in November 2002 after a change of state government saw that the route would start at Perth, traverse the Kwinana Freeway, and then continue along its initial route after Jandakot.[4]
Construction of the line started in February 2004. The line was officially opened on 23 December 2007, with the first train carrying 1500 passengers, including 1000 members of the public selected by ballot.[5]
Because the Government did not begin its review of the Mandurah Line masterplan until after construction had begun, the tunnel under Roe Highway had already been constructed. To make use of the new tunnel, the government decided to convert this section into a small spur line to the suburb of Thornlie.
It was decided that Armadale trains would alternate with Thornlie trains, with the Thornlie trains stopping at all stations and Armadale trains only stopping at Oats Street and Cannington stations. Thornlie station was officially opened on 7 August 2005. Normal services began the next day.
In 2003, the government launched the New MetroRail program as the official name of the upgrades to the rail network. This program included the following projects:
Funding has been allocated in the 2009-10 state budget for extending the Joondalup line north to Brighton, with construction scheduled to start in 2010.[6] In addition, the Airport Masterplan calls for a spur line from the Midland Line to connect to the Airport. The line would deviate between Bayswater and Ashfield stations, run through the suburb of Redcliffe and meet with the Airport.
Former Premier Alan Carpenter had announced a study on the feasibility of a high speed rail service running from Perth to the south city of Bunbury as a replacement of the current Australind train service. The new study says a new line could be built just after Cockburn Central station on the Mandurah Line, then following the Kwinana Freeway south to the new Perth-Bunbury Highway and following the highway until it reaches the Bunbury CBD. Alan Carpenter says the new line would reduce train travel times by up to one and a half hours from the current Australind service.[7]
The A-series electric multiple-unit railcar sets are two-car trains with a driver’s cab at each end. They were built in Maryborough, Queensland by Walkers (now EDi Rail) and ABB, which had become part of ADtranz by the time the second generation were built.
The A-series sets were a very important part of the electrification of Perth’s suburban railway system in the early 1990s and the Joondalup Line, which was being constructed in the same period. The first ever A-series EMU was delivered on 1 September 1990. The original order of 43 first-generation A-series trains were followed by an additional order of 5 second-generation trains due to the Joondalup Line exceeding passenger estimates. Delivered in 1998, the second-generation trains are slightly different from the first-generation sets, with LED screens in the train and other upgrades to security and accessibility. Two-car A-series sets can be coupled together to make trains of four or six cars.
Specifications
Introduced to service in October 2004, the B-series are the newest electric trains to operate in Perth. They were built by Downer Rail and Bombardier Transportation (the new owners of ADtranz) in Maryborough, Queensland, and operate on the new Mandurah Line and the existing Joondalup Line.
Unlike the A-series, the B-series has three cars to a set. The powered ‘A’ and ‘B’ cars each have a driver’s cab at one end, while the central ‘T’ car is entirely devoted to passengers, and supplies power from overhead lines to the powered cars. The B-series trains can operate as the single three-car set, or be coupled together to make trains of six or nine cars. B-series trains can reach a top speed of 130 km/h.
On 19 September 2006 the Premier of Western Australia, Alan Carpenter, announced that the Public Transport Authority will purchase another 15 new 3-car sets from the EDI Rail-Bombardier Transportation joint venture. The first three B-series railcar sets were introduced on 28 June 2009 and have allowed some of the A-series trains to be transferred to the Midland-Fremantle line. As more sets become available, they will allow the remaining two-car A1/2 series railcar sets currently being used on the Perth-Clarkson line to increase total capacity for the Armadale-Perth and Midland-Fremantle services, with an overall increase of 3,900 passengers, or more than 30 per cent.
Specifications
By 2011, the fleet numbers will be from 49–98.
Transperth used to operate ADK- and ADL-class diesel multiple units, until New Zealand Rail Limited bought them in 1993. The units remain in service today on Auckland’s commuter network, but will be retired once electrification of the urban rail system has been completed in that city.
Transperth trains run from two main depots and one minor depot:
Currambine Station, until its relocation to the middle of the Mitchell Freeway reserve in 2004, had a small cleaning and overnight storage facility designed to hold up to four two-car sets.
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