Fremantle Railway Line - History

History

The line was the first suburban railway line in Perth, opening on 1 March 1881. It originally operated as the Eastern Railway and ran between Fremantle and Guildford through Perth. During the 1880s, the line was extended through Midland Junction to Chidlow and then to Clackline, York and Northam.

Fremantle was also the location of the first railway workshops for the Western Australian Government Railways. They were relocated to Midland Junction in 1904.

In 1966, the eastern railway metropolitan passenger services terminated at Midland.

Railway services on the Fremantle line were suspended on 1 September 1979 during the Court government, and re-opened on 29 July 1983 by a new Labor government.

During the staging of the 1987 America's Cup defence several stations south of Fremantle Station which were utilised by special trains including The Esplanade (19.8 km), Success Harbour (20.9 km), South Beach (22.0 km), and Spearwood. All are now since closed, with Spearwood having been demolished. These stations were part of the former Fremantle–Armadale railway line. Overhead electric cabling terminates at Fremantle Station.

During 1990 work commenced on building a new North Fremantle station, 800m north of its original location; on 28 July 1991, the rebuilt North Fremantle opened. Leighton Station, which was 700m further north, was demolished during the upgrade of the rail line from diesel to overhead catenary electric. Regular electric services started in September 1991.

Works are planned to sink the Fremantle Line between Lake Street and the Horseshoe Bridge in the Perth CBD to allow for a redevelopment of the area. When the development is completed, Perth Station's Fremantle to Midland platform will become an island platform, with an additional platform and track built on the north side. Platforms 6 and 8, west of the Horseshoe Bridge, will be demolished.

As of April 2011 the works were already behind the published schedule. In June 2011 a $237 million cost blow-out was revealed, added to a 2009 project estimate of $500 million. Completion of the development is currently planned for 2014.

The new tunnel will be the first in Western Australia to use a conductor rail instead of overhead wires, using the same system as parts of the Madrid Metro. With overhead wires, the clearance between the planned tunnel and the existing Joondalup Line tunnel would be only 75 cm. By using a conductor rail, the tunnel would be smaller, allowing increased clearance between the two tunnels.