A new metropolitan train line from Perth suburbs to its airport has been opened after more than a decade of planning.
Prime Minister Antony Albanese, Western Australian premier Mark McGowan and Western Australian transport minister Rita Saffiotti opened the line at the weekend.
They were among the commuters to take the first trip on the line to the airport station, Airport Central, from High Wycombe Station.
The METRONET Airport Line cost $1.86 billion to build and was first put forward in 2012.
McGowan said it was the first addition of a line to the network since the Mandurah Line in 2007.
“This is a momentous day for Western Australia—the first time a new train line has opened in Perth in almost 15 years,” McGowan said.
Federal transport minister Catherine King said the railway line underpinned more than 2000 construction jobs during the pandemic and travels 27m below ground and under the Swan River and Perth Airport.
“Construction created thousands of jobs as well as business opportunities, but that’s just the start of the benefits this project will unlock for Perth,” King said.
“This airport line will better connect communities to employment and encourage long-term opportunities for new businesses to grow, which will have a boon on the local jobs market and economy for years to come.”
The Airport Line has created 153 full-time equivalent jobs within Transperth train operations.
The federal government contributed $490 million towards the project with the WA adding $1.37 billion.
More METRONET projects are planned with the federal government contributing a total of $3.7 billion towards them.
The line adds 8.5km of railway to the existing network and is expected to have more than 20,000 trips a day within the first year of its operation.
Trains will run every 12 minutes during peak hours, every 15 minutes during the day and every 20 minutes during the night.
The new line will also have a supporting bus network to connect different suburbs to three new stations adding 26 new buses and 1.7 million kilometres of annual bus services.
High Wycombe Station and Redcliffe Station will have 1200 and 500 carparking bays respectively for commuters with secure bike shelters and drop-off bays.
The line connects to the Fremantle line at Perth train station and Saffioiti said the intent was to alleviate the pressure on Midland and Fremantle lines.
“Not only will this line increase public transport options for people living in Perth’s eastern suburbs and foothills area, but it will also create additional capacity on the Midland and Fremantle lines,” Saffioti said.
It is also the first railway line in the country to have regular commuter fares with the WA government agreeing to capping the fare at $5 for commuters.
Perth has continually added stations on to existing lines in the network as its urban and suburban areas continue to expand outwards in what is now the longest city sprawl.
The sprawl has caused concerns about increasing pressures on infrastructure needs to support it and has led to selecting and releasing more land within the Perth and Peel region for development to combat it.
The railway line opening comes as several state governments start investing in infrastructure.
While Victoria finalises plans for its own airport rail connection, NSW is adding railway and light rail tracks to connect its three planned capital cities and South Australia is building a line alongside the water pipeline and the several solar power farms it is investing in.
