Joondalup railway line

The Butler railway line is a hybrid suburban rail and rapid transit railway line in Western Australia that runs from Perth north to Butler. It was formerly known as the Northern Suburbs Railway. For much of its route, it traverses the median strip of the Mitchell Freeway.

Butler railway line
Overview
Other name(s)	Butler Line
Owner	Public Transport Authority
Termini	Elizabeth Quay Butler
Stations	13
Service
Type	Suburban rail/Rapid transit
System	Transperth Trains
Operator(s)	Transperth
Ridership	17.1 million (year to June 2015)
History
Opened	20 December 1992
Technical
Line length	40.7 km (25.3 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Overhead 25 kv AC
Route map km 40.7 Butler Butler Boulevard Benenden Avenue Landbeach Boulevard Nowergup depot Hester Avenue ↓ Neutral section 33.2 Clarkson Neerabup Road Burns Beach Road 29.2 Currambine Moore Drive State Route 2 ( Mitchell Freeway ) Shenton Avenue/ Pontiac Way State Route 85 ( Joondalup Drive ) Lawley Court Station Square 26.0 Joondalup Collier Pass Joondalup Drive/ Hodges Dr/Grand Blvd Mitchell Freeway southbound Eddystone Avenue 23.0 Edgewater Edgewater Substation State Route 84 ( Ocean Reef Road ) Whitfords siding State Route 83 ( Whitfords Avenue ) 19.0 Whitfords State Route 82 ( Hepburn Avenue ) 17.8 Greenwood State Route 81 ( Warwick Road ) 14.5 Warwick Beach Road State Route 3 ( Reid Highway ) State Route 77 ( Erindale Road ) State Route 76 ( Karrinyup Road ) State Route 64 ( Cedric Street ) 9.0 Stirling Hutton Street State Route 75 ( Scarborough Beach Road ) 5.4 Glendalough Powis Street Hillman Substation State Route 72 ( Lake Monger Dr / Vincent Street ) 3.2 Leederville Fremantle line State Route 61 ( Loftus Street ) State Route 2 ( Mitchell Freeway ) Mitchell Freeway Hamilton Interchange Fremantle line Roe Street Tunnel William Street Tunnel 0.0 Perth Underground│Perth Armadale/Thornlie & Midland lines Elizabeth Quay Mandurah line Transperth railway lines Armadale/Thornlie Fremantle Joondalup Mandurah Midland List of Transperth stations

History

B-series train on the Mitchell Freeway median strip in October 2006

On 14 November 1989, construction commenced on the line with Premier Peter Dowding driving the first spike. The line to Joondalup was opened by Premier Carmen Lawrence on 20 December 1992.[1][2][3] Initially only Leederville, Edgewater and Joondalup stations were opened with the remaining stations opened as completed for a full service to commence on 21 March 1993.[4][5] A realignment of the entire Transperth bus system was undertaken whereby the new railway stations became bus interchanges. On 8 August 1993, the line was extended to Currambine.[6][7]

Initially, service frequencies were similar to those for the Fremantle line as lower passenger numbers were anticipated; however, overcrowding saw the doubling of services between Perth and Whitfords on weekdays. Services were reverted to Fremantle line frequencies between 09:00 and 14:00 on 28 June 2009 due to low passenger numbers on those services.[8]

On 4 October 2004, the line was extended to Clarkson as part of the New MetroRail project. Nowergup depot opened at the same time.[9][10] On 29 January 2005, Greenwood was opened to alleviate pressure at the adjacent Warwick and Whitfords stations.[1][11]

On 8 August 2005, the service, which previously continued south from Perth station onto the Armadale line, was curtailed at Perth and no longer provided a through service. On 15 October 2007, Joondalup line trains began running to Perth Underground and Elizabeth Quay stations via new tunnels under central Perth.[12]

On 23 December 2007, the opening of the Mandurah line resulted in Joondalup services operating through to Mandurah. On 21 September 2014, the line was extended to Butler.[13]

Patronage

Below is the annual patronage of Joondalup 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.[14]

Joondalup railway line annual patronage

Year	Patronage	±%
2010–11	15,611,836	—
2011–12	16,700,234	+6.97%
2012–13	17,449,891	+4.49%
2013–14	16,897,361	−3.17%
2014–15	17,105,797	+1.23%
2015–16	16,917,029	−1.10%
2016–17	16,658,559	−1.53%
2017–18	16,477,387	−1.09%
2018–19	16,531,788	+0.33%
2019–20	13,374,710	−19.10%

Stations

Services are operated by B-series trains, with services previously being operated by A-series trains.

Joondalup Line

Name of station	Code	Zone	Serving suburbs	Pattern stops at this station			Connections
				All	K	W
Elizabeth Quay	REE	1,	Perth	●	●	●	Bus transfers at Elizabeth Quay Bus Station Through to Mandurah line
Perth Underground	MPH	1,	Perth, Northbridge	●	●	●	Platform transfer to Armadale / Thornlie, Fremantle, Midland lines Transwa Australind service to Bunbury Bus transfers at Perth Busport
Leederville	JLE	1	Leederville, West Leederville	●	●	●
Glendalough	JGH	1	Glendalough, Osborne Park	●	●	●	Bus transfers
Stirling	JSG	2	Innaloo, Osborne Park, Stirling	●	●	●	Bus transfers, CircleRoute
Warwick	JWK	2	Carine, Duncraig, Hamersley, Warwick	●	●	●	Bus transfers
Greenwood	JGD	2	Duncraig, Greenwood, Kingsley, Padbury	●	●	●
Whitfords	JWS	3	Craigie, Kingsley, Padbury, Woodvale	●	●	●	Bus transfers
Edgewater	JER	3	Beldon, Edgewater, Heathridge	●	●
Joondalup	JJP	3	Joondalup	●	●		Bus transfers
Currambine	JCE	4	Currambine, Joondalup, Kinross	●	●
Clarkson	JCN	4	Clarkson	●	●		Bus transfers
Butler	JBR	5	Butler	●			Bus transfers
Legend: Red denotes city stations Green denotes Joondalup line stations Black denotes termini Stopping patterns: All     all stops to Butler K       all stops to Clarkson; terminates at Clarkson W      all stops to Whitfords P      all stops to Perth station (above-ground) A      all stops to Perth Underground station

Disused stopping patterns

• C - express to Stirling, then all stop until Greenwood, then express to Edgewater then all stops to Clarkson (and later Butler)(deprecated on 31 January 2016).
• W - all stops to Whitfords, except Greenwood (Greenwood added to the pattern on 31 January 2016).
• SD - express from Butler or Clarkson to Perth for school kids.
• CW - stops all stations between Cockburn Central and Whitfords and does not terminate at Perth Underground
• RC - stops all stations between Rockingham and Clarkson and does not terminate at Perth Underground

Proposed extension

There are plans to extend the line by 13.8 km (8.6 mi) to the rapidly growing far northern suburbs with stations planned for Alkimos, Eglinton and Yanchep. In the 2017 WA state budget, $441 million was allocated to build the extension, with preparation works starting in January 2020 and bulk earthworks to start by April 2020.[15] When the extension opens, a journey time of 49 minutes is envisioned from Yanchep to the CBD, with up to 13,500 people expected to use the line every day.[15][16]

In 2019, there were renewed proposals for a special events station at the Joondalup Arena sporting facility due to a large number of events being held there.

References

1. Our History Public Transport Authority
2. Trial of first northern suburbs electric train a success Minister for Transport 20 November 1992
3. Northern suburbs an instant hit Minister for Transport 21 December 1992
4. Bus/train interchanges on northern subs railway to open February Minister for Transport 28 January 1993
5. Inspection of Joondalup train-bus interchange Minister for Transport 21 March 1993
6. Opening of Currambine station next month Minister for Transport 17 July 1993
7. Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 66. ISBN 0 909650 49 7.
8. "Off-peak train service reduction 'minor'". Public Transport Authority. Archived from the original on 3 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
9. Railway (Northern & Southern Urban Extensions) Act 1999 Western Australian Government Gazette 5 October 2004 page 4319
10. Annual Report year ended 30 June 2005 Public Transport Corporation
11. Services commence from Greenwood Railway Station Premier of Western Australia 29 January 2005
12. Perth CBD's first underground train station in operation ABC News 15 October 2007
13. "Media Statements". Public Transport Authority. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
14. "Transperth patronage". Public Transport Authority. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
15. https://www.metronet.wa.gov.au/projects/yanchep-rail-extension
16. https://www.communitynews.com.au/north-coast-times/news/wa-budget-2017-441m-commitment-make-yanchep-rail-line-reality/

External links

Media related to Joondalup railway line at Wikimedia Commons