Fremantle railway line

Fremantle railway line
Overview
Termini	Perth Cockburn Junction (current) Kwinana (furthest extent)
Continues from	Midland line
Continues as	Spearwood-Armadale line
Stations	17
Ridership	8.2 million (year to June 2015)
Operation
Opened	1 March 1881
Owner	Public Transport Authority: Perth-South Beach Brookfield Rail: South Beach-Cockburn Junction
Operator(s)	Transperth
Technical
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	Overhead 25 kv AC
Route map Fremantle railway line Legend Continues to Midland line0000000 000.0km Perth 000000Roe Street tunnel 000000Bus lane crossing Joondalup line 000000West Perth 000000West Perth Subway 001.6km City West Loftus Street Bridge 002.7km West Leederville West Leederville football platform 003.7km Subiaco 005.0km Daglish Daglish Siding Nicholson Road Subway 005.9km Shenton Park Aberdare Road Bus Bridge Karrakatta Subway 007.4km Karrakatta 008.0km Loch Street Old Showgrounds station Ashton Avenue Bridge 008.6km Showgrounds 000000 (special events only) Graylands Road Subway 009.3km Claremont Butlers Siding Stirling Road Subway 010.4km Swanbourne Swanbourne Bridge 011.1km Grant Street Eric Street Bridge 012.4km Cottesloe Jarrad Street Crossing Salvado Street Crossing 013.5km Mosman Park Victoria Street Crossing 014.2km Victoria Street Leighton Marshalling Yard Leighton Rocky Bay line 016.2km North Fremantle North Fremantle (1881-1991) Tydeman Road Bridge North Quay Container Terminal Spur Fremantle Railway Bridge Victoria Quay Road Dual-gauge diversion around station East Fremantle 018.7km Fremantle Dual-gauge diversion Fremantle (original) Phillimore Street Crossing 019.8km The Esplanade Mews Road Crossing Capo d'Orlando Drive Crossing 020.9km Success Harbour Success Harbour Crossing Ocean Road Crossing 022.0km South Beach Transperth/Brookfield Rail border Rollinson Road Crossing 024.0km Robbs Jetty Robb Jetty Marshalling Yard Cockburn Road Bridge 025.5km Spearwood Rockingham Road Crossing Cockburn Junction Kwinana line 026.6km Coogee Clarence Weston Street 037.7km Kwinana Transperth railway lines Armadale/Thornlie Fremantle Joondalup Mandurah Midland List of Transperth stations

The Fremantle railway line is a suburban railway line in Western Australia that connects the state capital of Perth with the port city of Fremantle.

History

The line opened on 1 March 1881 as the first suburban railway line in Perth by William C. F. Robinson.^[1] It originally operated as the Eastern Railway and ran between Fremantle and Guildford, via central Perth. In March 1884, the line was extended via Midland Junction to Bellevue^[2][3] and later to Clackline, York and Northam. The line opened as a single track with a passing loop at Claremont, it was duplicated in 1896/97. A dedicated freight line was later added on the western side between Cottesloe and the Leighton Marshalling Yard.^[4]

On 22 October 1898, the line was extended south to Robbs Jetty, on 1 July 1903 via Cockburn to Coogee and on 19 December 1955 via Woodman Point to Kwinana^[5][6] The Coogee to Woodman Point section closed on 16 September 1973, followed by Robbs Jetty to Coogee in February 1986.^[3][7]

In July 1926, the Fremantle Railway Bridge over the Swan River was partly washed away in a flood, with one line restored in October 1926 and the second in April 1928.^[4]

In the 1960s, as part of the standard gauge project, the section south of Cockburn was replaced by the Kwinana line on a different alignment.^[8] One of the lines north of Cockburn to the container terminal at North Quay and Leighton Marshalling Yard was converted to standard gauge. The Fremantle Railway Bridge was converted to dual gauge.^[4][9] A marshalling yard was built at Robbs Jetty.

In 1966, the eastern railway metropolitan passenger services were curtailed to terminate at Midland.

Plaque commemorating the closure of the Fremantle line at Perth station in 1979

Passenger services on the Fremantle line were suspended on 1 September 1979. The decision was based on three one day counts in 1971, 1975 and 1977. Despite a petition signed by 110,000 people the government was not persuaded to change its mind. The service was reinstated on 29 July 1983 following a change of government.^{[1][4][10][11]}

For the staging of the 1987 America's Cup, stations south of Fremantle were erected for use by special trains at The Esplanade, Success Harbour and South Beach. The Hotham Valley Railway operated a daily service on this section of the line with a W class steam locomotive as the Spinnaker Run between October 1986 and February 1987.^[12] None have been used since. The narrow and standard gauge lines were rebuilt as a single dual gauge line at the same time.

During 1990, work commenced on building a new North Fremantle station, 800 metres north of its original location, which opened for service on 28 July 1991. Leighton station, which was 700 metres further north, was demolished during the electrification of the line. Regular electric services started in September 1991.^[1][13] Today there are 17 stations on the line.^[14]

As part of the Subi Centro project, 900 metres of the line and Subiaco station were sunk in 1998.^[15] Between 2011 and 2014, the Fremantle line was sunk between Lake Street and the Horseshoe Bridge in the Perth CBD to allow for the redevelopment of the area.^[16] Perth station's former Fremantle to Midland platform became an island platform, with an additional platform and track built on the north side. Platforms west of the Horseshoe Bridge were demolished.^[16] In June 2011 a $237 million cost blow-out was revealed, added to a 2009 project estimate of $500 million.^[17][18]

The new tunnel is the first in Western Australia to use a rigid overhead conductor rail instead of overhead wires, the same system as used on the Madrid Metro. With overhead wires, the clearance between the new tunnel and the existing Joondalup line tunnel is only 75 cm. By using a conductor rail, the new tunnel could be built to a smaller diameter, allowing for an increased clearance between the two.^[19] The new tunnel opened on 18 July 2013.^[20]

With the privatisation of Westrail in 2000, responsibility for the Perth to South Beach section has passed to the Public Transport Authority and the South Beach to Cockburn Junction section to Brookfield Rail, although operational responsibility for the standard gauge line is with Brookfield.^[21][22][23]

Services

Dual gauge track at South Beach station in February 2006

Transperth operate services on the line from Fremantle through the Perth CBD to Midland on the Midland line.^[24][25] Freight services operate from Kewdale and Forrestfield to North Quay. Until July 2015 these were operated by Aurizon when SCT Logistics took over.^[26][27]

Rolling stock

Until the ADG class railcars entered service in 1953, services on the Fremantle line were operated by steam locomotives. Some peak-hour services continued to be steam hauled until the arrival of the ADK/ADB class diesel multiple units in 1968 resulted in the end of steam haulage. When the line was electrified in 1991, A-series electric multiple units took over.

Patronage

Below is the annual patronage of Fremantle railway line from 2010–2011 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.^[28]

Fremantle railway line annual patronage

Year	Patronage	±%
2010–11	8,198,224	—
2011–12	8,679,139	+5.87%
2012–13	8,866,211	+2.16%
2013–14	8,284,716	−6.56%
2014–15	8,228,255	−0.68%

In popular culture

The Fremantle line featured in the 2006 film Last Train to Freo.

Stations

During peak periods, trains omit some stops.

Fremantle Line
Name of station	Code	Zone	Serving suburbs	Pattern stops at this station						Connections
				All	A	B	D↓	D↑	S
Perth	MPH	1 /	Perth, Northbridge	●	●	●	●	●	●	Through to Midland line Platform transfer to Armadale, Thornlie, Joondalup & Mandurah lines Australind service to Bunbury Bus transfers at Roe Street bus station
City West	FCW	1 /	West Perth	●	●	●	●	●	●
West Leederville	FWL	1	West Leederville, Subiaco	●	|	●	●	●	|	|
Subiaco	FSO	1	Subiaco, Wembley	●	●	●	●	●	●	Bus transfers
Daglish	FDH	1	Daglish, Jolimont	●	|	●	●	●	|	|
Shenton Park	FSP	1	Shenton Park	●	|	●	●	●	●	CircleRoute
Karrakatta	FKA	1	Karrakatta, Mount Claremont	●	|	●		●	|
Loch Street	FLS	1	Karrakatta	●	|	●		●	|
Showgrounds	FSG	1	Claremont Showgrounds	Special events only
Claremont	FCT	1	Claremont	●	●	●			●	Bus transfers
Swanbourne	FSE	2	Swanbourne, Claremont	●	●	|			●
Grant Street	FGS	2	Cottesloe, Swanbourne	●	●	|			●
Cottesloe	FCE	2	Cottesloe, Peppermint Grove	●	●	|			●	Bus transfers
Mosman Park	FMP	2	Mosman Park, Cottesloe	●	●	|			●
Victoria Street	FVS	2	Mosman Park, Cottesloe	●	●	|			●
North Fremantle	FNF	2	North Fremantle	●	●	|			●
Fremantle	FFE	2	Fremantle	●	●	●			●	Bus transfers, CircleRoute
Legend: Red denotes city stations Black denotes termini Stopping patterns: All     stops all stations to Fremantle. A      stops at City West and Subiaco, then all stations from Claremont to Fremantle B       all stations to Claremont, then express to Fremantle D       (to Shenton Park) departs from Perth, all stations to Shenton Park; terminates at Shenton Park D       (to Perth) departs from Loch Street, then all stations to Perth S       (to Perth) all stations to Claremont, then Shenton Park, Subiaco, City West and Perth S+     pattern deviations to All, A, and B patterns to stop at Showgrounds; when this pattern runs, K and L patterns do not operate

Old stopping patterns

• H - (To Fremantle) all stops to Daglish.
• K - all stops except Karrakatta and Swanbourne.
• L - all stops except Loch and Grant streets.

School special services

• E - (To Perth) stops at Fremantle, all stations from Mosman Park to Claremont, then at Shenton Park, West Leederville, City West and Perth.
• P - (To Perth) stops at Fremantle and Perth.
• P - (To Fremantle) departs from Shenton Park, running all stations to Fremantle.
• S - (To Fremantle) stops at Perth, City West, West Leederville, Subiaco, Shenton Park, Claremont, Swanbourne, Cottesloe, and Fremantle.

References

1. Our History Public Transport Authority
2. Legislative Council - The Governor's Speech The West Australian 12 July 1884 page 3
3. Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 64. ISBN 0 909650 49 7.
4. Minchin, RS; Higham, GJ (1981). Robb's Railway Fremantle to Guildford Railway Centenary. Bassendean: Australian Railway Historical Society. pp. 11, 19, 24, 37, 38, 48. ISBN 0 9599690 2 0.
5. Robb's Jetty-Woodman's Point Railway Act 1902 Parliament of Western Australia
6. Coogee-Kwinana Railway Act 1952 Parliament of Western Australia
7. Railway (Coogee-Kwinana Railway) Discontinuance Act 1973 Parliament of Western Australia
8. Kwinana-Mundijong-Jarrahdale Railway Act 1961 Parliament of Western Australia
9. Nomination of Western Australian Standard Gauge Railway for an Engineering Heritage Australia Heritage Recognition Award Engineers Australia September 2011 pages 10, 15
10. A History of the Town of Cottesloe Town of Cottesloe
11. A Guide to the 1983 State Cabinet Records State Records Office of Western Australia page 13
12. A Desciptive History of Hotham Valley Tourist Railway Hotham Valley Railway
13. "Occasional Notes". The West Australian. 21 October 1881. p. 2. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
14. History of Stations on the Fremantle Line Right Track
15. Official opening of the Subiaco rail tunnel and station Government of Western Australia 12 December 1998
16. "Perth City Link Rail Master Plan - Lowering of the Fremantle Railway in Perth". Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. 2010-03-30. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
17. Prior, Neale (2011-06-02). "City Link in $237m cost blowout". The West Australian. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
18. "1ha town square to be built on land when Perth rail goes underground". PerthNow (Sunday Times). 29 November 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
19. "WA rail technology first". Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
20. Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese highlights urban rail as key election issue ABC News 18 July 2013
21. Network Map Brookfield Rail
22. Scope of the Network Rules Public Transport Authority
23. Trackwork resleepering Public Transport Authority
24. Fremantle Line Timetable Transperth 18 July 2013
25. Midland Line Timetable Transperth 18 July 2013
26. Trainline 2 Statistical Report Bureau of Infrastructure Transport & Regional Economics 2014 page 39
27. SCT WA picks up new business with Fremantle Port Rail Service SCT Logistics August 2015
28. "Transperth patronage". Public Transport Authority. Retrieved 2014-09-27.

External links

• Media related to Fremantle railway line at Wikimedia Commons
• North Quay - Fremantle track layout SA Track & Signal
• Fremantle - Cockburn Junction track layout SA Track & Signal
• Cockburn Junction track layout SA Track & Signal