High Wycombe Station is a bus and railway station in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, a suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. It opened on 9 October 2022. It is the terminus of the Airport Line, which is on the

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train o ...

suburban rail network, a bus station with eight active bus bays, and provides parking for up to 1200 vehicles as well as bicycles. The railway station part has an island platform, accessed via a ground-level concourse. Services run every 12 minutes during peak, and every 15 minutes between peak. The rail journey to

Perth railway station Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland ...

is , or 20 minutes.

Description

High Wycombe Station is in

High Wycombe, Western Australia High Wycombe () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, within the City of Kalamunda. High Wycombe lies east of the Perth CBD at the base of the Darling Scarp (commonly referred to as the ''foothills''). Formerly part of Maida Vale, the suburb ...

, a suburb of

. It is on the Airport Line of the

suburb rail network. The line diverges from the Midland Line east of Bayswater railway station. It is from Bayswater station, or from

. A journey to Perth station takes 20 minutes. The railway station part consists of an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular o ...

with two platform faces. The platform accommodates Transperth 6-car trains – the longest trains on the Transperth network. To the east behind a large retaining wall is the bus station part and the car park. The rail platform is accessed by a concourse, which is at ground level east of the platform. To the west of the station is Dundas Road, at the same level as the platforms. A tunnel boring head has been installed as a monument in-between the platforms and the multi-level car park. The bus interchange has eight active bus stands, and four layover bays. The car park is a multi storey car park. The distinctive steel roof serves as a clearly identifiable entry point, with its matte finish reducing glare to pilots flying overhead.

History

During planning, the station was known as Forrestfield station. In April 2016, the $1.176 billion contract for the Forrestfield–Airport Link was awarded to a joint venture by Italian company

Salini Impregilo Webuild SpA (formerly Salini Impregilo SpA) () is an Italian industrial group specialised in the construction and civil engineering business headquartered in Milan. The company was formally founded in 2014 as the result of the merger by incorporat ...

and Australian company NRW. Construction commenced in late 2016, with Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Sandy launching from the dive structure at the site of the station in October 2017. As part of the project, Dundas Road was closed and realigned between Maida Vale Road and Imperial Street in Forrestfield, in order for the

retaining wall Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...

for the station to be constructed. Prior to the realignment, the road bisected the construction site which resulted in safety and congestion issues. The new section of Dundas Road opened in August 2018. In September 2018, a leak in a passage between two tunnels caused a

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

to develop about north of the station site, forcing the closure of Dundas Road. The leak also resulted in movement within 16 concrete rings and damage to a section of one tunnel, delaying the completion of the project from the end of 2020 to the second half of 2021. Dundas Road was reopened in late December after ground stabilisation works. The station passed the 50 per cent completion landmark in September 2019, with the installation of structures such as the twin

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...

s, and the 36 concrete walls which make up the platform. Much of the content was locally built, such as the steel beams and columns used to support the roof. A major milestone was achieved in November 2019, with the first delivery of rail arriving at the station site. More than of rail had been unloaded since the end of the month, with

welding Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as b ...

and installation commencing in the first half of 2020. Due to the large catchment size of the station, a multi-deck car park accommodating 1200 cars was built to satisfy demand for parking. The three-level car park is situated between Maida Vale Road and Ibis Place. Initial plans called for an at-grade car park, however, the current design was preferred as it allows for passengers to park within of the station entrance. 80 drop off bays will also be built close to the station entrance. Construction commenced on June 26, 2020. On 16 August 2022, it was announced the line would open on 9 October 2022.

Services

High Wycombe railway station is served by the Airport railway line on the Transperth network. Rail services are operated by Transperth Train Operations, a division of the Public Transport Authority. The line goes between High Wycombe station and Claremont station, via Bayswater station and Perth station. Airport line trains depart the station every 12 minutes during peak, and every 15 minutes during the day outside peak. At night time, trains are half-hourly or hourly. It is estimated that up to half of all passengers for the station will arrive by bus. Consultation for bus routes serving the station began in October 2021. High Wycombe station has a bus interchange with eight bus stands with eight regular bus routes.

References

External links

* {{TransperthBusStations Railway stations in Australia opened in 2022 Railway stations in Perth, Western Australia Airport line, Perth