Metronet (styled METRONET) is a multi-government agency in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is responsible for managing extensions to

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 ...

's public transport network. It was formed to deliver commitments made by the McGowan Government during the 2017 election campaign.

History

Metronet was first proposed as a set of rail infrastructure projects in December 2012 by the opposition Labor Party as an election commitment for the then-upcoming 2013 election. Included were new lines to Ellenbrook,

Perth Airport Perth Airport is an international, domestic and general aviation airport serving Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. It is the fourth busiest airport in Australia measured by passenger movements and falls within the boundaries of ...

, and eventually

Wanneroo Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Education ...

(all of which would branch from the existing Midland line), extensions of the

Joondalup line The Joondalup line is a commuter rail service in Western Australia, linking the Perth central business district (CBD) with the metropolitan area's north-western suburbs. The service is operated on the Northern Suburbs Railway by Transperth Tra ...

Yanchep Yanchep is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, north of the Perth CBD. It is a part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. Originally a small crayfishing settlement, it was developed by entrepreneur Alan Bond in the 1 ...

, the

Armadale line The Armadale line is a suburban rail service in Western Australia that runs from Perth to Armadale on the South Western Railway. This service is planned to extend to the suburb of Byford over an new railway line constructed as part of the By ...

Byford Byford is a village and civil parish on the River Wye in Herefordshire, England, about west of Hereford. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 119, increasing to 201 at the 2011 census. Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke ( cy, Cla ...

and eventually Pinjarra, and the

Thornlie line The Armadale line is a suburban rail service in Western Australia that runs from Perth to Armadale on the South Western Railway. This service is planned to extend to the suburb of Byford over an new railway line constructed as part of the By ...

to meet the

Mandurah line The Mandurah line is a commuter railway and service on the Transperth network in Western Australia that runs from Perth south to the state's second largest city Mandurah. The service is operated by Transperth Train Operations, a division of the ...

at a new station at South Lake, and new stations at Atwell and Karnup on the Mandurah line. The extensions would be arranged into two "circle routes": a North Circle that would share parts of the Joondalup line (from

to a new station at Balcatta), Ellenbrook line (from Perth to

Noranda Noranda may refer to: *Noranda (mining company) * Noranda Caldera, an Archean caldera in Canada *Noranda, Western Australia Noranda is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the City of Bayswater. The suburb was named in 1977 after N ...

), and Wanneroo line (from Noranda to a station at

Alexander Drive Alexander Drive is a major north–south arterial road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting Perth's central business district (CBD) with Edith Cowan University's Mount Lawley campus and the Malaga industrial area, a ...

), along with exclusive tracks and stations between Alexander Drive and Balcatta; and a South Circle that would share infrastructure with the Airport line (from Perth to Forrestfield), the Thornlie line (from Thornlie to South Lake), and the

Fremantle line The Fremantle line is a suburban railway and service in Western Australia that connects the central business district (CBD) of Perth with Fremantle. History The railway on which the service runs opened on 1 March 1881 as the first suburban rai ...

(from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

to Perth), with exclusive tracks between Forrestfield and Thornlie, and between South Lake and Fremantle. While unsuccessful in winning government, the reelected

Barnett Ministry The Barnett Ministry was the 35th Ministry of the Government of Western Australia. It included 13 members of the Liberal Party, three members of the National Party and an independent. It was led by the Premier of Western Australia, Colin Barne ...

formally approved an alternative airport link in 2014. In August 2015, the Labor Party proposed a modified, staged version of Metronet as an election commitment for the 2017 election. This plan prioritised completion of the Airport line, the Joondalup line extension to Yanchep, the Armadale line extension to Byford, and the Thornlie line extension. This was expanded to reincorporate a rail line to Ellenbrook and Karnup station by December 2016. After the election of the McGowan Government, the Metronet multi-agency team was formed in 2017 to deliver the commitments.

Projects

Projects managed by Metronet are:

New railway lines

*Building the 8.5 kilometre Forrestfield-Airport Link with stations at Redcliffe, Airport Central and

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

*Building the 21 kilometre Morley–Ellenbrook line with stations at

Morley Morley may refer to: Places England * Morley, Norfolk, a civil parish * Morley, Derbyshire, a civil parish * Morley, Cheshire, a village * Morley, County Durham, a village * Morley, West Yorkshire, a suburban town of Leeds and civil parish * M ...

, Malaga,

Whiteman Park Whiteman Park is a bushland area located north of Perth, Western Australia. The park is in the suburb of Whiteman, in the Swan Valley in the upper reaches of the Swan River. It encompasses the source of Bennett Brook - an important place o ...

and Ellenbrook, with provision for a future station at Bennett Springs

Railway line extensions

*Byford Rail Extension: extending

services to

*Yanchep Rail Extension: extending the

14.5 kilometres with stations at Alkimos, Eglinton and

*Thornlie-Cockburn Link: connecting

Thornlie Station Thornlie Station is a railway station on the Transperth network. It is the terminus of the Thornlie spur of the Armadale Line, from Perth Station serving the suburb of Thornlie, Western Australia. Under construction is the Thornlie-Cockburn Li ...

on the

Thornlie Line The Armadale line is a suburban rail service in Western Australia that runs from Perth to Armadale on the South Western Railway. This service is planned to extend to the suburb of Byford over an new railway line constructed as part of the By ...

Cockburn Central Station Cockburn Central station ( ) is a bus and railway station on the Transperth network. It is located at the juncture of the Mandurah andonce completed Thornlie lines, from Perth station inside the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway serving t ...

on the

Mandurah Line The Mandurah line is a commuter railway and service on the Transperth network in Western Australia that runs from Perth south to the state's second largest city Mandurah. The service is operated by Transperth Train Operations, a division of the ...

, with stations at

Nicholson Road Nicholson Road is a major north-south road in the southeastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting Albany Highway in Cannington with the large residential areas of Thornlie and Canning Vale, before leaving the Perth urban area a ...

and

Ranford Road Ranford Road is a major road in the southeastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, and services a number of housing estates in Canning Vale and Southern River, as well as forming part of one of the two major routes between the port city of ...

Stations

*Rebuild Bayswater Station to accommodate the Midland Line, Forrestfield-Airport Link and Morley-Ellenbrook Line connections *Relocating Midland Station *Building Lakelands Station and Karnup Station on the Mandurah line *Building a multi-storey car park at Mandurah Station *Upgrades to Claremont Station and add train turnback for the Airport Line

Level crossing removals

*Removing up to six level crossings on the inner Armadale Line, along with Denny Avenue Level Crossing in Kelmscott and Caledonian Avenue Level Crossing in Maylands **Hamilton Street, Wharf Street and William Street Cannington **Mint Street, Oats Street and Welshpool Road

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

**Denny Avenue,

Kelmscott Kelmscott is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in West Oxfordshire, about east of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire. Since 2001 it has absorbed Little Faringdon, which had been a separate civil parish. The 2011 Census reco ...

**Caledonian Avenue, Maylands

Signalling

*Introducing high capacity signalling

Rolling stock

*Introducing 41 six-car C-series trains.Railcar Program
Metronet In August 2019, it was announced Alstom Transport Australia would be the supplier for the 246 new railcars, each with the capacity to hold 1,200 passengers. The tender mandated the railcars contained 50% locally manufactured content. The factory is being built in

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

but will be operated by Alstrom. Back in 2017, 13 new six-car sets were to built at $410 million but was expanded in the 2019 announcement to 41 at a total $1.3 billion.

References

{{Public Transport Authority, state=collapsed Public transport in Perth, Western Australia Statutory agencies of Western Australia 2017 establishments in Australia