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Perth railway station is the largest station 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 op ...
network, serving the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
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 serves as an interchange between the
Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
, Armadale,
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 ...
,
Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...
,
Mandurah Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 Australian census, 2 ...
and Midland lines as well as
Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport to the major regional ...
's ''
Australind Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2016 census, Australind had a population of 14,539. History Prior to Eur ...
'' service.


History


Establishment

The foundation stone for the original
Richard Roach Jewell Richard Roach Jewell (1810 in Barnstaple, Devon, England – 1891 in Perth, Western Australia) was an architect who designed many of the important public buildings in Perth during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was employed to sup ...
-designed Perth station was laid on 10 May 1880, with the station opening on 1 March 1881 as part of the Eastern Railway 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
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
. The station had one through platform with a terminating dock platform at the east end; however it soon proved to be inadequate for the growing railway, and after the opening of 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 ...
in 1889 put further stress on the facility it was decided that a larger station would be built. The new, larger Victorian Free Classical style station building, designed by George Temple-Poole, was opened south of the original station in 1894, with the old building demolished and replaced by a new island platform. The new station building, still in use today, has been expanded numerous times since being built, including the addition of two wings at the east and west ends of the building. A planned third storey and clocktower were never built. A collection of freight and administrative offices and
tearoom A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...
s were also part of the railway station complex. The station initially had the
Barrack Street Barrack Street is one of two major cross-streets in the Perth central business district, central business district of Perth, Western Australia. Together with St Georges Terrace, Wellington Street, Perth, Wellington Street and William Street, Pe ...
and William Street bridges as limiting factors to its further development, though platforms to the west of the station that ran underneath the Horseshoe Bridge were eventually constructed. The station was the centre of the
Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...
system, with most
regional trains Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are public transport, passenger rail transport, rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail ...
originating from the station, and it also served as the headquarters of the agency until 1976. Following the cessation of most regional services, the completion of standard gauge tracks to East Perth station, and the relocation of most administrative offices to the Westrail Centre, by the late 1970s Perth station remained only as a terminus for '' The Australind'' service to Bunbury, as well as an interchange for
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 op ...
's suburban services. The railway building has at times housed various commercial operations as well as police offices. The WA Craft Council was a tenant in the 1980s. For a considerable length of time the forecourt area was used for car parking, though this is now very limited except for official vehicles.


Later development

As early as the 1950s, there were moves and suggestions for the redevelopment of the station area. Starting in 1988 the station underwent a major upgrade as part of the
Northern Suburbs Transit System The Northern Suburbs Transit System is the name given to the project initiated and funded by the Government of Western Australia to provide high-speed passenger rail services to the northern corridor of metropolitan Perth, the capital city of Wes ...
project, which included the construction of a new island platform, a steel and glass roof that covered the central platforms, an adjoining multi-storey car park, and the Citiplace Centre retail and community services hub built on a level above the existing station platforms which also connected pedestrian footbridges linking the
Perth Cultural Centre The Perth Cultural Centre is an area of central Perth, Western Australia, near the James Street Mall. It is home to a number of cultural institutions including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Western Australian Museum, State Library o ...
and the
Forrest Chase Forrest Chase is a major shopping centre in Perth, Western Australia located in Forrest Place. A Myer store serves as its main anchor and largest tenant. The centre also contains a Woolworths supermarket and other shops. The western portion of ...
shopping complex to the station. In 1992, a ninth platform was added along with a pedestrian overpass at the extreme west end of the station which allowed direct access to the railway station from Wellington Street bus station and Northbridge. With the introduction of the
SmartRider SmartRider is the contactless electronic ticketing system of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. The system uses RFID smartcard technology to process public transport fares across public bus, train and ferry services. The syst ...
contactless electronic ticketing system and installation of fare gates, Perth railway station became a closed station in early 2007; as a result the entrance on the Horseshoe Bridge was fenced off and its wooden stairway and overpass was later removed. As part of the
New MetroRail New MetroRail was a division of the Public Transport Authority in Western Australia. It was responsible for managing extensions to Perth's railway network. The project doubled Perth's rail network, which is operated by Transperth, and was comp ...
project, the station was refurbished and expanded with new underground platforms built at a 90-degree angle to the existing platforms beneath
Gordon Stephenson House Gordon Stephenson House is an office building within the one40william commercial development in Perth, Western Australia. The building was named in honour of Gordon Stephenson, an architect responsible for planning much of modern Perth's urban fo ...
to the east of William Street, between
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
and
Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...
Streets. The underground platforms, numbered 1 and 2, are known as Perth Underground, but are considered part of the overall Perth station. The underground platforms are linked to the original Perth station via a walkway under Wellington Street; a new entrance to Perth Underground was also constructed at the west end of the Murray Street pedestrian mall. The new platforms opened on 15 October 2007. Further changes to the station occurred as part of the
Perth City Link Perth City Link is an urban renewal and redevelopment project in Perth, Western Australia. The projectbounded by the Mitchell Freeway, Wellington Street, the Horseshoe Bridge and Roe Street is on land that was once the Perth/City railway yar ...
project in the early-2010s, which saw the above ground rail lines west of the
Horseshoe Bridge The Horseshoe Bridge in Perth, Western Australia is a traffic bridge that connects the Perth CBD to Northbridge, carrying William Street. It was constructed in 1904 to pass over the Fremantle railway line, with the horseshoe shape designed to f ...
sunk and the existing platforms and overpass there demolished to make way for a new public space,
Yagan Square Yagan Square is a public space and a component of the Perth City Link in Perth, Western Australia. It is situated between the Horseshoe Bridge and the Perth Busport in the eastern part of the Perth City Link precinct, occupying . Construction o ...
. This reduced the above ground platforms from nine to seven. The station also saw the construction of a new pedestrian underpass connecting the three main above ground platforms, and upgrades and extensions to the roof. In September 2013, a new Platform 9 on the
Roe Street Roe Street is a street in Perth (suburb), Perth, Western Australia. The central section of the street forms the southern boundary of the suburb of Northbridge, Western Australia, Northbridge, while the eastern end borders the Perth Cultural Ce ...
side of the station opened. This new platform was temporarily used for special event services until mid-December 2013, before becoming part of the Midland line.


Plaques formerly in entrance area to station

The railway station entrance area had plaques to commemorate the following events: *1 March 1981 – centenary of Fremantle to Guildford railway *14 November 1989 – Perth to Joondalup railway first spike driven *28 September 1991 – introduction of electric trains *11 April 1992 – commissioning of electric train services *25 March 1994 – centenary of railway station


Platforms & services

Platforms currently in use are as follows: It received Airport line services on 9 October 2022.


Transport links

Several
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 op ...
bus routes stop adjacent to Perth station. Buses also operate from the nearby
Perth Busport Perth Busport is an underground bus station, located underneath Wellington Street, Perth, Western Australia. It was officially opened by then Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett and then Minister for Transport Dean Nalder on 13 July 201 ...
, and rail replacement services also depart from the nearby
Perth Busport Perth Busport is an underground bus station, located underneath Wellington Street, Perth, Western Australia. It was officially opened by then Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett and then Minister for Transport Dean Nalder on 13 July 201 ...
.


References


Further reading

* Has photos of earlier forms of the stationpage 55 for example.


External links


Station front in November 1936
Curtin University
Vintage aerial photograph
by
Frank Hurley James Francis "Frank" Hurley (15 October 1885 – 16 January 1962) was an Australian photographer and adventurer. He participated in a number of expeditions to Antarctica and served as an official photographer with Australian forces durin ...
at the
National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perth Railway Station Armadale and Thornlie lines George Temple-Poole buildings Fremantle line Joondalup line Mandurah line Midland line, Perth Railway stations in Perth, Western Australia Railway stations in Australia opened in 1881 Romanesque Revival architecture in Australia Wellington Street, Perth Listed railway stations in Australia Railway stations located underground in Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Perth Airport line, Perth