Redcliffe railway station (officially Redcliffe Station) is a station for underground
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...
services in
Redcliffe, east 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 i ...
, Western Australia. The station is one of three stations that were built as part of the
Forrestfield–Airport Link project and is served by
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
Airport line services.
The contract for the Forrestfield–Airport Link, which consists of of twin bored tunnels and three new stations, was awarded to
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
NRW Pty Ltd in April 2016. Construction on Redcliffe station began. Forward works, which included the permanent closure of Brearley Avenue between
Great Eastern Highway
Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...
and Dunreath Drive, began in 2016. Construction began in mid-2017, and by June 2018, excavation was complete. The two
tunnel boring machines
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
(TBMs) reached the station in mid-2019, having tunnelled from
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, ...
, and left tunnelling towards
Bayswater after several weeks of maintenance. Construction of the station infrastructure followed.
Originally planned to open in 2020, the line officially opened on 9 October 2022. It is served by trains every twelve minutes during
peak hour
A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour ( Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: ...
and every fifteen minutes outside peak hour and on weekends and public holidays. At night, trains are half-hourly or hourly. The journey to
Perth station
Perth Station was an ESTRACK Earth station in Australia, located at the Perth International Telecommunications Centre in the suburb of Cullacabardee. It has been retired from service in December, 2015 and has been replaced by the New Norcia S ...
takes fifteen minutes.
Description
The station is within the residential area of
Redcliffe, about west of terminals three and four of
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 ...
. It is located just to the west of Dunreath Drive on the former Brearley Avenue right of way.
It is owned by the
Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government agency, and is part of 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 ...
system. The adjacent station to the north-west is
Bayswater station, where the Airport line links with the
Midland line. The adjacent station to the south-east is
Airport Central station,
which services terminals one and two of Perth Airport. The station's distance to terminals three and four has been an aspect of the Forrestfield–Airport Link that has been criticised.
The station consists of a single underground
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 on ...
with two platform edges. The platform is long, or long enough for a Transperth six-car train, the longest trains used on the network. Access to the platform is provided by stairs, lifts, and escalators, making the station fully
accessible
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
. On the surface are toilets, a kiosk, a customer service office and staff facilities. Surrounding the station building is a bus interchange with six bus bays. There are also drop-off bays nearby and a 500-bay car park approximately south. The station design has been described as similar to
Elizabeth Quay station.
History
During initial planning, the station was called Airport West station as it was located nearer to Perth Airport terminals three and four. The Forrestfield-Airport Link Project Definition Plan, released in August 2014, had the station located in the residential area of Redcliffe instead of in the airport. As such, the station was renamed Belmont station in April 2016 upon the awarding of the main contract. The name came from the
adjacent suburb of the same name. For the most part, the Forrestfield-Airport Link project came under one contract, worth $1.176 billion and awarded to
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
NRW Pty Ltd. This included the construction of the tunnels and three stations, including Belmont station. At the time, the station was expected to be in operation by 2020.
The station was planned to be constructed over the Brearley Avenue right of way, requiring the permanent closure of that road between
Great Eastern Highway
Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...
and Dunreath Drive. At the time, the road was one of the main entrances to Perth Airport, and so nearby roads had to be upgraded to cope with the road's closure. A $4.8 million contract for that was awarded to MACA Civil Pty Ltd in March 2016. Other forward works occurred throughout 2016, including a drain realignment. Brearley Avenue closed on 17 January 2017,
and the contractors took site possession in February 2017.
Early works began in April 2017.
The government faced calls for the station to be renamed Redcliffe to reflect its actual location. In July 2017, the
City of Belmont
The City of Belmont is a local government area in the inner eastern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located about east of Perth's central business district on the south bank of the Swan River. The City covers an ar ...
voted unanimously in support for the name change. The state government launched a survey in October 2017 to decide whether to call it Belmont or Redcliffe station. 81 percent of the 852 respondents voted for Redcliffe, and so the station was renamed in December 2017.
In June 2017, the station's design was revealed. Construction of the station began in mid-2017. By the end of the year, the station's
diaphragm walls were complete. Excavation started in early 2018 and was completed by June, whereupon waterproofing of the station commenced. That was completed by August 2018, and so construction of the base slab followed. Nine concrete pours were required for that, which took place over the remainder of 2018.
The first few months of 2019 were used to prepare for the arrival of the two
tunnel boring machine
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore thro ...
s (TBMs). A crane was installed for the delivery of tunnel segments for the final portion of tunnelling between Redcliffe and Bayswater. The first TBM, ''Grace'', arrived at Redcliffe station on 9 May 2019, having tunnelled there from
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, ...
. After several weeks for maintenance, the TBM left the station bound for Bayswater on 14 June. ''Sandy'', the second tunnel boring machine, arrived at the station on 6 July 2019. ''Sandy'' left the station in early August, allowing the commencement of construction for station infrastructure, including the platform and a mezzanine level.
On 18 December 2018, Transport Minister
Rita Saffioti announced the opening date of the project had been delayed from 2020 to 2021. In May 2021, she announced that the project had been delayed again, this time with the opening date being in the first half of 2022. Following the state budget on 12 May 2022, the government changed its position on the line's opening date, saying the line will open some time later in the year. On 16 August, the opening date was revealed to be 9 October 2022, which is when the station did open.
Services
Redcliffe station is served by the
Airport line on the Transperth network.
These services are operated by
Transperth Train Operations
Transperth Train Operations is a division of the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia. It is responsible for operating Perth’s urban passenger rail system, as part of the Transperth network.
Perth's passenger rail network covers ...
, a division of the PTA. To the east, the line goes two stations to
High Wycombe station. To the west, the line joins the Midland line one station along at Bayswater, running alongside that line to Perth station, before running alongside 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 ...
, terminating at
Claremont station.
Airport line trains stop at the station every twelve minutes during peak hour on weekdays and every fifteen minutes outside peak hour and on weekends and public holidays. At night, trains are half-hourly or hourly.
The station is predicted to have average daily boardings of 4,100,
rising to 6,000 in 2031.
The journey to Perth station takes fifteen minutes.
The station is in fare zone two, and there is no surcharge.
Redcliffe station has a bus interchange with seven stands and seven regular bus routes.
Route 39 runs to
Elizabeth Quay bus station
Elizabeth Quay Bus Station, formerly the Esplanade Busport, is a Transperth bus station, located at the southern edge of the Perth CBD in Western Australia, next to the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre and Elizabeth Quay railway station. It h ...
via Belmont Forum Shopping Centre. Routes 290 and 291 go to
Midland station via
Guildford and
South Guildford. Route 292 is a short loop which goes to terminals three and four. Route 935 is a high frequency route which runs to
Kings Park via Belmont Forum Shopping Centre and the Perth central business district. Route 940 is a high frequency route which runs to Elizabeth Quay bus station via Great Eastern Highway.
Rail replacement bus service
A rail replacement bus service uses buses to replace a passenger train service on a temporary or permanent basis. The train service that is replaced may be of any type such as light rail, tram, streetcar, commuter rail, regional rail or hea ...
s operate as route 902.
References
External links
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{{TransperthBusStations
Airport railway stations in Australia
Railway stations in Australia opened in 2022
Railway stations in Perth, Western Australia
Redcliffe, Western Australia
Airport line, Perth