The ''AvonLink'' is a rural passenger train service 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 ...

operated by

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 ...

between Midland and Northam.

History

The consideration of revitalising passenger services in 1993 saw the ''Avonlink Ministerial Committee'' formed by Minister for Transport

Eric Charlton Eric James Charlton (born 17 March 1938) is a former Australian politician. Charlton was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1984 as a National Party member for Agricultural Region, replacing the deceased MLC Gordon Atki ...

. The first ''AvonLink'' service departed Northam for

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

on 24 September 1995, and was significant, as it was the first new country passenger rail service in

for 47 years.AvonLink and MerredinLink
Transwa From July 2001, the Perth terminus moved from East Perth to Midland where a connection is made with

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 ...

Midland line services. In June 2004, the ''AvonLink'' was extended to Merredin on three days a week, operating as the ''

MerredinLink The ''MerredinLink'' is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between Perth and Merredin. History The ''MerredinLink'' was introduced in June 2004 when the ''AvonLink'' from Perth was extended from Northam ...

''. In September 2006, Transwa trialed a day trip Sunday service to Northam. The six-week trial proved popular with each service being fully booked out weeks in advance. However, due to overall lack of passengers at other times the service was discontinued. In August 2013, Transwa announced the ''AvonLink'' would cease on 30 December 2013 due to poor patronage and be replaced by a road coach. However, this announcement generated significant criticism. On 19 November 2013, two Wheatbelt region MLAs,

Mia Davies Mia Jane Davies (born 3 November 1978) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition and leader of the National Party in Western Australia. She has been a member of the state Legislative Assembly since 2013, having pr ...

and Shane Love, presented petitions to the WA State Parliament calling for the retention of the AvonLink. The petitions bore a total of more than 3,000 signatures of Avon Valley residents. On 3 December 2013, Minister for Transport

Troy Buswell Troy Raymond Buswell (born 19 March 1966) is a former Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2014, representing the seat of Vasse. He was Treasurer of Western Australia in th ...

announced the ''AvonLink'' service would be retained, initially for a period of six months, while Transwa and the Wheatbelt Development Commission worked through the funding solution required to keep the service running beyond that initial period. In May 2014, it was announced that an enhanced service would continue until at least June 2017. In December 2014, an enhanced service was introduced with services increased from one to three trains on certain days. From July 2017, the ''AvonLink'' was reduced back to one service in each direction on weekdays only.

Services

As at June 2022, one ''Avonlink'' service operates on weekdays in each direction between Midland and Northam stopping at Toodyay.

Rolling stock

The service commenced with WCA/WCE railcars built in 1971 to operate '' The Prospector''. In December 2000

Westrail 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 ...

awarded a contract to United Goninan, Broadmeadow for 9 WDA/WDB/WDC railcars to replace the 1971 built stock. 3 WDA/WDB and 1 WDC were for '' The Prospector'' and 2 WEA/WEB were for the ''AvonLink'' and ''

'' services."WA Short Lines" ''Railway Digest'' February 2001 The new train entered service on 1 August 2005.

References

Notes

External links