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High Wycombe railway station is a
Transperth Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operat ...
commuter rail station in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Western Australia. The station is the eastern terminus of the Airport line and was one of three stations built as part of the Forrestfield–Airport Link project. The station was originally known as Forrestfield station during planning and construction. The contract for the Forrestfield–Airport Link, which consists of of twin bored tunnels and three new stations, was awarded to
Salini Impregilo Webuild S.p.A. (previously Salini Impregilo S.p.A.; ) is an Italian industrial group specialising in construction and civil engineering. The company was formally founded in 2014 as the result of the merger by incorporation of Salini into Impregi ...
and NRW Pty Ltd in April 2016. High Wycombe station itself was constructed above ground, with the line entering a tunnel just north of the station. Construction began in November 2016, with works initially focussing on building the tunnel dive structure. Tunnelling began in July 2017, and construction of the station itself had begun by November 2017. For much of the construction period, the site contained infrastructure to support the tunnelling operation. Originally planned to open in 2020, the line officially opened on 9 October 2022. It is served by trains every twelve minutes during
peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...
and every fifteen minutes outside peak and on weekends and
public holidays A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...
. 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 ...
takes 22 minutes.


Description

High Wycombe station is located east of the Forrestfield freight marshalling yard 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, ...
. It is part of the
Transperth Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operat ...
system and is the easternmost station of the Airport line, which branches off the Midland line and travels through of bored tunnels before surfacing at High Wycombe, which is at surface level. The adjacent station is Airport Central station. The station consists of a single
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
with two platform edges. The platform is wide and long, long enough for a six-car train, the longest trains on the network. The entrance is east of the platforms and located on a raised ground level which is held back by a long retaining wall. The platform is linked to the entrance-level concourse by stairs, lifts and escalators. On the concourse are fare gates. The station's roof was designed to be easily visible from the surrounding precinct and lead passengers to the entrance. Its colour was chosen to mimic the red earthy colours of the nearby
Darling Scarp The Darling Scarp (), also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to ...
, and its shape was designed to mimic an aircraft wing. Outside the station building is a bus interchange with eight bus stands. A three-level multi-storey car park with room for 1,200 cars is north of the station. Other facilities include toilets and two bicycle shelters for 184 bicycles. The land directly east of the station is designated for a
transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...
.


Public art

Next to the car park is the cutterhead for one of the
tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole" or a "worm", is a machine used to excavate tunnels. TBMs are an alternative to drilling and blasting methods and "hand mining", allowing more rapid excavation through hard rock, wet or dry so ...
s (TBMs) that was used to bore the tunnels for the Airport line. This is accompanied by a sign explaining the tunnelling process. On the station's front façade and the retaining wall viewable from the platform are two artworks by Adam Cruickshank, Pavel Perina, and George Domahidy, titled ''Scarp''. A long and high section of the retaining wall consists of earthy orange and red coloured tessellated triangles which reflect the colours of the Darling Scarp and the station's roof. On the front façade is a white 3D
Jesmonite Jesmonite is a composite material used in fine arts, crafts, and construction. It consists of a gypsum-based material in an acrylic resin. It was invented in the United Kingdom in 1984 by Peter Hawkins. Usage Jesmonite is a versatile material a ...
panel consisting of smaller tessellating triangles which also represent the Darling Scarp. In the station's forecourt is the ''Noongar Recognition Project'' by
Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...
artist Maitland Hill in collaboration with the Forrestfield–Airport Link's Aboriginal Stakeholder Group. This consists of three laser-etched steel images accompanied by signs telling local Noongar stories.


History


Planning and construction

During planning and initial construction, the station was called Forrestfield station after the nearby suburb of Forrestfield. It was built by the Public Transport Authority (PTA) as part of the Forrestfield–Airport Link project, which involved the construction of of twin bored tunnels between High Wycombe and
Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...
and two other stations: Airport Central and Redcliffe stations. Forward works such as vegetation clearing and service relocations began in November 2015 and continued into 2016. The main contract, worth A$1.176 billion, was awarded to a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
of
Salini Impregilo Webuild S.p.A. (previously Salini Impregilo S.p.A.; ) is an Italian industrial group specialising in construction and civil engineering. The company was formally founded in 2014 as the result of the merger by incorporation of Salini into Impregi ...
and NRW Pty Ltd (SI/NRW) in April 2016. At the time, the station was expected to be open by 2020.
Weston Williamson Weston Williamson + Partners (WW+P) is a British architectural firm formed in 1985 and based in London, Manchester, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Toronto, Riyadh, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. History Weston Williamson was established in 1985 by Andre ...
and
GHD Woodhead GHD Group Pty Ltd (formerly known as Gutteridge Haskins & Davey) is a global employee-owned multinational technical professional services firm providing advisory, architecture and design, buildings, digital, energy and resources, environmental ...
were appointed by SI/NRW as the designers of the three stations. In August 2016, SI-NRW began site investigations, and a development application for early works and dive structure works was submitted to the
Western Australian Planning Commission The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) is an independent statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that exists to coordinate strategic and statutory planning for future urban, rural, and regional land use. The WAPC f ...
. The early works and station works were put into separate development applications so that early works could start as soon as possible. By September 2016, forward works were complete and site establishment had begun. The development application was approved in October, allowing early works to commence. On 3 November 2016, a
sod turning Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...
ceremony took place with Premier
Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is an Australian former politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other ...
, State Transport Minister
Bill Marmion William Richard Marmion (born 22 May 1954) is an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia between 2008 and 2021, representing the seat of Nedlands. He served as a minister in the government of Col ...
, Federal Minister for Urban Infrastructure Paul Fletcher and Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Darren Chester Darren Jeffrey Chester (born 13 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008. Chester had served as the Minister for Veterans ...
, which marked the start of construction for the Forrestfield–Airport Link. The first priority was the construction of the dive structure so that tunnelling could commence. By the end of 2016, construction had started on the
diaphragm wall A slurry wall is a civil engineering technique used to build reinforced concrete walls in areas of soft earth close to open water, or with a high groundwater table. This technique is typically used to build diaphragm (water-blocking) walls surro ...
s of the dive structure, and the development application for the actual station was submitted. Artist impressions of the station were released in January 2017. By April 2017, the diaphragm walls were complete which allowed for excavation of the long and up to wide dive structure to begin. As the Forrestfield site was where the TBMs were to start boring from, the site establishment works involved the construction of infrastructure to support tunnelling operations, including a
bentonite Bentonite ( ) is an Absorption (chemistry), absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelli ...
plant, water treatment plant, and slurry plant. In May 2017, the 45 components of the first TBM arrived on site. It had been constructed in China and was assembled on site in High Wycombe. The components of the second TBM arrived by July 2017, and it too was assembled on site. By July 2017, the dive structure was ready for tunnelling to commence. The first TBM, named ''Grace'', was lifted into the dive structure that month and began tunnelling. The second TBM, named ''Sandy'', was lifted into the dive structure in September 2017 and began tunnelling in October 2017. Construction on the station itself had begun by November 2017. That month, the first of 92 pre-cast concrete retaining wall panels was craned into place. The retaining wall, which involved backfilling to raise the ground level by up to , was complete by May 2018. As the site was divided in two by Dundas Road, with the station and dive structure on the west side and the TBM support infrastructure on the east side, of Dundas Road had to be realigned to pass west of the station. Works for that began in February 2018. The realigned road opened in August 2018, and the previous alignment between Maida Vale Road and Imperial Street was closed. Construction of the foundations for the station's platform began in October 2018. By May 2019, columns to support the concourse above the platforms were in place, and by June 2019, the concourse
slab Slab or SLAB may refer to: Physical materials * Concrete slab, a flat concrete plate used in construction * Stone slab, a flat stone used in construction * Slab (casting), a length of metal * Slab (geology), that portion of a tectonic plate that ...
had been poured and the structure for the roof had begun to be built. By July 2019, the escalators were in place and brickwork for the station building had begun. By August 2019, the stairs were in place, and by September 2019, the station was 50 percent complete. By February 2020, the sheeting for the roof was being installed and construction on the traction power supply substation had begun. The roof sheeting was fully installed by April 2020 and by June 2020, the roof skylights were complete. Works on the forecourt, including the bus interchange, were underway by August 2020, and by September 2020, the lifts from the platform to the concourse were installed. By May 2021, tiling of the platform and the concourse was complete. The TBM cutterhead was installed by November 2021. In September 2018, it was announced that the Forrestfield–Airport Link contract would be varied so that a 1,200-bay multi-storey car park could be constructed at the station, instead of a large ground-level car park as originally planned. The car park was projected to cost $32 million and be paid for by the project's contingency budget. The change reduced the area dedicated to parking by and was made to allow for transit-oriented development at the station. This came after Shire of Kalamunda President Andrew Waddell had expressed concern at the previously planned 2,500-bay car park, saying that "The PTA plans to build 2,500 car parking bays in front of the station will devastate any plans to develop at the proposed densities". Construction on the car park began in June 2020, and by March 2021, the structure was complete, with fit-out works following that. By July 2021, the car park was complete.


Name

By 2017, there was a push from local residents for the station to be renamed High Wycombe station to better reflect its actual location. Federal member for Swan Steve Irons and state member for Forrestfield Stephen Price called for the name change, with Price accusing the former Liberal government of naming the station Forrestfield so that it was more likely to retain the marginal
electoral district of Forrestfield Forrestfield is an Electoral districts of Western Australia, electoral district of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia, based in the eastern suburbs of Perth. Geography ...
. The
City of Kalamunda The City of Kalamunda is a local government area in the eastern metropolitan region of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about east of Perth's central business district. The area covers , much of which is state forest rising into ...
called for the name to change to High Wycombe in March 2020. In May 2020, the state government launched a survey for residents and business operators of the City of Kalamunda to have their say on the station's name. The survey closed with over 3,500 votes, 76.1 percent of which were for the station to be named High Wycombe.


Opening

On 18 December 2018, state Transport Minister Rita Saffioti announced that the opening date of the project had been delayed from 2020 to 2021. In May 2021, Saffioti 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 it would open some time later in the year. On 16 August, the opening date was revealed to be 9 October 2022. The station was officially opened that day by Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...
, Premier
Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian former politician and naval officer who served as the 30th premier of Western Australia from 2017 until his retirement in 2023. He was the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Austr ...
, and Transport Minister Saffioti. To celebrate, a community open day was organised for High Wycombe and Redcliffe stations on the day of the opening, which involved live entertainment and food. The new bus services to High Wycombe station commenced the following day.


Future

High Wycombe station was designed to allow for a future extension of the railway south. The ''Perth and Peel @ 3.5 Million'' plan states that an extension to link the Airport line to the
Thornlie–Cockburn line The Thornlie–Cockburn line is a suburban railway line and service in Perth, Western Australia, operated by the Public Transport Authority (Western Australia), Public Transport Authority as part of the Transperth system. The line branches fro ...
to form a Circle line should be investigated.


Services

High Wycombe station is served by the Airport line on the Transperth network. These services are operated by the PTA via its
Transperth Train Operations Railways in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, have existed since 1881, when the Eastern Railway (Western Australia), Eastern Railway was opened between Fremantle and Guildford, Western Australia, Guildford. Today, Perth has eight T ...
division. To the west, the line joins the Midland line two stations along at Bayswater, running along that line to Perth station, before running along 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 ...
to terminate at Claremont station. Airport line trains depart from the station every twelve minutes during
peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...
on weekdays and every fifteen minutes outside peak and on weekends and
public holidays A public holiday, national holiday, federal holiday, statutory holiday, bank holiday or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Types Civic holiday A ''civic holiday'', also k ...
. 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 ...
takes 22 minutes. The station is in fare zone two. The station was predicted to have an average of 9,800 daily boardings upon opening, rising to 12,000 by 2031. The catchment area includes High Wycombe, Forrestfield,
Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...
, Gooseberry Hill, and Kalamunda. It was planned that over 90 percent of passengers would arrive at High Wycombe station by car or bus and 50 percent would arrive by bus. High Wycombe's bus interchange has eight bus stands and eight regular bus routes. Consultation on the bus routes occurred in October and November 2021. Route 270 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 (suburb), Perth CBD in Western Australia, next to the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre and Elizabeth Quay rail ...
via Forrestfield, Belmont and Victoria Park transfer station. Route 271 goes to Forrestfield. Route 275 goes to Walliston via
Kalamunda bus station Kalamunda bus station is a Transperth bus station located next to the Kalamunda Central shopping centre in Kalamunda, Western Australia. It has four stands and is served by eight Transperth routes operated by Path Transit and Swan Transit ...
. Route 276 goes to Kalamunda bus station via Gooseberry Hill. Routes 277 and 278 go to Midland station. Route 280 goes to Westfield Carousel via Cannington station. Route 293 goes to Redcliffe station via Belmont. Route 294 goes to Foodbank WA.
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 heavy r ...
s operate as route 902.


References


External links


High Wycombe Station
information page on the
Transperth Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operat ...
website
High Wycombe Station
information page on the Forrestfield–Airport Link website
High Wycombe Community Reference Group meeting minutes
on the Forrestfield–Airport Link website * * * * * {{TransperthBusStations Railway stations in Australia opened in 2022 Transperth railway stations Airport line, Perth Transperth bus stations