The South Western Railway, also known as the South West Main Line, is the main railway route between

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 ...

and Bunbury in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

History

''South-Western Railway Act 1891'', an act by the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parl ...

assented to on 26 February 1891, authorised the construction of the railway line from Bayswater to Bunbury.

Construction

The South Western Railway was constructed for the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways 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 respon ...

(WAGR) by various private contractors from 1891. Among these was the engineer and magistrate Owen. Construction was completed in two parts. The first,

East Perth East 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 fact that eas ...

to Pinjarra, was undertaken by William Atkins (former mill manager of the Neil McNeil company at the Jarrahdale Timber Station) and Robert Oswald Law (who built the

Fremantle Long Jetty Fremantle Long Jetty was constructed in 1873 to replace the smaller South Jetty which had become too small for the large amounts of vessels entering the colony in Western Australia. The jetty lies in Bathers Beach, Fremantle, Bather's Bay which ...

) from the end of 1891. Work began in 1892 but was slowed by difficulties with building the bridge over the Swan River. This section opened on 22 May 1893. The second phase of construction was also completed by Atkins and McNeil, starting at Bunbury and working north to Pinjarra opening on 22 August 1893. Bunbury station was opened by

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...

on 14 November 1894.

Post-World War II improvements

Prior to 1938, the WAGR determined that the South Western Railway would soon reach saturation point. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, plans for its full duplication between Armadale and , Brunswick Junction were therefore included in an intended post-war improvement project. A special committee later recommended, however, that the proposed duplication be replaced with centralized traffic control (CTC), and in 1944 that recommendation was confirmed by the WAGR's newly appointed Signal and Telegraph Engineer, who had gained experience with CTC while working for the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining Rail transport in New Zealand, New Zealand's railway infrastruc ...

. In 1949, the plans for lengthy duplication of the line were shelved, and installation of CTC was approved. The incoming WAGR Commission later placed orders for the necessary materials. Post-war improvements to the WAGR network as a whole also encompassed a major program for relaying track on various main and secondary lines with heavier, welded, rails; included in that program were rerailing, reballasting and ancillary works on the South Western Railway. The first part of that line to be relayed was the Armadale to Picton Junction section, on which work began in 1952 and was completed in 1954. Work on the section between Picton Junction and Bunbury followed in 1960, and then the double track section in Perth's south eastern suburbs equivalent to was relaid in 1961 and 1962. Meanwhile, installation of CTC equipment began with the equipping of a pilot section between Armadale and in 1958. The CTC was then extended progressively southwards, to by April 1959, and then to , including a crossing loop at Venn, by June 1959. Proposals for a extension of the double tracked Perth suburban portion of the line from Armadale as far as Byford, and installation of the CTC all the way to Brunswick Junction, both ended up being abandoned due to a shortage of funds. Even so, the truncated project, when it entered fully into service, was the first large-scale application of CTC in Australia.

Alignment

As operated by the WAGR, the line was from Perth to Bunbury. Since that time, the line has been shortened to as some stations have closed, moved or been replaced by

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...

s.Arc Infrastructure Network Map
Arc Infrastructure The first of the line from are served by

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 ...

Armadale Line The Armadale line is a partially-closed suburban railway service in Perth, Western Australia, operated by the Public Transport Authority as part of the Transperth system. The Armadale line is long, and starts at Perth station, heading south ...

. This section is

double-tracked Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...

and

electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

using

25 kV AC Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The dev ...

. The line south of Armadale is not electrified and predominantly single-track, with passing loops at various locations. The section from Perth to Mundijong Junction is controlled by the Public Transport Authority, with the remainder of the line controlled by

Arc Infrastructure Arc Infrastructure, formerly Brookfield Rail and WestNet Rail, is a rail infrastructure manager and access provider in Western Australia with a long-term lease on the network from the Government of Western Australia. It operates approximately 5 ...

.Public Transport Authority Network Map
Public Transport Authority The section controlled by Arc Infrastructure has been upgraded to accommodate

axle load The axle load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight bearing on the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Axle load is an important design consideration in the engineering of roadways and railways, as both are designed to tolerate a m ...

s, featuring

concrete sleeper A concrete sleeper (British English) or concrete tie (American English) is a type of railway sleeper or railroad tie made out of steel reinforced concrete. History In 1877, Joseph Monier, a French gardener, suggested that concrete reinforced ...

s and continuous welded rail.

Bridges

The Bunbury Bridge near Perth was the most significant engineering structure on the line. It was replaced by the Goongoongup Bridge in 1996. Other notable bridges include: *Jenna Bidi Bridge over the Canning River in Gosnells *Murray River Bridge south of Pinjarra *Harvey River Bridge north of Harvey *Collie River Bridge south of Roelands

Branches

The line connects with all Transperth

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

lines at Perth, with specific branches to the Midland Line at Claisebrook and the Thornlie–Cockburn Line at Kenwick. In terms of key freight connectivity, the line branches to the Kwinana Line at Kenwick and Mundijong Junction. The Jarrahdale branch was accessed at Mundijong, but this line is now out of service. A branch south of Pinjarra serves

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

and provides access to the Hotham Valley branch. The Collie branch connects at Brunswick Junction, providing access to

Worsley Alumina Worsley Alumina comprises a bauxite mine located near the town of Boddington and an Alumina refinery located near Worsley. Ore is mined then transported to the refinery via an overland conveyor system. Alumina is then transported to the port ...

and Collie. At Picton the line once continued south as the Northcliffe branch, with further branches to Flinders Bay and Katanning, however only the first few kilometres of this line remain in use. A spur to Bunbury Harbour provides access to the port west of Picton.

Timber tramways

Several timber mills used to operate along the railway, each with their own access to the mainline. Many of these mills operated extensive timber tramways that fed significant quantities of timber to the railway.

Operations

Passenger

The Transperth commuter rail

operates a frequent passenger service at the Perth end of the route. Beyond Armadale the only passenger service on the line is '' The Australind''. It traverses the entire length of the line from Perth to Bunbury twice a day in each direction, taking about 2 hours and 30 minutes each way.Australind Timetable
Transwa Other named trains that previously operated on the line were the ''

Bunbury Belle The ''Bunbury Belle'' was a passenger train operated by the Western Australian Government Railways between Perth and Bunbury via the South Western line from June 1964 until July 1975. History The ''Bunbury Belle'' commenced operating on 6 J ...

'' and '' The Shopper''.

Stations

There are currently 31 passenger stations on the line, of which 20 are served by Armadale Line services. Beyond the Armadale Line section, all stations meet Disability Discrimination Act standards. The stations at Brunswick Junction and Bunbury provide connections to

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 between Perth and the ...

coach services. An extension of the Armadale Line as part of Metronet will see a new station built at Byford.

Freight

Freight services on the line are operated by

Aurizon Aurizon Holdings Limited ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National Limited and branded QR National. In 2015, it was the world's largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland G ...

and are primarily focused on bauxite and alumina mining and refining.Draft South West Supply Chain Strategy
Department of Transportation Bulk

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

is carried from Alcoa Pinjarra to Kwinana for export and bulk

alumina Aluminium oxide (or aluminium(III) oxide) is a chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen with the chemical formula . It is the most commonly occurring of several aluminium oxides, and specifically identified as aluminium oxide. It is commonly ...

is transported from Alcoa Wagerup as well as from Worsley Alumina to Bunbury port. Caustic soda is transported from Bunbury Port to Wagerup and Worsley for use in alumina refining and some coal from the Collie branch is also carried on the line. Potential exists for the line to carry mineral sands, agricultural produce, lithium ore and containerised freight on the line in the future.