Perth By Rail:
Along the Armadale and Thornlie Lines, WA
The Armadale suburban rail service runs from Perth to Armadale on the South Western Railway. This service is planned to extend to the suburb of Byford over an 8-kilometre-long new railway line constructed as part of the Byford Rail Extension project. The original stations on the Armadaleo line were Perth, Kelmscott and Armadale. Cannington and Welshpool opened later in 1897 and 1898 repectively.
The Thornlie line is a service that runs on the South Western Railway from Perth to a junction between Beckenham and Kenwick and continues on a short branch line to Thornlie that opened on 7 August 2005. This service is currently, as of 2022, being extended to Cockburn Central (which until now was serviced by the Mandurah line only) as part of the Thornlie-Cockburn Link project that in part is constructing 14.5 kilometres of new railway line between Thornlie and Cockburn Central next to the Kewdale White Oil Line.
Perth Railway Station
Between 2011 and 2014, the Fremantle line was sunk between Lake Street and the Horseshoe Bridge in the Perth CBD to allow for the redevelopment of the area. Perth station's former Fremantle to Midland platform became an island platform, with an additional platform and track built on the north side.
McIver
McIver station was opened in 1989. It was named after Ken McIver, a long serving steam engine driver and Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for Northam and Avon from 1968 until 1986. The station was purpose-built to provide access directly to Royal Perth Hospital. Passenger can transfer to the Armadale/Thornlie line and the Airport line at McIver.
Claisebrook railway depot, adjacent to Claisebrook station, East Perth
Claisebrook
Opened in 1883 under the name East Perth, Claisebrook station is a busy junction along the Midland and Armadale/Thornlie lines due to both lines running through the station and the Claisebrook railway depot being next door. McIver station is one of the two stations that service both the Midland and Armadale/Thornlie lines, with the other station being Claisebrook. Passengers can transfer to the Armadale/Thornlie line at Claisebrook.
Claisebrook takes its name from Claide Brook, a creek named in 1827 by James Stirling after Dr Frederick Rushbrook Clause (1791-1852), surgeon of HMS Success. It is now an underground drain for most of its original length, which empties into the Swan River at Claisebrook Cove at East Perth. The path of Claise Brook is marked by Brook Street, one of East Perth's earliest streets, so named because it followed Claise Brook on its north bank.
The original railway station was located centrally between the east and west bound tracks and provided access to both. In 1984 the station was relocated to Whiteman Park to be the Central Station on the light railway system there. In 1969, a new railway terminal was built 600 metres away on the Midland line called East Perth, and caused this station to be renamed Claisebrook afterthe nearby watercourse. The station has received Airport line services since 9 October 2022.
To reach the Burswood peninsula from East Perth, the railway line crossed a single line timber structure when it opened to traffic on 2nd May 1889. Originally called the Swan Bridge, it was re-named the Bunbury Bridge when the line was extended to Bunbury in the state's south-west in 1891. The current bridge is Goongoonup Bridge.
Perth Stadium
Perth Stadium railway station (officially Perth Stadium Station) is situated next to Perth Stadium (known under sponsorship as Optus Stadium) at Burswood. On 18 October 2013, Belmont Park railway station was closed to make way for this station. With six platforms, Perth Stadium station is the second largest on the Transperth network, after Perth railway station. The station only operates on weekends, and before and after events at Perth Stadium. Ordinarily, it is served by Armadale line services, but before and after events, there are special services which run direct for the Fremantle line and Joondalup line.
Burswood
Opened in 1893, the station serves the suburbs of Burswood, Lathlain and Rivervale. The station was originally to be named Burrswood, however it became Burswood after being misspelt by the station sign's painters when it opened in 1893. The station was renamed Rivervale on 30 May 1923, mirroring that of the suburb that was renamed in 1921 in part due to the public's association of Burswood with sewerage processing. However, after the Burswood Resort and Casino was built, the name reverted to Burswood on 1 May 1994. Rivervale has survived as a suburb 600 metres east of the station.
Burswood's waterfront park has to a memorial to Dutchman Willem Vlamingh, the first European to visit the area in 1696. The lakes and fountains in front of the casino complex facing the highway honour Western Australia's pioneers.
Victoria Park
The original Victoria Park station opened in 1898. As part of improvements to the Armadale line following the announcement of the new Mandurah line alignment in August 2002, the rail alignment was upgraded including the introduction of grade separated rail crossings. Lathlain station was also demolished, in preparation for the construction of a new Victoria Park station nearby. The new station opened on 2 August 2008 the new station. The old station platforms, footbridge and pedestrian level crossing were demolished.
The suburb of Victoria Park is mostly residential, although Albany Highway is a commercial "high street" and a number of parks can be found - most notably McCallum Park on the river, Raphael Park and the smaller Read Park and Hawthorne Park.
Lathlain was a 'garden suburb' estate designed in 1920 by Carl Klem and brother-in-law and senior partner Percy Hope. There was much controversy surrounding the development which was initially planned to have 16 internal reserves that provided open space to all allotments. Maintenance of these public open spaces was seen as problematic by the City of Perth to which the plan was scaled back to only two such reserves.
Carlisle
Carlisle station opened in 1893 as Haydon's Siding, being renamed Mint Street in 1912, East Victoria Park in 1912 and finally Carlisle in 1919. As part of the New MetroRail project, the station was upgraded between February 2003 and January 2005. As part of a Metronet project for several level crossing removals on the Armadale line, Carlisle railway station will be rebuilt as an elevated station, enabling the replacement of the Mint Street level crossing with a rail-over-road bridge.
Carlisle was originally settled as part of a land allocation to early Western Australian settlers after 1829, however little development was made until after the 1890s. Bickford was a name chosen by real estate company Peet and Co (now Peet Limited) for the sale of residential land in the area. On 23 May 1919, a meeting of ratepayers in the area elected to change the name of the suburb to Carlisle.
Oats Street
Oats Street station opened in November 1954, and serves as the only station for Armadale Line passengers to transfer to the Thornlie Line and thus intermediate stations between Claisebrook and Cannington. It services East Victoria Park and Carlisle. In 2020, the station's bus interchange was upgraded due to the bus facilities at the time being at capacity. As part of a Metronet project for the removal of several level crossings on the Armadale line, Oats Street railway station will be rebuilt as an elevated station, and situated on top of Oats Street, replacing the level crossing with a bridge.
Welshpool
Welshpool Station opened in 1889 as one of the original stations on the Armadale Line. Welshpool Station was planned to be closed under the original 1999 South West Metropolitan Railway Master Plan for the Armadale line branch route of the Mandurah line to enable the construction of a bridge over Welshpool Road instead of the current level crossing. However, with the change in route alignment, the closure was no longer necessary at that point in time. The station services the suburbs of Welshpool and Bentley.
Welshpool is a traditional industrial suburb and a transport hub, partly because of its proximity to Perth Airport and short distance to the Perth CBD. In the 1940s, the State Housing Commission commenced urban residential development in Bentley. Housing was also provided to reward former military servicemen for their efforts during the Second World War. Some of these modest war service homes remain today. Bentley is also home to the main campus of Curtin University and Technology Park.
Queens Park
Queens Park Station opened in 1899 as Woodlupine, being renamed Queens Park on 16 April 1912. In 2012, the station was refurbished. As part of a Metronet project for several level crossing removals on the Armadale line, Queens Park Station will be rebuilt as an elevated station and the Hamilton Street and Wharf Street level crossings will be replaced with elevated rail. The planned design has Queens Park Station about 100 metres closer to Hamilton Street, and the passenger car park underneath the elevated railway.
The suburb derives its name from the former Queens Park Road Board that was incorporated into the Canning and Belmont Road Boards. Queens Park was originally known as Woodlupine. The name change was brought about following a murder in 1911. It was agreed that the name would be changed to Queens Park to honour Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII. Queens Park now incorporates the former suburb of Maniana, once of State Housing development post-WW2, which has been pulled down and redeveloped as "Quatro".
Westfield Carousel
Cannington
The original Cannington station was located between Station Street and Crawford Road in East Cannington, and was one of the original stations operational when the Armadale Line opened in 1889. As part of the electrification of the line in the early 1990s, the original Cannington station was replaced by a new station 500 metres to the north-west. As part of a Metronet project for several level crossing removals on the Armadale line, Cannington Station will be rebuilt as a new elevated station with island platforms, and a larger, 16 stand bus interchange underneath the station platforms.
Cannington contains Perth metropolitan area's largest shopping complex, Westfield Carousel, first built in 1972 and extensively refurbished and expanded in the 1990s, which includes a Hoyts cinema complex. Albany Highway contains a range of shops and small warehouses, as well as the City of Canning council offices. Bentley Hospital is just beyond the northwestern boundary on Mills Street.
Along the Canning River is the Canning River Regional Park, which contains walking tracks and picnic facilities as well as the Woodloes Museum, a restored 1874 house built by architect and pioneer Francis Bird. Various sports and leisure facilities, including soccer fields, ten-pin bowling and an indoor athletics centre. The Canning showgrounds which includes the Cannington Raceway which is a greyhound racetrack and Cannington Exhibition Centre.
Thornlie line
Thornlie
Thornlie Station is the terminus of the Thornlie spur of the Armadale Line, 17 kilometres from Perth Station serving the suburb of Thornlie. Under construction is the Thornlie-Cockburn Link which will link to Cockburn Central railway station along the Mandurah line via two new stations, Nicholson Road railway station and Ranford Road railway station. Thornlie station will be modified for the extension of the Thornlie line to Cockburn Central station on the Mandurah line.
Thornlie is a large residential, located 15 kilometres south-east of the Perth central business district. It is a part of the City of Gosnells local government area. The Canning River runs through the northern side of the suburb. Thornlie is primarily a dormitory suburb with strong transport links to employment elsewhere in the metropolitan region. Albany Highway connects the suburb to the CBD, Roe Highway links it the regional road network.
Nicholson Road
Nicholson Road railway station is an under construction station on the Thornlie–Cockburn Link in Perth, Western Australia as part of Metronet. The station will include a bus interchange with 7 stands and 1,000 car parking spaces. A station at Nicholson Road was first planned as part of the proposed Armadale line branch route of the Mandurah line. This station was ultimately not constructed as the final route was altered to a different alignment. Construction of the station started in 2020. The first trains are now expected to run in 2024.
Ranford Road
Ranford Road railway station is an under construction station on the Thornlie–Cockburn Link as part of Metronet. The station will include a bus interchange with 14 stands, and approximately 400 car parking spaces. Situated in a cutting 8.5 metres lower than Ranford Road, the station will be accessed from a precinct entry road off the proposed Jandakot Airport Eastern Link Road. Approximately 1,985 daily boardings are predicted at Ranford Road railway station in 2031. Services to Perth and Cockburn Central will be provided by Transperth Trains, with the journey to Perth to take approximately 29 minutes.
Cockburn Central
Cockburn Central is a bus and railway station on the Transperth network. It is located at the juncture of the Mandurah and – once completed – Thornlie lines, 20.5 kilometres from Perth station inside the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway serving the suburb of Cockburn Central. During planning, the station was known as Thomsons Lake station. Cockburn Central railway station was designed to subsume the nearby Success Park 'n' Ride bus station. The Park 'n' Ride was decommissioned after the railway station opened. Cockburn Central station opened along with the rest of the Mandurah line on 23 December 2007. When the station opened, Cockburn Central became a suburb in its own right.
Armadale line
Beckenham
Beckenham Station serves the suburb of Beckenham. The station opened in 1954 as Higham. The additional station, with two others on the Armadale line, marked the introduction of diesel-mechanical railcars on Perth's metropolitan passenger railways. Higham was renamed Beckenham in 1969. The platforms are staggered across William Street to minimise the time the level crossing is closed to road traffic. In March 2014 an $8.1 million upgrade to the station and adjacent car parks was completed.
Over the years the suburb of Beckenham has seen many name changes. It was previously known as Buckingham, it once shared a "common usage" name of Waverley with East Cannington, and has one of the oldest and most well respected primary schools in Western Australia. The Canning River runs along the southwestern outskirts of Beckenham. In 2011 Beckenham released many new divisions of land and was recently awarded a 4.5/5 star rating in a poll of best places to live in Australia.
Kenwick
Kenwick Station is 15.8 kilometres from Perth Station, and serves the suburb of Kenwick. The station opened in 1914. In 1982–83, the platforms were extended. The station closed on 31 March 2014 for a six-month upgrade, reopening on 27 October 2014. Opposite the station lies a connection to the Kwinana freight line.
Kenwick is a mixed residential, light industrial and semi-rural suburb located in the south-east of Perth within the City of Gosnells. A large portion of the suburb is composed of remnant agricultural land organized as smallholdings of several acres, as well as relatively pristine native wetlands, including the Brixton Street Wetlands which are of significant conservation value. It also contains several sites of historical significance relating to its status as one of the early farming communities of the Swan River Colony.
Maddington
Mddington station opened in 1896. From 26 December 1895 until February 1952, Maddington was the junction for a 700-metre branch line to Canning Racecourse. In 2013, a major upgrade was completed to the station.
Maddington is a mixed-use suburb containing major residential, retail and industrial sections as well as some semi-rural areas. Unusual amongst the surrounding suburbs Maddington still retains several vineyards and orchards from when the locality was used for agricultural purposes.
Established in 1868, Canning Park Racecourse at Maddington was one of Western Australia's major racetracks. After the Perth - Armadale line was built, a short spur line was built from Maddington station to the Racecourse. The spur was north of the station alongside Canning Park Avenue. The line was closed at the beginning of World War II and taken over by the Army as a fuel dump and machinery store. Following the closure of Canning Park Racecourse in 1952, any ideas of re-opening the line for passenger transport were abandoned.
Gosnells
The original Gosnells station opened in 1905. On 17 April 2005 a new station opened 300 metres further north as part of a improvement program to rejuvenate the town centre and create a new retail main street running in an east-west direction across the train line. The station was built under the Gallop government's Building Better Train Stations program.
Albany Highway is the main link to Gosnells from the Perth central business district, and carries traffic northwest into the city, or southeast to Albany. Gosnells contains the Gosnells town centre which includes the Council offices, library and the Gosnells Railway Station.
Stokeley (above) was a railway station on the Armadale Line between Maddington and Gosnells at the Albany Highway crossing. It was a split platform station, the Armadale Platform was the Gosnells side of Albany Hwy and the Perth Platfrom was the Perth Side of the railway crossing. The station was opened 1954, and closed 15 April 1989. All evidence except the carpark has been removed.
Seaforth
22.6 kilometres southwest of Perth station and 7.8 kilometres north of Armadale station, Seaforth station opened on 4 May 1948 with low level platforms. High level platforms were added in 1968. The station consists of two side platforms with a pedestrian level crossing. It is not fully accessible due to steep ramps and a lack of tactile paving.
Kelmscott
Kelmscott station opened on 2 May 1893 as one of the original stations on the Armadale Line. On 2 July 1980, a bus interchange opened on the platform. In 2008, the Public Transport Authority completed a $10.8 million upgrade of the station. Kelmscott station is served by Transperth Armadale Line services. Until April 1992, it was served by The Australind.
Kelmscott was one of the very early towns established in the Swan River Colony and was named after Kelmscott, Oxfordshire, the birthplace of the first Anglican clergyman in the colony, Thomas Hobbes Scott (1783 -1860). The suburb of Kelmscott is bisected by the Canning River. On the western side of the river is the flat coastal plain upon which most of Perth is situated. This area includes the Stargate Kelmscott and Kelmscott Village shopping areas along Albany Highway, the light industrial area, the Kelmscott Senior High School and a residential area. To the east, the suburb rises into the western Darling Scarp.
Challis
Challis station opened on 29 October 1973, as did the adjacent Sherwood station, filling the large gap between Armadale station and Kelmscott station. It is not fully accessible due to steep ramps and wide gaps at the pedestrian level crossing. . Peak services reach seven trains per hour in each direction, whilst off-peak services are four trains per hour. The station is one of the least used ones on the Transperth network, with just 259 boardings per day in October 2017. The shire council wanted the station to be named "Streich" after a well known local doctor, but the Western Australian Government Railways decided on "Challis", which came from the nearby Challis Primary School. The school was named after Challis Road, which was named after a family who had established an orchard in the area in the 1910s. Shelters were added in 1982–83.
Sherwood
Sherwood station is located between Challis station to the north and Armadale station to the south, within the suburb of Armadale. The station is 28.6 kilometres, or a 32-minute train journey, from Perth station. Plans to open two new stations within the large gap between Armadale and Kelmscott stations were completed by May 1973, and construction commencing soon afterwards. Sherwood station opened later that year, as did the adjacent Challis station. Sherwood was originally named Kingsley station after the nearby Kingsley Primary School. It was renamed on 27 July 1989 to avoid confusion with Kingsley in the northern suburbs of Perth. The name "Sherwood" comes from a nearby housing estate developed in the early 20th century. In 1982–83, shelters were built at the station.
Armadale
Armadale Station is located 30 kilometres from Perth station, serving the suburb of Armadale, Brookdale and Haynes. The original station opened on 2 May 1893 when the South Western Railway opened from Claisebrook to Pinjarra. As part of the electrification of the line in the early 1990s, a new station was built with the former signal box relocated to the Armadale Tourist Centre. On 6 November 2004 another new station opened.
On 15 July 1907 Armadale became a junction station when the Spearwood-Armadale line opened. This line closed on 23 January 1964. Armadale station is the terminus for Transperth Armadale Line services and a calling point for Transwa Australind services. Beyond the station is a turnaround siding.
Armadale is located just 40 minutes South East of the centre of Perth. Nestled amongst scenic parks, undulating hills and picturesque valleys, Armadale has a cultural heritage and a unique community feel. It is located on the south-eastern edge of Perth's metropolitan area at the major junction of the South Western and Albany Highways, which connect Perth with the South West and Great Southern regions of Western Australia respectively.
The old Byford railway station, shortly before its demolition
Byford
Construction of the South Western Railway reached the district in 1892. Some time later a stop bearing the name Beenup was established in the vicinity of the present day township. In 1957 a station was established on the line between Abernethy Road and Mead Street. After a long period of disuse, this station was demolished around 1990. The current Byford station is located just south of this. It is served by Transwa's twice daily Australind service from Perth to Bunbury.
The Byford rail extension project involves an 8km extension of the Armadale railway line from Armadale train station to the suburb of Byford. The project also includes the construction of a new street-level station in the Byford town centre and expansion of the Armadale station. The project also includes the removal of the Thomas Road level crossing with a road-over-rail bridge to pave the way for the construction of Byford Station. An additional seven level crossings are also being removed across the rail network.
The proposed Byford station will be built towards the south of Evans Way and approximately 400m north of Abernethy Road along George Street. It includes 600 parking bays, a bus interchange, and a pedestrian crossing over the rail line.
