Joondalup railway line


The Joondalup railway line is a hybrid suburban rail and rapid transit railway line in Western Australia that runs from Perth north to Butler. It was formerly known as the Northern Suburbs Railway. For much of its route, it traverses the median strip of the Mitchell Freeway.

History

On 14 November 1989, construction commenced on the line with Premier Peter Dowding driving the first spike. The line to Joondalup was opened by Premier Carmen Lawrence on 20 December 1992. Initially only Leederville, Edgewater and Joondalup stations were opened with the remaining stations opened as completed for a full service to commence on 21 March 1993. A realignment of the entire Transperth bus system was undertaken whereby the new railway stations became bus interchanges. On, the line was extended to Currambine.
Initially, service frequencies were similar to those for the Fremantle line as lower passenger numbers were anticipated; however, overcrowding saw the doubling of services between Perth and Whitfords on weekdays. Services were reverted to Fremantle line frequencies between 09:00 and 14:00 on 28 June 2009 due to low passenger numbers on those services.
On 4 October 2004, the line was extended to Clarkson as part of the New MetroRail project. Nowergup depot opened at the same time. On 29 January 2005, Greenwood was opened to alleviate pressure at the adjacent Warwick and Whitfords stations.
On 8 August 2005, the service, which previously continued south from Perth station onto the Armadale line, was curtailed at Perth and no longer provided a through service. On 15 October 2007, Joondalup line trains began running to Perth Underground and Elizabeth Quay stations via new tunnels under central Perth.
On 23 December 2007, the opening of the Mandurah line resulted in Joondalup services operating through to Mandurah. On 21 September 2014, the line was extended to Butler.

Patronage

Below is the annual patronage of Joondalup railway line from 2010–2011 financial year. Figures are provided as total boardings, which includes all fare-paying boardings and free travel on stations within the free transit zones as well as transfers between stations. The figures for rail replacement and special events services are not included in the total.




Stations

Services are operated by B-series trains, with services previously being operated by A-series trains.

Disused stopping patterns

There are plans to extend the line by to the rapidly growing far northern suburbs with stations planned for Alkimos, Eglinton and Yanchep. In the 2017 WA state budget, $441 million was allocated to build the extension, with preparation works starting in January 2020 and bulk earthworks to start by April 2020. When the extension opens, a journey time of 49 minutes is envisioned from Yanchep to the CBD, with up to 13,500 people expected to use the line every day.
In 2019, there were renewed proposals for a special events station at the Joondalup Arena sporting facility due to a large number of events being held there.