Armadale line

The Armadale line is a suburban railway service in Perth, Western Australia, operated by the Public Transport Authority as part of the Transperth system. The Armadale line is 30.4 km long, and starts at Perth station, heading south-east of there to serve Perth's south-eastern suburbs, terminating at Armadale station.

The Armadale line originated from suburban services along the South Western Railway in the 1890s. Suburban services were extended over the first half of the 20th century to eventually reach Armadale station. Diesel services commenced in 1954, which allowed for more stations to open closer together. Electrification occurred in the early 1990s, and in 2005, the Thornlie line opened as a branch of the Armadale line south of Beckenham. Starting on 20 November 2023, the Armadale line between Victoria Park and Armadale stations will be shut down for 18 months to complete the Victoria Park-Canning Level Crossing Removal Project and an extension south to Byford station. The line is expected to re-open in mid 2025.

Before the shutdown, Armadale line services ran at four trains per hour during the day, rising to seven trains per hour during peak. Armadale line trains typically stopped at all stations between Armadale and Cannington and skipped most stations between Cannington and Perth, with the exception of Oats Street, Claisebrook, and McIver stations. Thornlie line trains instead stopped at all stations between Cannington and Perth. Transperth A-series trains are mainly used. The Armadale and Thornlie lines received 6,626,803 boardings in the 2022–23 financial year.

History
The South Western Railway between Perth and Pinjarra, Western Australia, opened on 22 May 1893. An extension south to Bunbury opened on 22 August 1893. Services were operated by the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR). Initially, the railway saw limited passenger service; passenger cars were joined to freight trains. Suburban service did not exist at first, with trains going all the way to Bunbury. By 1900, there were three daily suburban return services from Perth to Cannington, with Kelmscott and Armadale considered to be country towns, which were served by the daily train to and from Bunbury. By 1906, there were suburban services along the South Western Railway as far as Maddington. Seaforth station opened on 4 May 1948 as the line's first new station in several decades.

Diesel railcars, starting with the WAGR ADG class, were introduced in 1954. These trains could manage closer stations than steam trains, so three new stations opened on 28 November 1954: Oats Street, Higham (now Beckenham), and Stokely (now closed) stations. By 1954, suburban services ran as far as Armadale station. As the Armadale line was not as busy as the Fremantle and Midland lines, the Armadale line had a train every 40 minutes, as opposed to the other lines, which had trains every 20 minutes.

Suburban development in Perth's southeast corridor rapidly increased following the adoption of the Metropolitan Region Scheme in 1961 and the Corridor Plan for Perth in 1970. Kingsley (now Sherwood) and Challis stations both opened in 1973 between Kelmscott and Armadale stations. Only upon the 1979 closure of the Fremantle line was there enough rolling stock for Armadale line services to reach the frequency of Midland line services. On 2 July 1980, a redeveloped Kelmscott station opened, with a bus interchange on the station platform. This was an early example of a bus-train interchange that would become commonplace on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines that were constructed later.

Transperth was adopted as the Metropolitan Transport Trust's trading name in 1986. The Armadale line was electrified in the early 1990s, with the electric Transperth A-series trains entering service in September 1991. Stokely station was closed on 16 April 1989 as it was the Armadale line's least used station and it was close to Maddington station. Closing Lathlain station was proposed as well, but it remained open during electrification. In 2003, the Public Transport Authority was formed to take over from WAGR and the Department of Transport. Between 21 March 1993 and 8 August 2005, trains on the Armadale line continued through Perth to the Joondalup line.

New MetroRail


As part of New MetroRail in the 2000s, Carlisle and Victoria Park stations were upgraded, Lathlain station was closed on 3 February 2003, and the Miller Street bridge in Lathlain and the Gerard Street bridge in East Cannington were built to replace level crossings. The Thornlie line, a spur of the Armadale line south of Beckenham station was also constructed. This opened on 7 August 2005. A reconstructed Armadale station opened on 6 November 2004 and the new and relocated Victoria Park station open on 2 August 2008.

Perth Stadium station
Belmont Park station closed on 13 October 2013 to be replaced by Perth Stadium station, which opened on 2 December 2017 to serve Perth Stadium (known under sponsorship reasons as Optus Stadium). The station has six platforms and only operates during events at the stadium and on weekends. Express services from the Fremantle and Joondalup lines also serve Perth Stadium station using the Armadale line tracks.

Metronet
As part of Metronet, the Victoria Park-Canning Level Crossing Removal Project will elevate the Armadale line along sections between Victoria Park and Beckenham. Five stations will be rebuilt: Carlisle, Oats Street, Queens Park, Cannington, and Beckenham stations, Welshpool station has been permanently closed, and six level crossings were removed. Also occurring as part of Metronet is an extension of the Armadale line south to Byford.

In February 2022, it was announced that an 18-month-long shutdown of the Armadale line would have to occur to construct the Victoria Park-Canning Level Crossing Removal Project and the Byford extension. This shutdown was initially planned to begin in early-2023,  but was delayed in August 2022 to late-2023. The shutdown, which closed the line between Victoria Park and Armadale stations, commenced on 20 November 2023 and is expected to end by mid-2025.

The currently-budgeted cost for the Byford extension is $797 million, and the currently-budgeted cost for the Victoria Park-Canning Level Crossing Removal Project is $1.047 billion.

Description
The Armadale line uses narrow gauge track and has a maximum speed of 100 km/h. Trains are powered by overhead line equipment which is powered by substations in Beckenham and East Perth.

The Armadale line uses fixed block signalling. As part of Metronet's High Capacity Signalling Project, the Transperth rail network will be upgraded to moving block signalling using communications-based train control (CBTC). As of 2021, the CBTC system is planned to be implemented on the Armadale and Thornlie lines by June 2031.

Service
Trains operate between Perth and Victoria Park stopping at all stations, except Perth Stadium on weekends and event days only. Services operate at a 7.5 minute frequency during the day, and every 15 minutes at night. Train services on the rest of the line will resume in 2025 when the Armadale Line Shutdown is completed.

Transperth train services are operated by the PTA's Transperth Train Operations division. Before the start of the shutdown, Armadale line trains operated at four trains per hour during the day, rising to seven trains per hour during peak. At night, frequencies reduced to every half an hour, and every hour late at night. Armadale line trains typically stopped at all stations between Armadale and Cannington and skipped most stations between Cannington and Perth, with the exception of Oats Street, Claisebrook, and McIver stations. Thornlie line trains instead stopped at all stations between Cannington and Perth. Armadale line trains only stopped at all stations on Sundays when Thornlie line trains were less frequent, and late at night when Thornlie line trains do not operate. Operating hours were from roughly 5:00 am to 1:00 am, extending to 3:00 am on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Rolling stock


The Armadale line is served primarily by Transperth A-series trains, with Transperth B-series trains occasionally used as well. By 2031, it is planned that all A-series trains will be retired, leaving the Armadale line to be served primarily by B-series trains. The A-series trains were built between 1991 and 1999 and consist of two cars which are usually joined together to form four car trains. Each car has two doors on each side. The B-series trains were built between 2004 and 2019, consist of three cars each and have two doors on the side of each car. These trains are all primarily stored at Claisebrook depot.

Patronage
The Armadale and Thornlie lines combined are the third most patronised Transperth lines, after the Mandurah line and the Joondalup line. The two lines combined received 6,626,803 boardings in the year to June 2023.