Eglinton railway station, Perth

Eglinton railway station is a suburban rail station on the Yanchep line in Eglinton, Western Australia. The station opened on 14 July 2024 as part of the Yanchep Rail Extension.

Description
Eglinton station is in Eglinton, a suburb of Perth in Western Australia. It is located south of Pipidinny Road and east of Marmion Avenue in an area undeveloped at the time of construction. The station is 46.7 km from Perth Underground station and is in fare zone five. The adjacent stations are Alkimos to the south and Yanchep to the north.

The station consists of two 150 m long side platforms sunk into a cutting. On top of the platforms is a ground level concourse, connected to the platforms by a set of lifts, stairs and escalators. It was designed this way to improve the experience of pedestrians, to lower the impact of noise, and to lower the visual impact. There are entrances on the west and east sides of the station, but only the west entrance will be open initially as the land on the east side has not yet been developed as of the station's opening. West of the station is the bus interchange with eight stands, and north-west is a car park with 436 bays. Other facilities include parking for bicycles and toilets. The station is fully accessible.

Public art
On the ceiling and entry screens are paintings of Grevillea preissii plants and western xenica butterflies by artist Ian Mutch. On the platform's retaining walls is a tiled artwork by Concreto representing Eglinton's "landscape through rhythmic colour sequences expressing the area’s natural environment".

History
The original stage of the Yanchep line, formerly known as the Joondalup line, began construction in November 1989. It was opened between Perth station and Joondalup station on 20 December 1992, and extended to Currambine station on 8 August 1993. An extension to Clarkson station opened on 4 October 2004 and an extension to Butler station opened on 21 September 2014.

To cater for continuous population growth in the northern suburbs of Perth, in 2017, the government initiated the Yanchep Rail Extension, an extension of the Joondalup line 14.5 km to Yanchep, with three new stations: Alkimos, Eglinton, and Yanchep. The Yanchep Rail Extension was part of the government's wider Metronet project to expand and upgrade Perth's rail network, and was delivered by the Public Transport Authority (PTA). The PTA chose to put the Yanchep Rail Extension under the same contract as the Thornlie–Cockburn Link. The contract for the Yanchep Rail Extension and the Thornlie–Cockburn Link was awarded to the NEWest Alliance, a joint venture of CPB Contractors and Downer.

Earthworks for the Yanchep Rail Extension began in mid-2020. The design of Eglinton station was revealed in August 2020. From August 2021 to April 2023, Pipidinny Road was closed to construct a bridge across the railway line and for the construction of Eglinton station. The closure was originally meant to take nine months, but it was extended due to "additional works to accommodate utility services, the widening of Pipidinny Road, and challenging ground conditions impeding bridge works". Foundation works for Eglinton station had begun by the end of 2021. By March 2024, the building's structure was complete, with work focussing on tiling and internal fit-out. Landscaping and the installation of public art was also underway.

Opening
The Yanchep Rail Extension was originally meant to open in late 2021. This was first delayed to 2022. After the September 2021 state budget, the extension was delayed to late 2023. After the May 2023 state budget, the government said that the Yanchep extension "is due for completion at the end of 2023, with services commencing in the new year". At the end of 2023, the Yanchep extension was still under construction and services were planned to commence in the first half of 2024. The actual opening date was revealed in April 2024. The station officially opened on 14 July 2024 with an opening ceremony and celebrations. Upon opening, the Joondalup line was renamed the Yanchep line. Regular train and bus services commenced the following day.

Services
Eglinton station is served by the Yanchep line on the Transperth network. Services are operated by the PTA. The line goes between Yanchep and Elizabeth Quay station in the Perth central business district, continuing south from there as the Mandurah line. Peak headways are five to ten minutes, dropping to fifteen minutes outside of peak and on weekends and public holidays. A train journey from Eglinton to Perth takes 46 minutes. It is projected that Eglinton station will have 4,792 boardings per day by 2031.

The bus network has five bus routes serving Eglinton station. Routes 491 and 492 run south to Alkimos station. These routes have peak headways of 10 minutes, lowering to 60 minute headways on weekends. Routes 494, 495 and 496 run north to Yanchep station. These routes have peak headways of 20 minutes, lowering to 60 minute headways on weekends.