User:Steelkamp/sandbox 3

History



 * 1877: Department of Works and Railways is formed.
 * 26 July 1879: Geraldton to Northampton railway line opens
 * 1 March 1881: Fremantle to Guildford railway line opens
 * 1890: Western Australian Government Railways is formed to replace the Department of Works and Railways.
 * 22 May 1893: Perth to Armadale line opens.
 * 1904: Midland Railway Workshops open.
 * 1937: First diesel railcar in Western Australia
 * 24 November 1947: First Australind service
 * 1954: Diesel-powered WAGR X class locomotives are commissioned
 * 28 November 1954: Diesel-powered WAGR ADG class railcars begins operating
 * January 1964: Government buys out the Midland Railway of Western Australia
 * 5 October 1968: Suburban train services are now entirely diesel operated
 * 22 November 1971: Prospector service to Kalgoorlie begins
 * 1974: Management of suburban services transferred from WAGR to the Metropolitan Transport Trust. WAGR is contracted to continue operating the services.
 * 19 September 1975: WAGR rebranded Westrail
 * The Shopper and Bunbury Belle services deleted
 * 12 November 1976: Westrail Centre (now the Public Transport Centre) officially opened
 * 1 September 1979: Fremantle line shutdown commences
 * 29 July 1983: Fremantle line shutdown ends
 * 31 August 1986: Metropolitan Transport Trust rebranded Transperth
 * 5 November 1987: New Australind trains
 * 1988: Announcement that the suburban network would be electrified
 * 1989: Announced that Joondalup line will be built
 * 14 November 1989: Joondalup line construction begins
 * 5 August 1990: Electric power for the suburban network switched on for the first time
 * September 1991: Electric trains begin running on suburban network
 * 20 December 1992: Joondalup line opened
 * 1993: Management of the suburban network transferred to the Department of Transport
 * March 1993: Extension from Joondalup to Currambine
 * 4 March 1994: Midland Railway Workshops are shut down
 * July 1998: Cabinet announces that Westrail's freight operations will be sold off/privatised
 * 17 December 2000: Freight operations sold to Australian Railroad Group
 * 28 May 2003: Transwa brand adopted
 * 1 July 2003: The Public Transport Authority is formed, superseding the Western Australian Government Railways Commission
 * 4 October 2004: Extension from Currambine to Clarkson opened and the Transperth B-series trains enter service
 * 23 December 2007: Mandurah line opened
 * 9 October 2022: Airport line opened

Privatisation
In July 1998, state cabinet approved the privatisation of Westrail's freight operations, and in May 2000, legislation authorising the privatisation was passed by parliament. In August 2000, four bidders had been shortlisted, and on 30 October 2000, it was announced that Australian Railroad Group (ARG), a joint venture between Wesfarmers and Genesee & Wyoming, was the winning bid. Under the agreement, Westrail's freight rolling stock, customer contracts, and brand were sold, alongside a 49-year lease of Westrail's freight rail network, at a total cost of $585 million. The deal was finalised on 17 December 2000, and on the following day, Westrail, which continued to run passenger trains, was rebranded as the Western Australian Government Railways Commission.

On 1 July 2003, the Public Transport Authority (PTA) was formed, replacing the WAGR Commission. The PTA also assumed management of bus services and ferry services from the Department for Planning and Infrastructure, making this the first time that a single agency has had responsibility for planning, constructing and running all public transport in Western Australia.

In February 2006, it was announced the below-rail portion of ARG, the subsidiary WestNet Rail, would be sold to Babcock & Brown, and the above-rail portion of ARG would be sold to Queensland Rail. Babcock & Brown Infrastructure was renamed Prime Infrastructure in October 2009, and in 2010, the company merged with Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. In August 2011, WestNet Rail was rebranded Brookfield Rail, and in July 2017, Brookfield Rail was rebranded as Arc Infrastructure.

The Queensland Government announced in December 2009 it would float the freight arm of Queensland Rail in 2010, spinning it off as a new company called QR National. The float occurred in November 2010, and in November 2012, QR National shareholders voted to rename the company Aurizon.

Infrastructure managers
Western Australia South West railway operators.png}} {{legend|#54b04a|Public Transport Authority}} {{legend|#000000|Australian Rail Track Corporation}} {{legend|#db1e2a|Other}}
 * alt=A map of the southern half of Western Australia showing the railways coloured by their owner/manager]]

The largest rail infrastructure manager in Western Australia is Arc Infrastructure, who have a long-term lease from the Public Transport Authority of the former WAGR freight network. The Arc Infrastructure network covers the majority of the currently-operating railway lines in the south-western quarter of Western Australia, with the exception of the Transperth network and a few small branches. The network extends as far east as Kalgoorlie, Leonora and Esperance, and as far north as Geraldton and Mullewa. The network is primarily used for grain and ore haulage. The Perth to Kalgoorlie standard gauge line also carries intermodal freight and passenger trains. The Arc Infrastructure network connects to ports at Geraldton, Fremantle, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance.

The other major rail infrastructure manager in the south-west quadrant is the state government-owned Public Transport Authority, which manages the Transperth suburban rail network. This is the only electrified network in Western Australia, and covers seven lines: the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah, Midland, and Thornlie lines. Public Transport Authority control extends as far as Mundijong junction on the Armadale line and Robbs Jetty station on the Fremantle line. The Public Transport Authority also owns several disused railways in the south-west which were not included in the Arc Infrastructure lease.

The federal government-owned Australian Rail Track Corporation owns and manages the Trans-Australian Railway, which connects to the Arc Infrastructure network at Kalgoorlie and is the only interstate connection on Western Australia's rail network.

Western Australia Pilbara railway operators.png}} {{legend|#ff7f00|BHP}} {{legend|#fdbf6f|Fortescue}} {{legend|#b2df8a|Roy Hill Holdings}}
 * alt=A map of the Pilbara showing the railways coloured by their owner/manager]]

In the Pilbara region, there are four privately owned and vertically integrated rail networks, which are exclusively used for hauling iron ore from mines to ports. Rio Tinto owns the Hamersley & Robe River railway, which is the longest of these networks, and goes from ports in Dampier and Cape Lambert to mines near Tom Price, Paraburdoo, and Newman. BHP owns the Goldsworthy and Mount Newman railways. The Goldsworthy railway has been mothballed since 2014, and goes from Port Hedland to Yarrie. The Mount Newman railway goes from Port Hedland to mines near Newman. Fortescue Metals Group owns the Fortescue railway, which goes from Port Hedland to mines inland. Hancock Prospecting owns the Roy Hill railway, which goes from Port Hedland to the Roy Hill mine. These railways were built to significantly higher standards to the rest of Australia's rail network.

Minor infrastructure managers include Karara Mining, Griffin Coal, the Pemberton Tramway Company and the Hotham Valley Tourist Railway. Karara Mining has had a 49-year lease on the 78 km Karara railway spur to the Karara mine near Morawa since 2012. Griffin Coal owns a 3 km spur to the Ewington mine near Collie.

Gauge
[[File:Western Australia South West railway track gauges.png|thumb|right|Track gauge in the southern half of Western Australia: {{legend|#db1e2a|Narrow gauge}} {{legend|#487bb6|Standard gauge}} {{legend|#54b04a|Dual gauge}}
 * alt=A map of the southern half of Western Australia showing the railways coloured by their gauge]]



The rail network in Western Australia was initially all narrow gauge. The Trans-Australian Railway, which opened in 1917 linking Kalgoorlie with South Australia, was originally built as a standard gauge railway, causing a break of gauge at Kalgoorlie. The isolated Pilbara railways were also all built as standard gauge railways.

As part of the gauge standardisation project, the Northam–Kalgoorlie, Esperance–Kalgoorlie and Leonora–Kalgoorlie railways were converted to standard gauge. The Perth–Northam railway was rerouted and rebuilt as a dual gauge railway, which allows the interstate standard gauge trains and intrastate narrow gauge trains to enter Perth on the same railway. The Kwinana freight railway was built as a dual gauge railway as well to allow freight to bypass the Perth suburban network on its way to and from Fremantle Harbour.

Electrification
The only electrified railways in Western Australia are the Transperth suburban railways in Perth. The total length of electrified railways in Western Australia is 189 km. Diesel-powered trains run on the rest of the network.

Operations
Western Australia has the following rail operators:
 * Aurizon
 * Pacific National
 * SCT Logistics
 * Watco
 * Intermodal Group
 * Rio Tinto
 * BHP
 * Fortescue Metals Group
 * Roy Hill Holdings
 * Mineral Resources Limited
 * Public Transport Authority
 * Transperth
 * Transwa
 * Journey Beyond

Intermodal


Intermodal Group and Watco run trains carrying intermodal containers between the North Quay of Fremantle Harbour and Kewdale Freight Terminal and Forrestfield marshalling yard, a distance of about 24 km. This service has a frequency of two or three trains per day. Aurizon runs trains carrying intermodal containers between the North Quay and Kwinana marshalling yard. This service has a frequency of one or two trains per day, five days per week. Each of these services is subsidised by the state government to reduce road congestion around Fremantle and increase the proportion of containers being moved by rail. In March 2022, the proportion of containers moved at Fremantle Harbour was 24.3 percent, higher than the state government's target of 20 percent.

Rail freight between Perth and the eastern states of Australia has the highest

Iron ore


Rio Tinto, BHP, Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill Holdings each operate iron ore trains on their own private networks in the Pilbara. Outside the Pilbara, Aurizon operates narrow-gauge iron ore trains to and from Geraldton Port under contract. Trains go to the Karara mine  and the town of Perenjori. Mineral Resources Limited operates standard-gauge trains between the Koolyanobbing mine and the Port of Esperance via Kalgoorlie.

Other


Aurizon operates a shuttle between the Port of Albany and the Mirrambeena siding, carrying woodchips under contract to the Albany Plantation Export Company. This train runs four times per day, four times per week.