Rail transport in Western Australia

Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and a number of private companies. Today passenger rail services are controlled by the Public Transport Authority (a department of the Government of Western Australia) through Transperth, which operates public transport in Perth, and Transwa, which operates country passenger services. Great Southern Rail operates the Indian Pacific.

NR class hauled Indian Pacific departs Perth passing a narrow gauge Transperth suburban train to the left, both trains are on dual gauge track

The interstate standard gauge line east from Kalgoorlie is owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation, with most other lines leased by the state to Arc Infrastructure.[1]

Freight rail was privatised in 2000. General intrastate freight is mainly operated by Aurizon, while grain traffic is operated by Watco under contract to the CBH Group. Interstate traffic is operated by Pacific National and SCT Logistics. A number of private iron ore haulage railways also operate in the Pilbara region of the state.

History
The locomotive Ballarat in the sand at Wonnerup, 1921. Reputed to be the oldest in Western Australia, the engine now sits in St Marys Park, Busselton.
Railway construction circa 1926, Western Australia
Modern S class diesel locomotive on a bauxite train at Wellard.
Australian Railroad Group 1600 class locomotives at Forrestfield.
Transwa Australind at Claisebrook station

The Western Australian lines developed in narrow 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge from Fremantle (the port of Perth), Geraldton, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance, mainly for carrying grain and minerals, with the private Midland Railway Company and Great Southern Railway adding 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge lines in the Wheatbelt with the support of land grants.

In 1907, the standard-gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta, South Australia to Kalgoorlie was authorised. Construction started in 1912, and it was completed in 1917. It was run by the Commonwealth Railways. In the 1960s standard (1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)) gauge lines penetrated to Perth and Esperance and long distance heavy-haul railways were built in the Pilbara region by major iron mining companies, particularly BHP and Hamersley Iron. The Perth suburban lines were electrified and extended.

Government railways were controlled by the Department of Works and Railways from 1877.[2]

The department became Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) in 1890. WAGR became Westrail in 1975 and continued to manage both passenger and freight rail services in Western Australia until 2000, when the freight business was sold to the Australian Railroad Group who operated it under the Australian Western Railroad brand.[2] This business was purchased by Queensland Rail in 2006 and rebranded Aurizon in 2013.[3] Westrail’s freight rail lines were leased to WestNet Rail, another subsidiary of the Australian Railroad Group.[4][5] This business was acquired by Babcock & Brown in 2006 and sold again in 2010 to Brookfield Asset Management and rebranded Brookfield Rail.[6][7][8][9] In July 2017 it was again rebranded as Arc Infrastructure.[10][11]

The WAGR's remaining functions, including owning the rail network and operating regional passenger services were transferred to the Western Australian Government Railways Commission.[12][13] On 1 January 2003, the commission's functions were absorbed by the Public Transport Authority with passenger services operated under the Transwa brand.[14]

Timeline

First lines

Private railways for carrying timber were built south of Perth from Lockville (just north of Busselton) to Yoganup in 1871, and from Rockingham to Jarrahdale soon after.

The first government railway in the State was a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge line between Geraldton and Northampton and was opened in 1879 to transport lead and copper to port. It closed in 1957.

The WAGR opened the Eastern line from Fremantle to Perth and Guildford in 1881. It was extended to Chidlow in 1884, York in 1885 and Beverley in 1886. Branch lines were built to Belmont, Northam and Toodyay by 1888.

Southern lines
See also: South Western Railway, Western Australia and Great Southern Railway (Western Australia)

The Beverley line was extended to Albany in 1889 by the Great Southern Railway, which was taken over by WAGR in 1896. The South Western Railway was built from Perth to Bunbury in 1893, with branches to Collie, Flinders Bay and Northcliffe.

Northern lines

The Midland Railway Company opened a line from Midland Junction to Walkaway in 1894, where it met the WAGR line from Geraldton opened in 1887. It was acquired by the WAGR in 1964.

Goldfields line

The Northam line was extended to Southern Cross in 1894 and Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in 1896. This line connected with the standard gauge Trans-Australian Railway to eastern Australia in 1917 at a break-of-gauge. The replacement standard gauge line opened in 1968.

Timber lines
See also: Timber railway lines of Western Australia

Wheatbelt branch lines
Further information: Wheatbelt railway lines of Western Australia

Isolated branch lines

The Western Australian Government Railways had two isolated branches:

The isolated Marble Bar Railway was opened in July 1911. The last train to run out of Port Hedland operated on 25 October 1951, with the railway closed on 31 October 1951.

The Hopetoun to Ravensthorpe railway was an isolated branch opened on 3 June 1909, and closed on 23 February 1935. The Hopetoun jetty line was handed over to the Harbour and Light Department on 1 January 1936. It was officially closed on 13 January 1946.

Operations

Perth suburban network
Transperth B-series train at McIver station
Main article: Transperth Trains

Regional passenger

Transwa controls public transport services outside of Perth, including passenger services from Perth to Kalgoorlie, Northam and Bunbury. These trains are named the Prospector, AvonLink, and Australind.[15]

Great Southern Rail operates the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide and Sydney.[16]

Pilbara iron ore lines
A loaded BHP Billiton Iron Ore train at Boodarie, near Port Hedland. An FMG iron ore train is just visible in the background at right.
Main article: Pilbara Railways

Four isolated heavy duty railways for the cartage of iron ore in the Pilbara region have always been private concerns operated as part of the production line between mine and port. These lines have pushed the limit of the wheel to rail interface which has led to much useful research of value to railways worldwide.

In April 2008, Fortescue Metals Group opened the Fortescue railway from Cloud Break mine to Port Hedland.[17] In 2016, Hancock Prospecting opened a line from Roy Hill.[18][19]

Another iron ore line has been proposed to the port of Oakajee, this will have open access to any iron ore mine wishing to use it. A dual gauge network based on the new Oakajee Port north of Geraldton has been proposed by the Department of Transport.[20]

In 2010, Rio Tinto announced plans to expand capacity on the railway line linking its iron ore mines to Dampier; this would increase capacity to 230 million tonnes per year, to meet increasing demand for iron ore.[21]

The railway lines are:

See also

References
  1. "Background - Organisation of Australia's Railways". Department of Transport and Regional Services. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  2. "Railways in Western Australia". www.pta.wa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 21 May 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
  3. QR closes national rail freight deal QR National 2 June 2006
  4. "Australian Railroad Group buys Westrail freight" Railway Digest December 2000 page 23
  5. "G&W wins Westrail Freight" Railway Gazette International volume 156 issue 12 December 2000 page 788
  6. Sale of Australian Railroad Group Wesfarmers 14 February 2006
  7. "Intelligence" Railway Gazette International volume 162 issue 7 July 2006 page 380
  8. Westnet Rail to become Brookfield Rail Brookfield Australia 17 August 2011
  9. "News in Brief" Railway Gazette International volume 167 issue 9 September 2011 page 11
  10. We are now Arc Infrastructure Arc Infrastructure 11 July 2017
  11. Brookfield Rail to become Arc Infrastructure Railway Gazette International 17 July 2017
  12. Annual Report June 2002 Western Australian Government Railways Commission
  13. "After Westrail Sell-Off, It's Back to the Future with WAGR" Railway Digest February 2001
  14. "AU WA A1192 - Public Transport Authority". State Records Office of WA. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  15. About us Transwa
  16. The Indian Pacific Great Southern Rail
  17. Fortescue opens the world's heaviest haul railway Railway Gazette International 14 July 2008
  18. Rail Roy Hill
  19. Pilbara's heavryweight champion flexes its muscles International Railway Journal 3 November 2015
  20. Oakjee Port and Rail Project Department of Transport
  21. "Rio Tinto to boost Pilbara capacity - International Railway Journal". 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 30 September 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2010.

Further reading
  • Affleck, Fred N. On track : the making of Westrail, 1950 to 1976 . Perth : Westrail, 1978. ISBN 0-7244-7560-5
  • Joyce, John; Tilley, Allan (1980). Railways in the Pilbara (2nd ed.). Wembley, WA: J & A Publications. ISBN 0959969926. OCLC 222691305.
  • May, Andrew and Gray, Bill. A History of WAGR Passenger Carriages. Perth:The Author, 2006. ISBN 0-646-45902-3
  • Quinlan, Howard & Newland, John R. Australian Railway Routes 1854-2000 2000. ISBN 0-909650-49-7
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