Morley-Ellenbrook Line

[ozbob]

Roads and Infrastructure --> Major tender won on Morley-Ellenbrook Line, WA

The Western Australian Government has announced the successful company to lead engineering and planning for the Morley-Ellenbrook Line, part of the METRONET project.

Perth-based consultancy Arup has been chosen to work with the METRONET team to investigate and plan the early stages of the rail project.

The team will undertake the options analysis and design work required for the project, as part of developing a business case.

According to the state government, once the business case has been finalised and a preferred option is confirmed, work will begin to develop the concept designs to inform a final government investment decision, enabling the project to move into procurement and delivery.

The work undertaken will include route option analysis; preliminary land use investigations; planning and concept designs, including any grade separations, stations and surrounding precincts.

"Initial planning and early community consultation for the Morley-Ellenbrook Line have taken place, so we have now entered a far more detailed planning phase," Western Australian Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said in a statement.

"We recently revealed concept plans for the Bayswater Station upgrade, which will start construction next year and form the first stage of works for the Morley-Ellenbrook Line," she said.

"The awarding of these tenders will allow the project team to progress developing the necessary business cases for the proposed projects so Government can assess the best outcome for the community."

A tender for similar work on the Karnup Station project has also been awarded to GHD Pty Ltd.

The Western Australian Government said a tender for the new Midland Station and Midland Line Extension to Bellevue will also be awarded soon.

[Lungfish]

The Ellenbrook railway line has been promised by governments on either side for ten years, and has been an election issue in the past few elections. It is good to see things moving ahead.

The railway station at Karnup will service a fast growing area. This area is predominately housing, with residents traveling in to Rockingham or Perth for employment. At present this is difficult to do other than by car.
In conjunction with the building of the station, the bus routes around Golden Bay, Secret Harbour and Singleton should be revised. The routes should be reconfigured to feeder bus services for the station.

[Lungfish]

Ellenbrook train debate follows eerily similar track to Mandurah railway line -> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-22/ellenbrook-train-line-following-mandurah-railway-debate/9682162?WT.ac=statenews_wa

When the WA Labor Government of the early 2000s started building a passenger railway through large stretches of undeveloped land all the way from Perth to Mandurah, plenty of opponents questioned why.

Of course, most would now see the criticisms of the Mandurah line project from 10 to 15 years ago as wide of the mark — at least with the benefit of hindsight.

It is now Perth's most used rail line, with its 20 million boardings each year putting it well ahead of the second placed Joondalup service, and has served as a vital link into the city for those in a stretch of suburbia which grew rapidly

A decade and a half later, the transport debate being had is eerily similar to the one had about the Mandurah line — but this time about the projected $863 million Ellenbrook rail project.

Just like before, a Labor Government wants to spend a large sum of money on a railway to a growing — but still not-fully-developed — area on the outskirts of Perth.

And, just as before, elements of the Liberal Party believe the expected substantial cost is unjustified because the population on that corridor cannot sustain a train line.