The Joondalup train line in Perth has reached a significant milestone, with today marking 30 years of service.
Perth’s second busiest rail line opened on December 20, 1992 and was originally known as the Northern Suburbs Rail Link.
When it began operations in 1992, it was the first new passenger rail line to enter services in the metropolitan area in 100 years.
Construction on the project started in 1989 – after the then Government announced the rail line was the preferred mass transport solution for the rapidly growing area north of Perth, with the existing bus network to feed into the new line.
It was a project that changed the look of Perth. The Mitchell Freeway was widened to accommodate the rail reserve and seven new stations, and significant works were needed at Perth Station to link the new line to the city.
When the line opened, more than 700 passengers were on the first public train to leave Joondalup for Perth, becoming part of local transport history.
At the time, only the Joondalup, Edgewater and Leederville stations were completed. Construction continued on Glendalough, Stirling, Warwick, Whitfords and Currambine stations, which all opened in 1993.
More than 381 million boardings have been recorded on the Joondalup Line since it opened, and it is now the second busiest line on the Transperth network behind the Mandurah Line.
Three decades later the Joondalup Line continues to undergo significant transformation, with METRONET’s Yanchep Rail Extension project well under way to extend the line to Alkimos, Eglinton and Yanchep.
Transport minister Rita Saffioti said three decades on, the Government was delivering new transport infrastructure through the METRONET program, not only extending the Joondalup Line further north with the Yanchep Rail Extension, but also providing necessary rail links to other growing areas around Perth through the Morley-Ellenbrook Line, Thornlie-Cockburn Link and Byford Rail Extension.”
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