The Western Australian Government has announced a delay to the reopening of a large section of the Armadale train line in Perth’s south-east.
The line, which has been shut since November 20, 2023, was due to reopen in mid-2025.
Upgrades and extension work has since been underway as part of the government’s Metronet project.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has said only the inner section of the line will open on June 9, including the elevated stations at Carlisle, Oats Street, Queens Park, Cannington and Beckenham.
She told ABC that there were “construction issues” and the government had hoped to make up the time lost, but unfortunately this hasn’t eventuated.
The rest of the Armadale Line will reopen “a few months later”, when the elevated Armadale and Byford Stations are finished.
This will include the reopening of stations at Sherwood, Challis, Kelmscott, Seaforth, Gosnells, Maddington and Kenwick.
When the line reopens, Saffoti said it will be a “complete game changer” for the public transport network.
“We’re going to connect tens of thousands of people to our world class rail network for the first time and deliver a major boost to the capacity and resilience of our network,” she said.
Commuters affected by the delayed reopening will continue to receive free public transport on replacement bus services.
Perth’s long-awaited first east-west connection, the Thornlie-Cockburn link, will also open on June 9.
The Mandurah and Armadale Lines will be linked for the first time, providing direct access to Optus Stadium from the Mandurah Line.
The $1.3 billion project will also provide two new stations at Nicholson Road and Ranford Road, along with upgrades to Thornlie, Cockburn Central and Perth Stadium stations.