A single Request for Proposal has been released for a contractor to deliver the Thornlie-Cockburn Link and Yanchep Rail Extension under the Metronet passenger rail program.
The Thornlie-Cockburn Link will connect Thornlie Station and Cockburn Station via 3 kilometres of duplicated track, and 14.5 kilometres of new passenger railway. The Yanchep Rail Extension will extend the Joondalup Line from Butler to Yanchep, in Perth’s north-west.
Both projects fall under the Metronet program, a WA Government program which has received federal funding.
Alan Tudge, the new federal minister for cities, urban infrastructure and population, joined WA’s transport minister Rita Saffioti to announce the RFP on September 9.
“The projects will bring together new rail infrastructure and new urban centres around stations to improve liveability and tackle congestion in Western Australia,” Tudge said.
Saffioti said combining the two projects into one RFP would “enable these community-boosting railway lines to be built quickly, efficiently and economically”.
She said both projects would transform the areas they travel through, “from under-utilised industrial or rural areas to bustling new urban centres with a host of residential and business opportunities”.
Shortlisted bidders will then be required to provide a detailed bid indicating how they plan to build the projects. A preferred bidder will be chosen in mid-2019.
The WA Government expects 3,000 jobs to be created during construction of the two projects.
“This will also likely be the first big contract delivered under the WA Jobs Law,” Saffioti added, “which will maximise the benefits of the projects to the state by delivering more local jobs for Western Australians.”