Tenders for Perth Metronet Armadale to Byford extension released

The Western Australia Government is seeking expressions of interest from a range of parties to undertake economic analysis and support business case preparation for the extension of the Armadale railway line to Byford which will possibly over the long term be further extended to Mundijong.

Expressions of interest are also being sought for engineering and land-use planning consultants who will undertake further work to inform the business case preparation.

The planning and engineering consultants will study the best station location and design options, potential land uses surrounding the station precincts as well as rail alignment design work, traffic and access analysis and creating a vision for how the extension will integrate with surrounding precincts.

The WA Government secured $750 million from the Federal Government to be used for projects under development and the Byford extension project also received $21 million in state government funding.

The WA Premier, Mark McGowan, said his government was getting on with their election commitment to move forward with its Metronet plan for metropolitan Perth.

"The Byford extension is a key component of Metronet stage one because it will link one of our fastest growing areas to the rest of our public transport system, providing access to jobs, schools, the airport and the CBD," the WA Premier said.

Meanwhile, in late May the WA Government announced a partnership between the Department of Communities and Peet Brabham will be formed to see a new town centre and housing development occur along the Morley-Ellenbrook line.

The Morley-Ellenbrook line will be a greenfields railway that will branch off the from the Airport & Midland lines near Bayswater and it will travel northwards to Ellenbrook.

The partnership announced by the WA Government is expected to construct 3000 homes as well as schools, retail and recreational facilities close to the proposed Whiteman Park train station - about halfway along the proposed Morley-Ellenbrook line.

WA Housing Minister Peter Tinley said "Brabham will be a major transport oriented development linking the Swan Valley to Perth, and provide a significant boost to the State's stock of affordable housing in Perth".

Metronet is a WA Government program that will see multiple rail extensions and new lines across Perth including the new Airport & Forrestfield link, the Morley-Ellenbrook line, the Byford extension and the Thornlie-Cockburn link which will create an outer eastern and south-eastern orbital rail line in metropolitan Perth.

The program also includes station upgrades, an upgrade to the rail system's signalling system and level crossing removals.

Lead image credit: Wikipedia.