Mandurah line
The Mandurah line, also known as the Southern Suburbs Railway or the South West Metropolitan Railway, is a suburban railway line and service in Western Australia, linking Perth's central business district with Mandurah to the south. Operated by the Public Transport Authority as part of the Transperth system, the Mandurah line is long and has thirteen stations. Running as a through service from the Yanchep line in the north, it includes two stations in the William Street tunnel under the CBD. The line continues south to the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway, where five of its stations are. The line diverges from the freeway for the southernmost six stations in the cities of Kwinana, Rockingham and Mandurah.
Early planning for the Mandurah line began in 1989 during planning for the Yanchep line. A route branching off the Armadale line at Kenwick to follow the Kwinana freight railway and Kwinana Freeway was selected in 1994, but after the election of a Labor government in 2001, the planned route was changed to go via a tunnel under the CBD instead. Built as part of the New MetroRail project, the Mandurah line was divided into seven major contract packages. It was designed similarly to the Yanchep line, using widely spaced stations with bus interchanges and large park-and-rides.
Construction began in February 2004; it was disrupted by labour strikes and technical issues, particularly on the CBD tunnel section. Originally planned to open between Perth and Warnbro station in 2006 and between Warnbro and Mandurah in 2007, the William Street tunnel opened on 15 October 2007 and the rest of the line opened on 23 December 2007. The total cost of New MetroRail was A$1.725billion. Two infill stations have since opened: Aubin Grove in April 2017 and Lakelands in June 2023. In June 2025, the Thornlie line was extended to Cockburn Central station on the Mandurah line, completing the Kenwick route planned before 2001.
B-series and C-series trains are the main rolling stock used on the Mandurah line, with A-series trains formerly common as well. Trains run at a fifteen minute headway, reducing to as low as a five minute headway in peak, with some services terminating at Cockburn Central during peak. The travel time from Perth to Mandurah is 54 minutes. Patronage has significantly exceeded expectations, reaching a high of 23,075,517 boardings in the 2024–25 financial year, making it the busiest Transperth railway line.
History
Route selection
In February 1989, ahead of the state election that year and amidst planning for the Northern Suburbs Railway, now known as the Yanchep line, the state government announced that it was investigating building a railway line to Rockingham or Mandurah. Later that year, the South West Rapid Transit Study was formed with a steering committee consisting of representatives from the Department of Transport, Main Roads Department, Department of Planning and Urban Development, Transperth, and Westrail. The committee released a report in 1990 outlining two route options: an extension of the Fremantle line or a branch off the Armadale line at Kenwick, both of which made use of freight rail corridors. The premier of Western Australia, Carmen Lawrence, announced in February 1992 that the Fremantle option had been chosen. By this stage, bus rapid transit had been ruled out. The South West Area Transit Steering Committee was formed to consider rail-based alternatives, such as light rail. The section between Fremantle and Rockingham was scheduled to open in 1996, with the Rockingham to Mandurah section opening five years later. Legislation to build the railway was introduced to the Parliament of Western Australia later that year. By January 1993, the SWAT Steering Committee had recommended to government that the rail line be an extension of the existing network, and not light rail.Independently of the SWAT Steering Committee, a direct route from Perth to Mandurah via Thomsons Lake was investigated by Westrail at the behest of the Department of Planning and Urban Development. The Kwinana Freeway's median strip south of the Narrows Bridge was considered too narrow compared to that of the Mitchell Freeway, where the Northern Suburbs Railway was constructed. An underground route from Perth to the Mount Henry Bridge was determined to cost about A$800million, which was considered too expensive.
Following the 1993 state election, the new Liberal government deferred the construction of the railway to Mandurah, but continued planning. The Kenwick route became the preferred option, as its travel time to Perth was faster than the Fremantle route. The Kenwick route was reserved in the Metropolitan Region Scheme in December 1994. Ahead of the 1996 state election, Labor leader Geoff Gallop committed to building a railway line from Fremantle to Rockingham within four years, which would be extended to Mandurah if Labor won a second term in government. Transport Minister Eric Charlton instead pledged that the line would branch off the Armadale line at Kenwick.
Kenwick route
In August 1997, the Liberal government commissioned a master plan for the Kenwick route. The South West Metropolitan Railway Master Plan was endorsed by Cabinet and released in March 1999. It outlined the route of the Mandurah line and the construction to occur. The length of new track was to be ; including the pre-existing track between Perth and Kenwick, the distance from Perth to Mandurah would have been. Commencing at Kenwick, the railway would run parallel to the Kwinana freight railway until the Glen Iris estate in Jandakot, then south along the Kwinana Freeway's median strip to Kwinana, then southwest through Kwinana, Rockingham and Mandurah along the alignment reserved in the Metropolitan Region Scheme. Three options were given for the railway's route through Rockingham. The total cost was forecast to be $941million, of which $629million was for the infrastructure and $312million was for rolling stock. The line was planned to open as far as Thomsons Lake in 2005, with an extension to Rockingham and Mandurah opening in 2006. To supplement the railway, two busways were to be built: along the Kwinana Freeway from Perth to the Murdoch Park 'n' Ride, and from Fremantle to Rockingham.Stations were planned at Thornlie, Nicholson Road, Canning Vale, South Lake, Thomsons Lake, Thomas Road, Leda, one or two stations in Rockingham, depending on the route selected, Waikiki, and Mandurah, with provision for additional intermediate stations in the future. Upgrades along the Armadale line would have been necessary due to short station spacing and level crossings. Lathlain and Welshpool stations were to be closed, and Carlisle and Victoria Park stations were to be rebuilt and relocated, in part to fill the gap left by the closure of Lathlain station. Perth, Oats Street, Queens Park and Beckenham stations were to be upgraded as well. Several road and pedestrian level crossings were to be grade separated. The new service was to operate as a through service with the Yanchep line, known at the time as the Joondalup line, due to the similar levels of patronage between the two lines, leaving the Armadale line to terminate at Perth station.
Three options for the railway's route through Rockingham were given in the master plan. Two options were via the Rockingham city centre, the first having a tunnel and the second having a tunnel, each with a station in the city centre and at Ennis Avenue. The third option was for the railway to run along Rockingham's outskirts, bypassing the city centre. This option had one station at Dixon Road. The costs for the three options were $143million, $107million and $31million respectively. The City of Rockingham was strongly in favour of the first two options, but trains travelling through Rockingham would take an additional five minutes for the first two options and demand modelling projected that patronage would be similar for all three options. Two weeks after the master plan was released, a task force was formed to meet with members of the Rockingham community and receive submissions. Out of nine thousand written submissions, ninety-three percent supported running the railway through the city centre. In October 2000, the state government announced that a route through the Rockingham city centre had been chosen.
Excluding Rockingham, three short tunnels were required for this route, which were constructed ahead of time. The two tunnels for the railway to enter and exit the Kwinana Freeway median strip, at Glen Iris and Anketell, were constructed for $30million as part of a project to upgrade and extend the freeway. The northbound freeway carriageway between Kwinana and Jandakot was also moved west so that there was space in the median strip for the railway line. In Kenwick, a tunnel was constructed as part of the extension of Roe Highway and realignment of Albany Highway. Between Warnbro and Mandurah, the line was planned to only have a single track, allowing for a maximum frequency of two trains per hour to Mandurah. The plan for that section was changed to double track in 2000 for an additional $20million.
State Parliament passed the Railway Bill in November 1999, authorising the construction of the railway to Mandurah and extension of the Joondalup line to Clarkson and Butler. A new master plan with revisions was released in April 2000, and June 2000, the South West Metropolitan Railway project and the Joondalup line extension to Clarkson were brought together into one project, known as the Perth Urban Rail Development Project. In October 2000, the funding arrangements were decided, which allowed for the planned opening date to be brought forward to 2004 for Kenwick to Thomsons Lake and 2005 for the full line to Mandurah. The privatisation of AlintaGas would provide $300million, a railcar lease would provide $398million, and the remaining $449million would be funded by government debt.