Joondalup railway line, Perth

The Joondalup Line, (incorrectly known as Currambine Line or Clarkson Line), is a suburban railway line in Perth, Australia. It runs through Perth’s northern suburbs, mostly traversing the median strip of the Mitchell Freeway, and connects between Perth and Clarkson.

History

The line, initially opened as the Joondalup Line, was completed on 20 December 1992 as a major capital works project started by the Dowding Labor government.cite web |url=http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/scripts/viewarticle.asp?NID=1823 |title=History at a Glance, 1976-2000 |accessdate=2007-06-05|publisher=Public Transport Authority] A realignment of the entire bus system was undertaken whereby the new train stations became bus interchanges. The extension to Currambine was completed in March 1993. Initially, service frequencies were similar to those for the Fremantle line as lower passenger numbers were anticipated, however overcrowding saw the doubling of services between Whitfords and Perth.

On 5 October 2004, the Clarkson extension, part of the Court government’s New MetroRail project, was opened to the public, connecting the far northern suburbs to the city for the first time. cite web|title=History at a Glance, 2001 to Present|url=http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/scripts/viewarticle.asp?NID=1824|publisher=Public Transport Authority|accessdate=2007-07-07] Previously, catching a bus to Joondalup which took approximately 30-40 minutes was the only option. The Nowergup railway depot was also built.

On 29 January, 2005, Greenwood was opened to alleviate pressure at the adjacent Whitfords and Warwick stations.

On 8 August 2005, the line, which previously ran through onto the Armadale line, was separated to the far western end of the Perth station, and no longer provided a through service.

On 15 October 2007, Joondalup line trains began running to Perth Underground and Esplanade stations via new tunnels under central Perth.

On 23 December 2007, the opening of the Mandurah Line saw the Joondalup and Mandurah lines form a north-south corridor, providing a through service from Clarkson to Mandurah.

Extensions

There are plans currently being prepared to extend the Joondalup Line northwards to Butler and Jindalee. [cite web|url=http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/scripts/viewarticle.asp?NID=2319|title=Preparations for Clarkson-Jindalee rail extension steps up|publisher=Public Transport Authority|date=2007-05-22|accessdate=2007-07-07] , and there are early plans of extending the line with another 3 stations northwards once the new suburb of Alkimos is built. [http://internet.landcorp.com.au/portal/page/portal/alkm1/features]

Train stations

Most of the trains operating on this line are Transperth B-series trains purchased for the Clarkson-Mandurah run, although some shuttle services (W pattern) between Whitfords and Cockburn Central are made up of Transperth A-series EMUs.

* Red denotes Perth CBD stations.
* Green denotes Joondalup line stations.
* Black denotes termini.

topping Patterns

* All - all stops to Clarkson.
* C - express to Stirling, then all stops to Clarkson.
* W - all stops except Greenwood to Whitfords.

ee also

* Transperth
* Transperth Trains
* List of Perth railway stations

References