The long-awaited railway extension from Butler to Yanchep finally has an opening date, years after initially promised and at twice the cost.
Trains on the Metronet project — which includes stations at Alkimos, Eglinton and Yanchep — will start running on July 15.
Passengers will be able to travel from Yanchep to Perth in 49 minutes and the Joondalup line will be renamed the Yanchep line.
The 14.5km of new rail line was budgeted at $531.7 million with an expected opening of late 2021.
The cost has since more than doubled to $1.08 billion.
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Transport Minister Rita Saffioti while announcing the opening date on Tuesday said the blowout was due to escalating construction costs, the challenge of building through COVID and “scope change” due to environmental requirements.
“There’s a lot of increased costs in both construction and other key components,” Ms Saffioti said.
“This project was exposed probably to the highest cost pressures, because of the time it was being constructed.”
Ms Saffioti said the line, along with capped train fares, means people on the northern outskirts of Perth will be able to travel to Perth or the airport, with a SmartRider, for less than $5.
“That’s an incredible outcome. A key aspect of what we’re doing is delivering world class infrastructure to the suburbs at an affordable rate,” she said.
The extension also includes nine road overrail bridges, three “fauna” bridges and one underpass for wildlife that were mandated by the Environmental Protection Authority and 2000 car bays at the three stations.
Ms Saffioti said the daily patronage for the three stations was expected to be more than 13,000 from 2031 and “thousands” from the first day of operations.
“This corridor is the fastest growing corridor in the State. We’re seeing thousands of people moving into this area and one of the key reasons is the infrastructure that we have delivered,” she said.
“Land availability and housing affordability is a big issue for Western Australians, but what we’re doing here is creating the infrastructure to allow people to buy into this area and, from day one, have world class infrastructure.
“This is all about making sure we build the train line and the train stations as the suburbs grow, and not waiting 40 or 50 years and trying to retrofit.”
A community open day will be held on July 14 for the public to see the new stations.
