This was published 8 months ago
Saffioti ‘nervous’ but optimistic as trains stop rolling to one-fifth of Perth
A “nervous” Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said roads in Perth’s south-east and the substitute bus network replacing the Armadale train line were holding steady on the first morning of its 18-month shutdown.
About 10,000 Armadale line commuters were forced to take rail replacement buses, find their way to the Mandurah line, or work from home from Monday morning as $1.85 billion worth of work began on the 130-year-old line.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti (centre) with Energy Minister Bill Johnston (left) and south east Labor MPs Hugh Jones, Chris Tallentire, Stephen Price and Matthew Swinbourne at the Mint Street level crossing.Credit: Hamish Hastie
This masthead travelled the route by car from Gosnells Train Station to the city during peak hour on Monday morning, and observed most rail replacement stops had between 10 and 15 commuters waiting for the 907 bus to take them into the city.
On the roads, Albany Highway was heavy with traffic through Cannington, but traffic flowed well on Shepparton Road through Carlisle, Lathlain and Victoria Park, where the road has been altered with new bus lanes and dividers to prevent cars from banking up behind people turning in to side streets.
Saffioti said by about 8.30am new technology to prioritise the roughly 100 extra rail replacement buses at about 40 traffic lights along Albany Highway and Shepperton Road had been triggered 108 times.
She said the traffic count was about 8 per cent higher than pre-shutdown levels, but conceded she was nervous about the shutdown.
“I’m anxious because I want things to go well and so of course I feel for the West Australian public, I put myself in their shoes, we try and deliver what we set out to do,” Saffioti said.
“I don’t like when things don’t go well.
“I’m very focused, and the whole team has been very focused on making it work, we understand this is the biggest project across the network ever.”
The project will see the train line extended from the Armadale line to Byford, 13 level crossings removed, and 5.5 kilometres of rail line between Beckenham and Victoria Park elevated.
It is slated to be completed by the middle of 2025 and Saffioti gave her strongest guarantee yet that that date would be met.
“I’m 100 per cent confident. We have done a lot of work off-site,” she said.
“There’s some people who will always want you to fail, but my feedback and the feedback from the local members is that the vast majority [of residents] like seeing things happening in this corridor.
“This is a corridor that hasn’t got infrastructure in the past. If it wasn’t for us, these boom gates would be staying here for decades to come.”
Saffioti revealed about 18,000 residents in Perth’s south-east had taken the government up on its free public transport offer, which will run for six months and save them about $1300 annually.
Did you catch the rail replacement bus on Monday, or do you live in the south-eastern suburbs and have an opinion about the Armadale line shutdown? Get in touch with the journalist: hamish.hastie@watoday.com.au
Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter.