METRONET was the WA Government's headline transport election commitment at the 2017 state election. First proposed in 2013, the project will significantly expand Perth's current heavy rail network.
The 17.5-kilometre Thornlie to Cockburn Link (TCL)is the first section of the proposed METRONET Circle Line.
The project is expected to include:
- circa three kilometre rail duplication between Beckenham and Thornlie stations
- 14.5 kilometre rail extension to connect Thornlie and Cockburn Central stations
- relocation of circa 11 kilometres of freight lines, and
- new stations at Nicholson Road and Ranford Road, including park and ride facilities and bus interchanges.
The proposed Yanchep Rail Extension (YRE), a 14.5-kilometre Joondalup Line extension to Yanchep, will see three new stations built at Alkimos, Eglinton and Yanchep.
Key Dates
| Aug 2018 | RFP Open |
| Oct 2018 | RFP Close |
| Apr 2019 | Bidders Shortlisted |
| Nov 2019 | Preferred Bidder Selection |
| Dec 2019 | Contract Award |
| Mar 2020 | Construction Commencement |
| Jul 2024 | Operations/Service Commencement - YRE |
| Jul 2025 | Expected Operations/Service Commencement - TCL |
Funding contributions
| Federal Government | |
| WA Government |
Procurement
| Shortlist: | •METROconnex, comprising Coleman Rail, Clough and Georgiou Group, and •NEWest Alliance, comprising CPB Contractors and Downer. |
| Successful Tenderer: | NEWest Alliance |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Jul 2018 | At an industry briefing the WA Government announced the main works for the YRE and TCL projects will be delivered under a single competitive Alliance contract. Forward (early) works for each project will be delivered as a separate design and construct contracts. |
| Aug 2018 | The WA Government released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the alliance contract. |
| Nov 2018 | Infrastructure Australia (IA) released their evaluation of the business cases for each project, finding that TCL's benefits would 'marginally exceed its costs', while YRE's benefits would 'certainly exceed its costs'. As a result IA added TCL and YRE to their Infrastructure Priority List as a Priority Project and High Priority Project respectively. |
| Apr 2019 | WA Government announces two shortlisted contractors. |
| May 2019 | The EPA recommended first section of YRE, between Butler and Eglinton for environmental approval. The section section is being assessed by the EPA. |
| Jun 2019 | A tender for geotechnical groundwater investigation for both YRE and TCL was released, closing on 18 July. |
| Aug 2019 | The EPA recommended TCL for environmental approval. |
| Dec 2019 | The total cost of the project was revised to $1.25 billion. |
| Dec 2019 | Contract closed with NEWest Alliance. |
| May 2022 | The WA Government issued a Request for Tenders for the Professional engineering and and overhead line equipment engineering services contract, closing 14 June. |
| May 2023 | The WA Government allocated an additional $723 million to the TCL and YRE projects in the 2023-24 WA Budget, including $404 million to the TCL project and $319 million to the YRE. |
| Aug 2023 | The WA Government announced the closure of the Armadale Line from September with construction expected to be completed in this time. |
| Apr 2024 | The WA Government announced that passenger train services on the new Yanchep Rail Extension are expected to commence on Monday 15 July. The Government also confirmed the Thornlie to Cockburn Link is expected to be completed in mid-2025. |
| Jul 2024 | The WA Government announced service commencement on the new Yanchep Rail Extension line. |
Estimated Total Cost
(2023)
Sector
Rail
Procurement approach
Alliance |
Location
Western Australia |
National |
Resources
