Perth Suburban Rail System-3

RailWA

Perth Suburban Rail System-3

The Joondalup Line, this page covers the construction of the of the Perth to Currambine Railway. Nearly 10 years later it is now being extended northwards to Clarkson.

DB1584+DB1588 haul a ballast train over Scarborough Beach Road, Glendalough on 1 August 1992. Several DB's received the large logo Westrail livery in a positive public relations move as the Joondalup line runs for most of its distance in the centre of the Mitchell Freeway.

DB1588 propels the rail train the few metres to the current railhead at Warwick. The new rail/ bus interchange is well under construction in this photo on 10 August 1992.

Rail is pulled off of the rail train in the cutting just south of Joondalup Station on 10 September 1992.

DB1588+DB1584 haul the ballast train over the newly laid track featured in the photo above on 14 September 1992.

db1593, 1584warwick.jpeg

DB1593+1584 propel a ballast train south on 19 October 1992 through Warwick, during the construction of Perth's Northern Suburbs Railway

A1506 was utilised extensively on the rail distribution train however on 6 November 1992 it failed and had to be assisted by DB1593. The train is photographed in the area north of Ocean Reef Road now fully fenced.

By 21 November 1992 ballasting of the second line had reahed beyond Joondalup. DB1593+DB1584 haul the ballast train round the curve north of Joondalup Station.

Many believed a railway to the northern suburbs of Perth would never happen and that a busway was inevitable. Critics claimed it would not be popular and a white elephant, it goes to show that the critics get it wrong big time. A former pro road Transport Minister even went as far to state that the public were causing congestion on the line by using the trains and therefore the Government would incur more debt as it would have to order more railcars. I wonder why he did not use the same logic on road congestion.