Morley-Ellenbrook Line

The Business Case, identifying the confirmed alignment as the best option for a train line to Ellenbrook, was endorsed by Cabinet and submitted to Infrastructure Australia in November last year. The project team are now working on the project definition plan, which outlines the technical scope and detail for the project

As part of the planning process, more than 100 options were considered before being narrowed down to the final preferred option. Each option was assessed against project objectives and key criteria such as community benefit and opportunities, community and environmental impacts, development opportunities and rail operations as well as value for money and operating costs.

A large portion of the train line will sit within existing road reserves and transit corridors. However as with most major public infrastructure initiatives, some land acquisition of private property may be required to deliver the project, this will be confirmed by ongoing design work. Should land acquisition be required, any affected landowners will be contacted directly and the valuation and land acquisition process explained in detail.

Not as part of this project. However, the transit reserve does extend through the northern part of Ellenbrook. Design of the Morley-Ellenbrook Line will ensure any future extension is not precluded- but this will be subject to future planning and consideration by Government.

The train line and Ellenbrook Station will be built within an existing transit corridor that was reserved as part of the development plan for Ellenbrook in the early 1990’s. The transit corridor sits between the college buildings and the oval. The Swan Christian Education Association was aware of the corridor when they purchased the land for the school. The METRONET Office has been working closely with the school as part of the planning process and will continue to work with them, together with the PTA and construction contractor, to minimise impacts as much as possible.

This option was considered in the early planning phase, however having the line in this location would not adequately service the growing suburbs on the eastern side of Whiteman Park such as Henley Brook, Dayton, Brabham and West Swan.

The stations will be located above ground due to the high water table along the alignment. Work is being undertaken to consider how development can best integrate with the stations including building up the surrounding land or elevating rail to reduce segregation.

The Bennett Springs community will be serviced by Malaga Station. Future proofing along the alignment will allow for an additional station at Bennett Springs East to be built as the surrounding rural area is further developed.

The station names are current working names based on location. These will need to be reviewed by the Geographic Naming Committee before being confirmed. At this point, alternatives, including appropriate Noongar names, will be considered.

The project team are continuing with detailed design and working on the project definition plan which outlines the technical scope and detail for the project.  We expect industry engagement to start before the end of the year.

The train journey from Ellenbrook to Bayswater is estimated to be 18 minutes.  From there, passengers will have the choice of travelling onto Perth Airport (seven minutes), Midland (13 minutes), the Perth CBD (12 minutes) and beyond. The journey between each station on the Morley-Ellenbrook Line will be between three and five minutes.

This level of detail is not yet finalised. Station access including parking, feeder bus services, cycling and walking will be considered as part of the design process.

The MEL project is likely to require environmental approvals under the State Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act) and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

This project is required to comply with noise regulations as outlined in State Planning Policy 5.4 - Road and rail noise (SPP5.4). Early modelling is currently underway along the proposed alignment and will be finalised once the project design is confirmed. This will help inform what will be the most effective way to reduce noise from the railway and ensure compliance with SPP5.4 once the line is operational.

Fares for passengers using the Morley-Ellenbrook Line will be in line with the existing Transperth zones. Passengers travelling into the CBD from Morley, Noranda, Malaga or Whiteman Park stations will need to pay a two-zone fare, while passengers travelling from Ellenbrook to the CBD will pay a three-zone fare. 

Ellenbrook passengers travelling to Midland or Forrestfield stations will be charged a two-zone fare as long as they don’t tag off and on again while transferring trains at Bayswater, while passengers from Morley, Noranda, Malaga and Whiteman Park stations doing the same will be charged a two-zone fare.

In addition to fauna studies as part of this project, kangaroo monitoring will take place within Whiteman Park to ensure appropriate management of kangaroos during construction. During construction, any areas marked for clearing will be inspected for animals to be relocated beforehand by a verified specialist.

Having the line run along Marshall Road was assessed. However, it was not possible to exit Tonkin Highway at or below Marshall Road without conflicting with high voltage transmission lines, major reworking of the road bridge, significant land acquisition and would restrict an opportunity for new stations to serve Noranda or Malaga.

An alignment along Reid Highway was considered, however exiting the Tonkin Highway at Reid Highway was technically very challenging due to the new NorthLink WA interchange and would restrict an opportunity for new stations to serve Noranda, Malaga and Bennett Springs East as there is insufficient land in and around Reid Highway for stations.  

The land to the south of Whiteman Park and north of Marshall Road, has a history of being used as cattle grazing grounds and is not publicly accessible. This area of Whiteman Park, purchased by the State Government from numerous land owners between 1977 and 1990 for future government requirements under Improvement Plan 8, has been outside the core of Whiteman Park for more than 20 years and is not currently accessed or used by the community. In January 2017, it was considered as non-essential to the operation and integrity of Whiteman Park in its five-year strategic plan.  

The illustrated Morley-Ellenbrook Line map (released in August) does not specifically refer to zoning, but highlights the difference between the two areas of Whiteman Park. Green highlights the core part of Whiteman Park and grey identifies the area not accessible to the public, but is significantly degraded and previously used for cattle grazing. In January 2017, this area in grey was considered by the WA Planning Commission (WAPC) and the Whiteman Park contributing stakeholders as non-essential to the operation and integrity of Whiteman Park in its five-year strategic plan.

Between 1977 and 1990, the State Government purchased landholdings south of the original Whiteman Park area, for future government requirements under Improvement Plan 8. This cleared farming land, known as Marshall Road land, was owned by three different landowners, being Lew Whiteman, L.D Marshall and Whittlesea Pastoral Co.  There was no requirement for the Marshall Roads land to be held “in trust” for Parks and Recreation or Whiteman Park.

WAPC’s Whiteman Park Strategic Plan 2017-2021 identifies the Marshall Road lands as being considered non-essential to the operation and integrity of Whiteman Park. That document proposed this area be used to provide both a buffer and integration with suburban developments to the south of the park. 

Further, the document outlined that any development on the Marshall Road lands must complement and support the core Whiteman Park land. 

As a result, in the North-East Sub-Regional Planning Framework, part of the Perth and Peel@3.5m Framework released in March 2018 identifies the Marshall Road lands for “Planning Investigation” and “Proposed open space – sport”.
 

While we are working with Main Roads WA to consider designs that avoid a signalised intersection, the solution chosen for this intersection will focus on ensuring safe and efficient movements in the area. The preferred solution will be confirmed when the project definition work is completed in mid-2020.

To balance the community’s request to avoid traffic signals at this intersection while maintaining safety for road users, a right turn exit from the car park may not be possible.  Motorists wanting to exit the car park and head west, will need to turn left and take the existing u-turn west of Beechboro Road North. 

Should direct car park access be provided from Benara Road, there is unlikely to be any need to change road layouts around John Septimus Roe Primary School.

Street parking and rat-running is a common concern for residents near new stations so we work closely with the local council to ensure management measures are carefully considered.  This will also be taken into consideration by the project team when reviewing traffic modelling and road design for the car park.

At this stage we are aiming for around 400 bays at this car park, however this will be confirmed at the end of the project definition phase in mid-2020.  Our project team and designers will balance number of bays with other aspects like landscaping, footpaths and cycle paths.

We are working towards a design that removes the need for any land acquisition, however we will confirm this with individual land owners as soon as the design is finalised.

While enabling works for the Morley-Ellenbrook Line have started with early works underway at Bayswater Station, and construction starting on Tonkin Gap later this year, the construction of Noranda Station and the car park will form part of the main construction contract to be awarded later this year.  Once the contract is awarded and the final design confirmed, we will have a better idea on construction timeframes.

A train station in the median of a highway is a complex piece of infrastructure.  The right location is based on balancing rail operations, current and future road operations, spatial requirements through existing structures and passenger comfort and accessibility.  Noranda Station’s location was chosen because the Tonkin Highway is wider at this point, fits within Main Roads WA’s future lane configurations and minimises impacts to existing services and structures.  It is also accessible for a greater number of walking passengers and allows the Public Transport Authority to have strong links from Benara Road for bus passengers, vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. The station could not be located further north closer to the pedestrian overpass due to rail geometry and would have required the new Sewell St overpass to be demolished and rebuilt.