Commonwealth METRONET co-investment confirmed as stations near completion

The Commonwealth's $1.6 billion investment in the METRONET program — WA's record rail expansion — has supported the construction of 72 kilometres of new rail infrastructure across six new and extended lines in the Perth metropolitan area, with three lines now open and three more to open progressively over the next 18 months.

Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King confirmed the Commonwealth contribution was fully deployed and that the partnership between the Commonwealth and WA government had delivered the program broadly on time and within the agreed cost parameters — an outcome that contrasted favourably with several other major rail projects nationally that had experienced significant cost escalations and delays.

WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said METRONET was the most significant transformation of Perth's public transport network since the Joondalup line opened in the early 1990s, and that it had been made possible by the federal partnership. "We have added more rail in four years than Perth built in the previous 20 years. That is what you can do when state and federal governments are genuinely aligned," she said.

Patronage data from the three completed lines — the Thornlie-Cockburn Link, the Yanchep Extension, and the Airport Line — showed first-year ridership above projections on all three services, with the Airport Line in particular significantly outperforming the modelled demand. Perth Airport confirmed the line had changed travel patterns meaningfully, with rail now accounting for approximately 22 per cent of airport ground transport, up from near zero before the line opened.

The completion of the Ellenbrook and Morley-Ellenbrook lines over the next 18 months will complete the METRONET core program and connect the last of the major growth corridors to the rail network.

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