Please note: This is an extract from Hansard only. Hansard extracts are reproduced with permission from the Parliament of Western Australia.

Date: Wednesday, 31 August 2005

RAILWAY DISCONTINUANCE BILL 2005

Second Reading

MS A.J.G. MacTIERNAN (Armadale - Minister for Planning and Infrastructure) [12.16 pm]: I move -

That the bill be now read a second time.

The purpose of this bill is to formally discontinue sections of the Midland Junction-Welshpool railway and the Fremantle-Kwinana railway. The Midland Junction-Welshpool railway line has not been used for freight operations for at least 14 years. It previously provided for freight movements from the Midland-Kwinana line to Fremantle via the present Armadale-Perth and Perth-Fremantle suburban lines. This link to Fremantle has been replaced with a dual-gauge service on a dedicated freight railway from the Kwinana line at Yangebup. There was also a service to some private sidings in Welshpool that have been removed. Private sidings off this section of the railway have been closed. Discontinuing the railway through the Kewdale freight complex reinforces its role as a freight terminal, rather than an area of mainline operation. Closure of this portion of the Midland Junction-Welshpool railway has been discussed at stakeholder planning workshops as part of the Kewdale-Hazelmere region integrated master plan study. Participants of the workshops included representatives from relevant state government agencies and local governments and various transport industry representatives. The workshops considered specific issues about the closure and reached general consensus that the nominated section of the Midland Junction-Welshpool railway line will not be required in the future for transport purposes.
It is proposed to partly dispose of and partly lease the land comprising the alignment of the Midland Junction-Welshpool railway between Daddow Road, Kewdale and Railway Parade, Welshpool as part of the Public Transport Authority’s land rationalisation program and to allocate one hectare of the land for use as a Transperth bus depot. Part of the land will also be used to form a “living station” in an arrangement with the Swan River Trust to reduce nutrients in the Canning River. Disposal of the land will provide additional general industrial land in this much sought after location.

The Fremantle-Kwinana railway line has not operated since 1984. The reserved land of the railway is part of the South Coogee redevelopment area and will be purchased from the Public Transport Authority by the Western Australian Planning Commission and then on-sold to Port Catherine Developments Pty Ltd to enable the government to fulfil its obligations under the Port Catherine project agreement. The sale to Port Catherine Developments should raise about $1.5 million. As a side issue, an area of land can be dealt with through the Public Transport Authority’s land rationalisation program. It is expected that this will result in a return of about $1 million. These amounts also have been subject to detailed analysis and valuation. It should be noted that there will still be a railway connection between Kwinana and Fremantle via Yangebup. I commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned, on motion by Mr D.F. Barron-Sullivan.