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Transport in Perth, Western Australia, is served by various means, among them an extensive highway/freeway network and a substantial system of commuter rail lines and bus routes. Public transport is managed by the Transperth agency.
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Following the settlement of the Swan River Colony in 1829, the Swan River was the main transportation link between Perth and the port of Fremantle. [1] Land transportation was difficult as the only river crossing near Perth, a ford at the eastern end of the town, was often impassable for wagons and carts. The next crossing point was 32 kilometres (20 mi) upstream at Guildford, a major detour. [1] The only alternative to these river crossings were ferries, which operated from North Fremantle, [2] Preston Point, [3] [4] and The Narrows. [1]
Perth has an extensive road network centred around three freeways and nine metropolitan highways. It has no toll roads.
Highways and Freeways
The Mitchell Freeway connects the city centre to Joondalup, in Perth's northern suburbs. The Kwinana Freeway runs through and beyond the city's southern suburbs towards Mandurah and Bunbury. The Graham Farmer Freeway, incorporating the Northbridge tunnel, was built in 2000, primarily to provide a road link between East Perth and West Perth and act as a city bypass. [5]
The port city of Fremantle, and adjacent suburbs, are linked to the city centre via Stirling Highway, which travels on the north side of the Swan River after crossing into North Fremantle on the Stirling Bridge. On the southern side of the river, Canning Highway, which later continues on as Great Eastern Highway, connects Fremantle to Midland, north-east of the city centre. Leach Highway is a parallel route that terminates at the edge of Perth Airport. Marmion Avenue is the northern continuation of West Coast Highway, which runs near the coastline, from Swanbourne to Trigg. [5]
The arterial routes out of the Perth Metropolitan Region radiate out as a series of spokes. Stock Road, Rockingham Road, Patterson Road, Ennis Avenue, and Mandurah Road are part of Highway 1, and a coastal route to the areas south of Perth. Kwinana Freeway, and its continuation as Forrest Highway, provide a controlled access alternative (State Route 2) further inland, which meets up with Highway 1 (as Old Coast Road) at Lake Clifton, south of Mandurah. Albany Highway (State Route 30) travels in a south-easterly direction to Albany, Western Australia. At Armadale, in Perth's south-eastern suburbs, South Western Highway (State Route 20) branches off Albany Highway, heading south towards Walpole on Western Australia's southern coast. Brookton Highway (State Route 40) leads from Albany Highway in Kelmscott (just north of Armadale) south-east towards Brookton. [5]
From the Midland area, Great Eastern Highway connects to Kalgoorlie, and is part of National Highway 94, which leads to Adelaide, South Australia. Great Northern Highway links Perth to Wyndham in the state's north, and is the majority of National Highway 95 to Darwin, Northern Territory. It also carries Highway 1 northwards out of Perth. Toodyay Road (State Route 50) is a third route out of Midland, heading north-east to Toodyay. Wanneroo Road (State Route 60) is a north-western route from Perth towards Yanchep and beyond, and Marmion Avenue provides a parallel route to Yanchep. [5]
Ring Road
Roe Highway offers a controlled access route between the Kwinana Freeway, east of Jandakot, east of Fremantle, and Midland. There is a plan to extend Roe Highway, Perth's southern half of its ring road, towards Fremantle via overpasses and a tunnel. If the extension is approved, it will become Perth's only toll road. In Middle Swan, one suburb north of Midland, Reid Highway is the continuation of Roe Highway, travelling west to North Beach, where it meets Marmion Avenue.
Weekday traffic congestion is worst during the morning peak hour, when traffic regularly slows to almost half the speed limit, and sometimes to a standstill. Depending on the road, the weekday peak hour is usually about 7am to 8am, or 8am to 9am. [6] On weekends, congestion is worst later in the morning and harder to predict. Rather than being on roads into the central business district, it centres on beaches, shopping centres, white goods and other big-box stores, and children's sporting grounds, such as netball courts. [7]
Perth metropolitan public transport, including trains, buses and ferries, are provided by Transperth, with links to rural areas provided by Transwa. Perth provides zero-fare train trips for SmartRider (travel fare card) holders around the city centre (the "Free Transit Zone"), as well as five high-frequency (every 8–15 minutes) Central Area Transit (CAT) bus routes (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple), which, alongside trips on regular Transperth buses in the city centre, are free to all users.
There are five main rail lines, 79 stations and 15 bus stations in the metropolitan area.
An extensive bus network services the greater Perth metro area. Many bus routes act as feeder routes to the main rail lines.
The Indian Pacific passenger rail service connects Perth with Adelaide and Sydney. The Prospector passenger rail service connects Perth with Kalgoorlie via several Wheatbelt towns, while the Australind connects to Bunbury, and the AvonLink connects to Northam.
Perth's first trams operated for a short period at the end of the nineteenth century, on an unsuccessful horse-car tramway between the GPO and East Perth. [8]
The city's first electric trams began operating in 1899 between East Perth and West Perth, along Hay Street in central Perth. The electric tram network was ultimately expanded west as far as Claremont, north as far as Osborne Park, and south across the Swan River causeway to Victoria Park, Como and Welshpool. [9]
The initial electric tram infrastructure in Perth was privately funded. The government took over the running of trams in 1914, with the aim of better co-ordinating the network. Trams were an integral part of the public transport system in the early 20th century until the advent of the private automobile. However, long term lack of government investment led to the network being phased out by July 1958. A number of Perth's historical trams are maintained at Whiteman Park.
Between 1905 and 1952, Fremantle had a small but comprehensive tramway network of its own. The Fremantle network was owned and operated by a consortium of local municipalities, and was never linked into the Perth network. Throughout its existence, the Fremantle network covered both the Fremantle municipality and the adjacent municipality of East Fremantle. Its tram lines also extended for part of that period into North Fremantle and Melville. [10]
There are now various tourist buses decorated as "trams", but running on rubber tyred wheels independently of rails, in both Perth and Fremantle. They operate services such as the Kings Park tram tour and others.
In 2012 a light rail network, to be known as the Metro Area Express was announced. After being pushed back, it was shelved in 2016. [11]
Cycling in Perth is common on the roads and paths for recreation, commuting and sport. Between 1998 and 2009 the number of cyclists in Perth increased 450%. [12]
Perth is served by Perth Airport in the city's east for regional, domestic and international flights and Jandakot Airport in the city's southern suburbs for general aviation and charter flights.
The Kwinana Freeway is a 72-kilometre (45 mi) freeway in and beyond the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with Mandurah to the south. It is the central section of State Route 2, which continues north as Mitchell Freeway to Clarkson, and south as Forrest Highway towards Bunbury. A 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) section between Canning and Leach highways is also part of National Route 1. Along its route are interchanges with several major roads, including Roe Highway and Mandjoogoordap Drive. The northern terminus of the Kwinana Freeway is at the Narrows Bridge, which crosses the Swan River, and the southern terminus is at Pinjarra Road, east of Mandurah.
The Fremantle line is a suburban railway and service in Western Australia that connects the central business district (CBD) of Perth with Fremantle.
Thornlie railway station is a temporarily closed railway station on the Transperth network. It was the terminus of the Thornlie line, a spur of the Armadale Line, seventeen kilometres (11 mi) from Perth Station serving the suburb of Thornlie, Western Australia. Under construction is the Thornlie-Cockburn Link which will link to Cockburn Central railway station along the Mandurah line via two new stations, Nicholson Road railway station and Ranford Road railway station.
The Mandurah line is a commuter railway and service on the Transperth network in Western Australia that runs from Perth south to the state's second largest city Mandurah. The service is operated by Transperth Train Operations, a division of the Public Transport Authority. The line is 70.1 kilometres (43.6 mi) long and has 12 stations. At its northern end, the line begins as a continuation of the Yanchep line at Perth Underground, and ends as a continuation of the Yanchep line at Elizabeth Quay. The first 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) of the line is underground, passing under the Perth central business district. The line surfaces and enters the median of the Kwinana Freeway just north of the Swan River. It continues south down the freeway's median for 30 kilometres (19 mi), before veering south-west towards Rockingham. The final stretch of the line goes south from Rockingham to Mandurah.
Bateman is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Melville.
Atwell is a suburb within the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia, situated 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of Perth City, and located in the City of Cockburn local government area.
Safety Bay is an outer southern suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, located on the coast within the City of Rockingham.
Canning Bridge railway station is a railway station on the Transperth network. It is located on the Mandurah line, four kilometres from Perth station inside the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway located adjacent to the suburb of Como.
Canning Highway is an arterial road in Perth, Western Australia, linking the inner Perth suburb of Victoria Park in the north-east, to the port city of Fremantle in the south-west.
Leach Highway is a 23-kilometre (14 mi) east-west arterial highway in the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, primarily linking Kewdale and Perth Airport with the city of Fremantle.
Kwinana railway station is a railway station in Bertram and Parmelia, suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is on the Mandurah railway line, which is part of the Transperth commuter rail network, and it serves the City of Kwinana. It has two side platforms located in a cutting, accessed by a ground-level station concourse. Services run every 10 minutes during peak, and every 15 minutes between peak. The journey to Perth railway station is 32.9 kilometres (20.4 mi), and takes 26 minutes. The station has a bus interchange with five bus stands, and five regular bus routes.
Rockingham railway station is a railway station in Rockingham, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It is on the Mandurah railway line, which is part of the Transperth commuter rail network. It has two side platforms, linked by a pedestrian overpass accessed by stairs, a lift, and escalators. Services run every 10 minutes during peak, and every 15 minutes between peak. The journey to Perth railway station is 43.2 kilometres (26.8 mi), and takes 34 minutes. The journey to Mandurah railway station is 27.6 kilometres (17.1 mi), and takes 17 minutes. The station has a bus interchange with twelve bus stands, and 14 regular bus routes.
Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and a number of private companies. Today passenger rail services are controlled by the Public Transport Authority through Transperth, which operates public transport in Perth, and Transwa, which operates country passenger services. Journey Beyond operates the Indian Pacific.
Railways in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, have existed since 1881, when the Eastern Railway was opened between Fremantle and Guildford. Today, Perth has seven Transperth suburban rail lines and 79 stations.
Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operations are contracted out to Swan Transit, Path Transit and Transdev. Ferry operations are contracted out to Captain Cook Cruises. Train operations are done by the PTA through their Transperth Train Operations division.
Cycling in Perth, Western Australia is common on the roads and paths for recreation, commuting and sport. Between 1998 and 2009 the number of cyclists in Perth increased 450%.
The Fremantle tramway network linked the central business district of Fremantle, the port city for Perth, Western Australia, with nearby suburbs. Small but comprehensive, it operated between 1905 and 1952. It was not connected with the larger Perth tramway system.
Rockingham is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 47 km south-south-west of the city centre. It acts as the primary centre for the City of Rockingham. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of Cockburn Sound. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and Henderson. Offshore to the north-west is Australia's largest naval fleet and submarine base, Garden Island, connected to the mainland by an all-weather causeway. To the west and south lies the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park.
Aubin Grove railway station is a suburban railway station serving Atwell, Aubin Grove, Hammond Park and Success, which are suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is on the Mandurah line, which is part of the Transperth network, and is located immediately north of Russell Road in the median of the Kwinana Freeway. It has two platform faces on a singular island platform, which is linked to either side of the freeway by a pedestrian overpass. Services run every 10 minutes during peak and every 15 minutes between peak. The journey to Perth station is 23.8 kilometres (14.8 mi) and takes 21 minutes. The station has a bus interchange with four bus stands and seven regular bus routes.
Treeby is a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. It is located on the east side of the Kwinana Freeway, close to Cockburn Central.
