The Kwinanafreight railway lines are a network of railways predominantly servicing the heavy industrial areas at Kwinana Beach south of Perth and to provide for the transport of freight servicing Fremantle Harbour, Kewdale Intermodal Facility and other freight destinations Perth. While some lines were constructed in the 1900s, most of the network was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. Brookfield Rail owns the majority of the network, with the exception of privately owned spur lines.
Route Components
The Kwinana and Forrestfield freight rail network comprises several sections of lines including sections which have now been closed, existing and proposed, which are described below.
Robbs Jetty–Kwinana
After 1898 the Fremantle railway line terminated at Robbs Jetty in North Coogee. On 1 July 1903 the line was extended south along the coast to Coogee servicing Woodman Point.: On 19 December 1955 the line was extended to Kwinana to provide a rail service to the Kwinana Oil Refinery The line was made redundant by the later construction of the freight line further east, and on 16 September 1973 the section between Coogee and Naval Base was closed. The section between Robbs Jetty and Coogee closed in February 1986.
Robbs Jetty–Armadale
A line between Robbs Jetty and Jandakot was opened in 1906, and the line was extended to Armadale in 1907 as a means of providing transport for agricultural goods in the Forrestdale area to Fremantle Harbour. With the construction of a new railway line between Kewdale and Cockburn, the Jandakot to Armadale section closed on 23 January 1964, followed by Bibra Lake to Jandakot on 6 June 1966. The Spearwood to Bibra Lake section was retained to serve CBH Group and Elders Limited sidings until it too closed in 1991. The section between Robbs Jetty and Spearwood remains in use today.
Spearwood–Cockburn Cement
A branch line was constructed off the Robbs Jetty–Armadale line at Spearwood to link with the Cockburn Cement plant in Munster in 1961. The line now forms part of the main freight line between Kwinana and Fremantle.
Midland Junction–Kewdale–Welshpool
A freight railway was constructed between the Midland railway line west of the Midland Junction railway station and the Armadale railway line at Welshpool in 1957. The line provided access to the Kewdale Intermodal Facility - a major rail freight terminal in Perth. The section between Kewdale and Welshpool is now closed. The rest of the line was replaced in 1968 by a new route to the east of the new Forrestfield Marshalling Yard.
Prior to the 1960s, the majority of railways constructed in Western Australia were built at narrow gauge, with the exception of the standard gaugeTrans-Australian Railway linking Western Australia with South Australia at Kalgoorlie. In 1961 the Western Australian Government passed the Railways Construction Act 1961 to construct a standard gauge railway between Perth and Kalgoorlie to facilitate the movement of interstate freight. The following new railways were constructed and existing railways upgraded to dual gauge, with construction complete by 3 August 1968
The Midland Junction–Kewdale line was converted to dual gauge and then rerouted around the new Forrestfield Marshalling Yard.
A new Kewdale–Kwinana line was constructed between Kewdale and the Spearwood–Cockburn Cement line at Cockburn, and the Cockburn Cement line extended south to intersect with the Robbs Jetty–Kwinana line at Naval Base. A marshalling yard was constructed south of Rockingham Road.
The Spearwood–Cockburn Cement line and Robbs Jetty–Spearwood line was converted to dual gauge, and continued north to Fremantle and the marshalling yards at Leighton.
The Robbs Jetty–Coogee line to Woodman Point was converted to dual gauge.
The Kwinana loop rail was constructed at dual gauge.
The railways constructed and upgraded under the Railways Construction Act 1961 form the backbone of the freight railway network in Perth.
Kwinana Loop
The Kwinana Loop Railway is railway branching from the main line at Kwinana first constructed under the Industrial Lands Railway Act 1966 and later extended to the CBH Group terminal under the Kwinana Loop Railway Act 1968 with a balloon loop at the terminus. The southern portion has not been constructed, and access to the Loop Railway is reliant upon the triangle intersection at Kwinana. The Department of Transport has identified the Kwinana triangle is now approaching capacity, and it is seeking alternatives in order to ensure that future growth in rail-hauled freight can be accommodated. Completion of the southern portion of the Kwinana Loop as planned, between the CBH balloon loop and the Kwinana–Mundijong line, is an option being considered. In December 2015 the City of Rockingham publicised its objection to the reinstatement of the extension of the loop railway.
Kwinana–Mundijong
The Kwinana–Mundijong line was constructed to connect Kwinana with the South Western Railway. The line also extended to Jarrahdale and one of the main purposes of the line was to transport bauxite between Jarrahdale and Alcoa's Naval Base refinery. The Kwinana–Mundijong line is one of the few narrow gauge lines in the network.
In 2006 the government commenced an investigation for the development of an intermodal freight terminal in the Kwinana area, and in 2007 a preferred site was identified in the Latitude 32 industrial area at Hope Valley/Wattleup. Planning is progressing for the intermodal terminal.
The Shire of Serpentine–Jarrahdale has adopted a structure plan for future urban in the Mundijong/Whitby district. The South Western Railway bisects the district, and one of the key components of the structure plan is the relocation of the freight rail along the western perimeter of the structure plan area. The relocation is intended to free up land for the construction of a new passenger rail terminus on the Armadale Line near the point where the Kwinana–Mundijong line joins the South Western Railway, servicing a proposed town centre at Whitby. The relocated rail will run through the proposed West Mundijong Industrial Area, on the western side of the future Tonkin Highway alignment. There is a possibility an intermodal freight facility will be located along the relocated freight railway
Midland freight rail realignment
The possibility of realigning the Midland freight rail line was first identified in the Midland Revitalisation Charette held in 1997, as a means to reduce the impact of ‘wheel squeal’ for residents in the Woodbridge area. An alignment linking to the existing Eastern Railway east of Midland and joining the Midland Junction-Kewdale line south of Woodbridge has been identified.
