Midland railway line

Midland railway line
Legend
Continues to Fremantle line 000.0km Perth Perth Southern Sidings Moore St Crossing 000.9km McIver x20px Lord St Flyover Claisebrook depot 001.3km Claisebrook x20px 00.0 x20px 00.0 Armadale/Thornlie line 00.0 Graham Farmer Freeway 001.9km East Perth East Perth STD Gauge Platform spur Lord St Subway 003.2km Mount Lawley Third Avenue Bridge Seventh Avenue Bridge 004.5km Maylands Caledonian Avenue Crossing 005.5km Meltham Railway Parade Bridge Coode St/King William St Subway 006.7km Bayswater Belmont Branch Line (closed 1955) Forrestfield-Airport Link Tonkin Highway Katanning St Crossing 009.2km Ashfield Collier Rd Crossing Perth Rail Museum Old Bassendean Sidings 010.8km Bassendean Lord St Flyover 011.6km Success Hill Swan River 012.5km Guildford West Swan Rd Crossing 014.0km East Guildford James St/Great Eastern Hwy Forrestfield Freight Spur Devon St Crossing 015.5km Woodbridge Amherst Rd Crossing 016.0km Midland Freight line and regional rail continues
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Midland Line is a suburban railway line in Perth, Western Australia. It runs through Perth's eastern suburbs and connects Midland with Perth and Fremantle.

History

The line was a part of the first suburban railway line in Perth, opening on 1 March 1881. It originally operated as the Eastern Railway and ran between Fremantle and Guildford passing through Perth. The line was extended from Guildford to Chidlow's Well, opening in March 1884.

Throughout the 1880s, the Eastern Railway line was extended beyond Guildford and Midland Junction along its first route to Chidlow and Northam. The second route varied after Bellevue proceeding to Chidlow. The third route saw the removal of the Bellevue Railway station in its construction, with the new Midland railway terminus replacing the older Midland Junction railway station.

An anomaly of the Midland line timetables in the 1950s and 1960s was that Bellevue was nominally the terminus of the line until 1962. Koongamia, which was a new station prior to Greenmount on the original first route, was the terminus from 1962 to 1966.

In 1966, the stations on the first two Eastern Railway routes as well as the old Midland Junction railway station were closed and the new Midland was constructed 200 metres to the west and became the new terminus.

Generally, changes from the 1970s saw a significant number of stations on the line moved or turned into island platform stations (to be compatible with the double track, dual-gauge track configuration between East Perth and Midland).

On 24 July 2004, Bassendean became the first station to be upgraded under the Building Better Stations project.

In the earlier decades of the twentieth century, a significant number of rail-crossing accidents between motor vehicles and trains occurred. Unattended crossings were provided with boom gates, flashing lights and bells to counter inattention or risk taking from drivers. Also crossings were reduced, and in a number of locations bridges were constructed.

In mid-February 2006, an express train heading from Midland to Perth was involved in an accident with a passenger car. Near Guildford a tourist, unfamiliar with the road layout illegally turned right at a set of traffic lights onto the wrong side of the road crossing the railway. This lane was not protected on the oncoming side with a boom gate as it was a one way lane. The train slammed into the vehicle, dragging it for a short distance. The accident resulted in the death of the car's driver but no fatalities or reported injuries to the passenger and driver of the train.

Airport railway connection

In the 1990s the Bayswater Council had put up a proposal for a rail connection with the airport. The proposal was on display in the Galleria shopping mall in Morley during the mid-1990s and showed a light rail link from Bayswater train station to the domestic terminal at Perth airport.

The more recent 2024 Airport Masterplan calls for the completion of a rail link that will connect with the Midland Line between Bayswater Station and Ashfield Station at the Tonkin Highway. The proposed rail link will continue above ground along Tonkin Highway to Great Eastern Highway where it is believed to go underground along Brearley Avenue and to the terminals in operation at completion of the line.

Patronage

Below is the annual patronage of Midland railway line from 2010–2011 financial year. Figures are provided as total boardings, which includes all fare-paying boardings and free travel on stations within the free transit zones as well as transfers between stations. The figures for rail replacement and special events services are not included in the total.

Midland railway line annual patronage

Year	Patronage	±%
2010–11	6,319,788	—
2011–12	6,626,464	7000485263113256329♠+4.85%
2012–13	6,688,843	6999941361788127120♠+0.94%
2013–14	6,646,213	3000362670046224730♠−0.64%
2014–15	{{{2014}}}	0000000000000000000NA

Railway stations

During peak hours on weekdays, some stopping patterns exclude stations on this line.

Midland Line
Name of station	Code	Zone	Serving suburbs	Pattern stops at this station				Connections
				All	A	B	P
Perth	MPH	1, FTZ	Perth, Northbridge	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Through to Fremantle Line Platform transfer to Armadale / Thornlie Line, Joondalup Line and Mandurah Line Transwa Australind service to Bunbury Bus transfers at Wellington Street bus station
McIver	MMR	1, FTZ	Perth, East Perth	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Armadale / Thornlie Line
Claisebrook	MCK	1, FTZ	East Perth	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Armadale / Thornlie Line
East Perth	MEP	1	Perth, East Perth	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	East Perth Passenger Terminal Transwa Avonlink service to Merredin Transwa Prospector service to Kalgoorlie Indian Pacific to Adelaide and Sydney Country and Interstate Coach Services
Mount Lawley	MML	1	Mount Lawley	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop
Maylands	MMS	1	Maylands	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop
Meltham	MMM	1	Bayswater	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop
Bayswater	MBR	1	Bayswater	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Bus transfers, CircleRoute
Ashfield	MAD	2	Ashfield, Bassendean	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop
Bassendean	MBN	2	Bassendean	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Bus transfers
Success Hill	MSH	2	Bassendean	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop
Guildford	MGD	2	Guildford	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop
East Guildford	MEG	2	Guildford	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop
Woodbridge	MWM	2	Woodbridge	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop		Template:TP stop
Midland	MMD	2	Midland	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Template:TP stop	Bus transfers Transwa Avonlink service to Northam and Merredin Transwa Prospector service to Kalgoorlie Country coach services
Legend: Red denotes city stations Dark red denotes Midland line stations Black denotes termini Stopping patterns: All     all stops to Midland A      stops at McIver, Claisebrook, Maylands, then all stations Bayswater to Midland B       all stops to Bayswater, then stops at Bassendean and Midland P       all stops to Midland except Mount Lawley and Meltham

Old stopping patterns

File:Set47.jpg

A2 Set 47 accelerates out of Success Hill en route to Midland on dual gauge track

.

• E - stops at McIver, Claisebrook, Maylands, Bayswater, Bassendean and Midland.

See also

Current information

• Transperth
• Transperth Trains
• List of Perth railway stations

Historical information

• Midland Railway of Western Australia

Further reading

• Watson, Lindsay The Railway History Of Midland Junction : Commemorating The Centenary Of Midland Junction, 1895-1995 Swan View, W.A : L & S Drafting in association with the Shire of Swan and the Western Australian Light Railway Preservation Association, 1995