Kwinana freight railway lines
The heritage-listed Signal Box at the Kwinana marshalling yard, 2019
Overview
Owner	Arc Infrastructure (leased from thePublic Transport Authority
Locale	Perth,Western Australia
Termini	Midland Robbs Jetty, Mundijong Junction
Service
Type	Freight rail
Technical
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Route map

TheKwinana freight railway lines are a network ofrailways predominantly servicing the heavy industrial areas atKwinana Beach south of Perth and to provide for the transport of freight servicingFremantle Harbour,Kewdale Intermodal Facility and other freight destinations inPerth. While some lines were constructed in the 1900s, most of the network was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.

Arc Infrastructure leases the majority of the network, with the exception of privately owned spur lines.

v t e Kwinana freight railway
Legend
continues asEastern Railway Midland freight rail diversion Midland Line toPerth Midland Junction Midland Woodbridge Midland Line toPerth Forrestfield Marshalling Yard Kewdale Intermodal Facility Kewdale-Welshpool line Armadale Line Kenwick Thornlie Armadale Line Canning Vale Mandurah Line continues asFremantle Line toNorth Quay Robbs Jetty Spearwood Spearwood to Armadale railway line Cockburn East Cockburn North Cockburn South Cockburn Cement siding Kwinana Intermodal Terminal Coogee Woodman Point Clarence Alcoa spur Weston Street Kwinana marshalling yard CBH Kwinana Loop Railway Mandurah Line Wellard continues asArmadale Line toArmadale Mundijong freight rail diversion Mundijong Junction Mundijong Mundijong freight rail diversion continues asSouth Western Railway

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.

After 1898 theFremantle railway line terminated at Robbs Jetty inNorth Coogee. On 1 July 1903 the line was extended south along the coast toCoogee servicingWoodman Point.:^[1][2] On 19 December 1955 the line was extended to Kwinana^[3] to provide a rail service to theKwinana Oil Refinery^[4]

The line was made redundant by the later construction of the freight line further east, and on 16 September 1973 the section between Coogee andNaval Base (north of theAlcoa refinery) was closed.^[5] The section between Robbs Jetty and Coogee closed in February 1986.^[1]

A line between Robbs Jetty and Jandakot (includingSpearwood) was opened in 1906, and the line was extended to Armadale in 1907 as a means of providing transport for agricultural goods in theForrestdale area toFremantle Harbour.^[1]

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.^[6][7] The Spearwood to Bibra Lake section was retained to serveCBH Group andElders Limited sidings until it too closed in 1991.^[1]

The section between Robbs Jetty and Spearwood remains in use today.

A branch line was constructed off the Robbs Jetty–Armadale line at Spearwood to link with theCockburn Cement plant inMunster in 1961.^[8]

The line now forms part of the main freight line between Kwinana and Fremantle.

A freight railway was constructed between theMidland line west of theMidland Junction railway station and theArmadale line atWelshpool in 1957.^[9] The line provided access to theKewdale Intermodal Facility - a major (if not the main) 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 atnarrow gauge, with the exception of thestandard gaugeTrans-Australian Railway linking Western Australia withSouth Australia atKalgoorlie. In 1961 the Western Australian Government passed theRailways (Standard Gauge) Construction Act 1961 to construct a standard gauge railway between Perth and Kalgoorlie to facilitate the movement of interstate freight.^[10]

The following new railways were constructed and existing railways upgraded to dual gauge, with construction complete by 3 August 1968^[11][12]

• 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 ofRockingham Road.
• The Spearwood–Cockburn Cement line and Robbs Jetty–Spearwood line was converted to dual gauge, and continued north to Fremantle and theLeighton Marshalling Yard.
• The Robbs Jetty–Coogee line to Woodman Point (now removed) was converted to dual gauge.
• The Kwinana loop rail was constructed at dual gauge.

The railways constructed and upgraded under theRailways (Standard Gauge) Construction Act 1961 form the backbone of the freight railway network in Perth.

The Kwinana Loop Railway is railway branching from the main line at Kwinana first constructed under theIndustrial Lands (Kwinana) Railway Act 1966 and later extended to theCBH Group terminal under theKwinana 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.

TheDepartment 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.^[13]

In December 2015 theCity of Rockingham publicised its objection to the reinstatement of the extension of the loop railway.^[14]

The Kwinana–Mundijong line was constructed to connect Kwinana with theSouth Western Railway. The line also extended toJarrahdale and one of the main purposes of the line was to transportbauxite between Jarrahdale and Alcoa's Naval Base refinery.^[15]

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 theKwinana area, and in 2007 a preferred site was identified in the Latitude 32 industrial area atHope Valley/Wattleup. Planning is progressing for the intermodal terminal.^[16]

TheShire of Serpentine–Jarrahdale has adopted a structure plan for future urban in theMundijong/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.^[17]

The relocated rail will run through the proposed West Mundijong Industrial Area, on the western side of the futureTonkin Highway alignment. There is a possibility an intermodal freight facility will be located along the relocated freight railway^[18]

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 theWoodbridge area. An alignment linking to the existingEastern Railway east of Midland and joining the Midland Junction-Kewdale line south of Woodbridge has been identified.^[19]

• Rail freight transport in Australia
• Railway lines in Perth, Western Australia
• Standard-gauge railways in Australia
• 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia

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