Construction contract awarded for $700M METRONET train line

The contract for construction of the METRONET Morley-Ellenbrook Line has been awarded to the MELconnx Consortium.

Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction are behind the MELconnx Consortium. Construction will include building the 21 kilometre rail line, connecting the growing north-eastern suburbs to the wider rail network.

This project will be the most significant expansion of the METRONET rail network since 2007.

More than 6500 local jobs are expected to be created for the works and it is estimated by completion in 2031 the line will take more than 10,000 car trips off the roads in the north-eastern suburbs daily.

The contract includes construction of the rail line as well as building five new stations at Morley, Noranda, Malaga, Whiteman Park and Ellenbrook, with a future station to be developed at Bennett Springs East.

Early works have already started, with the New Bayswater Station – the site where the Morley-Ellenbrook Line will spur off the Midland Line – and the Tonkin Highway Gap project. As part of the Tonkin Gap Project, works include civil and structural works between Bayswater and Malaga to allow rail access in and out of the Tonkin Highway and to prepare the corridor for rail to be laid.

The direct costs of the Morley-Ellenbrook Line enabling works on those two projects is estimated at $233 million. The total project budget for the main contract, including contingency, escalation and ancillary costs, is estimated to come in at $1.1 billion.

It’s expected all main construction work will be completed in 2023-24.

Premier Mark McGowan said the project was one of his Government’s key election commitments and he was pleased the main construction contract has now been awarded.

“Now more than ever, big infrastructure projects like METRONET’s Morley-Ellenbrook Line are imperative to WA’s COVID-19 economic recovery as they create a pipeline of work and supporting thousands of jobs,” he said.

Western Australian Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the population of Perth’s north-eastern suburbs was expected to double by 2031 and it was vital the Government planned and delivered key infrastructure now.

“The community have been waiting a long time for their railway – we promised it in 2017 and when we were lucky enough to be elected to Government we immediately began planning the project,” she said.

“Now the contract has been signed, the funding secured and early works are underway.”

The line is anticipated to provide passengers travelling from Ellenbrook Station a seamless 30-minute journey to the CBD without transferring trains.

This project is jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments.