Opposition transport spokesman Ken Travers and East Metropolitan Region MLC Samantha Rowe outside Kenwick train station.
Camera IconOpposition transport spokesman Ken Travers and East Metropolitan Region MLC Samantha Rowe outside Kenwick train station. Credit: Supplied/Marcelo Palacios

The station is in the…

Tristan Lavalette, Comment NewsComment News

The station is in the midst of a $7.5 million upgrade, including new shelters, lighting, CCTV cameras, platform surfaces and pedestrian track crossings.

It closed last month and is expected to reopen in September.

During the closure, passengers are expected to use bus routes 220 and 229, which connect to Armadale, Maddington, Cannington and Perth, or train stations in Maddington and Beckenham.

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Quinton Taylor said he regularly used the station for his commute to work in Perth but described his journey during the closure as ‘painful’.

‘I used to just walk to catch the train, now I have to find other arrangements and my wife has to drive me to Beckenham train station,’ he said. ‘The options are terrible and catching the bus takes an extra 20 minutes.

‘There should have been a shuttle bus based at Kenwick train station that would transfer to the other stations.’

East Metropolitan MLC Samantha Rowe believed the closure would ‘discourage Kenwick train users from continuing their use of public transport’.

Opposition transport spokes-man Ken Travers said some Kenwick train station passengers would use their vehicles because of the disruption.

‘It is essential to get cars off our congested roads but it is hard to get people back using public transport once they stop using it,’ he said.

Public Transport Authority (PTA) spokesman David Hynes said closing the station meant work could be ‘completed far quicker, without compromising the safety of passengers’.

‘PTA provided users of the station with six weeks notice that they would need to make alternative arrangements while the works are under way,’ he said.

‘We believe this, and the supplied bus services, provide an adequate level of notice and service for this temporary closure.’