Rail capacity boosted

The State Government plans to introduce 66 railcars over the next three years to increase capacity on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines.

‘This marks a real turning point for public transport users in Perth,’ Transport Minister Troy Buswell said.

‘There has been a move toward public transport by the people of Perth. The arrival of these new railcars will very quickly start to address issues of crowding on our trains.’

The minister said each of the B-series railcars could carry about 600 passengers and would gradually replace the existing A-series (400 capacity) railcars on the Mandurah-Joondalup line.

Opposition Transport spokesman Ken Travers said the trains were two years behind schedule because the Government had failed to order new railcars on Public Transport Authority advice.

‘Although commuters on the Joondalup-Mandurah lines will welcome these additions in the short term, the Government is simply just playing catch-up,’ he said.

Mr Buswell said as more railcars arrived, some of the remaining A-series trains on the Joondalup-Mandurah line would be moved on to the Midland, Fremantle and Armadale lines, boosting capacity across the network.