Railways in Perth

Railways in Perth
Railways in Perth
Overview
Owner	Public Transport Authority (2003–present)
Locale	Perth, Mandurah and surrounds
Transit type	Heavy rail, commuter rail
Number of lines	8
Number of stations	85
Annual ridership	59,723,266 (year to June 2024)
Headquarters	Public Transport Centre
Operation
Began operation	1881
Operator(s)	Department of Works and Railways (1877–1890); WAGR (1890–2003); Public Transport Authority (2003–present)
Number of vehicles	354 railcars
Technical
System length	270 kilometres (170 mi)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in); narrow gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz AC from overhead catenary
Top speed	130 kilometres per hour (81 mph)
System map
System map
Key

Railways in Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, have existed since 1881, when the Eastern Railway was opened between Fremantle and Guildford. Today, Perth has eight Transperth suburban railway lines and 85 railway stations.

The Transperth network is owned and operated by the WA Public Transport Authority (PTA) and consists of eight lines: the Airport, Armadale, Ellenbrook, Fremantle, Mandurah, Midland, Thornlie–Cockburn, and Yanchep lines. Perth's trains had 53.2 million boardings in the 2022–23 financial year, giving the Transperth rail network the third highest patronage out of all of Australia's suburban rail networks.

A notable feature of Perth's urban rail network is that a significant portion of it operates in the median of freeways, with dedicated bus-train interchanges and extensive Park & Ride (P&R) facilities provided at certain stations. Passengers arrive on feeder buses or use P&R and transfer to trains at railway stations. These system design features are a response to Perth's low density.