1979–1983 Fremantle railway line closure

Railway service suspension in Western Australia August 2020 August 2020 thumb|upright=1.5|Plaques at Perth station commemorating the closure and reopening of the Fremantle line|alt=Two plaques on a tiled floor On 2 September 1979, the Fremantle line, a suburban railway line in Perth, was closed by the Liberal Government of Western Australia due to a claimed lack of patronage and cost effectiveness. The line was reopened on 29 July 1983 following the election of a Labor government at the 1983 state election. Background By the late 1970s, Perth's rail network had received little investment. The three railway lines, the Armadale, Fremantle, and Midland lines, were served by aging diesel railcars. In 1977, the premier of Western Australia, Charles Court, promised that the Fremantle line would not be closed. That year, the Fremantle line's average weekday patronage was 9,900 and the yearly patronage was 2.5million.Take the through train to Midland The West Australian 29 July 1983 I Before closure On 16 January 1979, Court announced the closure of the Fremantle line. Passenger services were planned to end on 1 September 1979 and be replaced by buses the following day. The line would remain open to freight trains for two more years while a narrow-gauge link to Fremantle was built to the south. A highway was planned to eventually be built in the railway line's place to relieve traffic on Stirling Highway, although there was no timeline for that. The decision was made based on the cost of providing the service, which was an estimated $2.7million in the 1978–79 financial year. The Fremantle line carried 3.9 percent of Perth's public transport patronage but was responsible for 9.4 percent of the system's deficit.Warren David Perth-port railway line to be closed The West Australian 17 January 1979 1, 10Athol Thomas http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136978433 Diehard sentimentalists lose their battle The Canberra Times 4 February 1979 2 National Library of Australia The date was chosen to be before that year's Royal Show so that the bus system could be tested during the show. The announcement attracted criticism from the state Opposition, the Labor Party at the time, and the Australian Railways Union, although the state government had told the union that workers would be redeployed to other parts of Westrail. The union's secretary said that the government should work on increasing the patronage of the Fremantle line and encourage people to switch from driving. The leader of the opposition, Ron Davies, claimed that the Fremantle line's closure was a precursor to closing the Armadale and Midland lines as well. He later said it was "incongruous" that the government was closing the line while the rest of the world was looking at rail as the most efficient form of public transport.Protest at port on rail move The West Australian 18 January 1979 41 The federal member for Fremantle, John Dawkins, said that the decision to close the railway was "short-sighted and foolish and would eventually be proved wrong". Subiaco Liberal MP Tom Dadour labelled the closure as "illogical" and called for a referendum to be held.Railway decision is illogical, says Dadour Subiaco Post 4 April 1979 16 Four days after the announcement, there was a protest organised by Dawkins at Pioneer Reserve opposite Fremantle railway station. Over 450 people were estimated to be at the protest.450 protest at closure of rail service The West Australian 22 January 1979 28 City of Subiaco mayor Richard Diggins expressed concern that the closure would result in roads crossing the railway line being widened, which would increase traffic through Subiaco, as well as the new highway creating a further divide between the suburbs along the alignment.What the rail closure means to us Subiaco Post 24 January 1979 1 The City of Nedlands council was initially ambivalent, pointing out that the reserve was wide enough for both a highway and a railway.Roadway v the railway: Rail reserve big enough for both Subiaco Post 18 April 1979 4 By July, the Nedlands council had voted to oppose the dismantling of the Fremantle line, but fell short of voting to oppose the closure itself.Nedlands may change its stand on railway Claremont–Nedlands Post 13 June 1979 1Nedlands goes half way on rail closure Claremont–Nedlands Post 11 July 1979 3 In June, the Town of Claremont council also voted to oppose the closure.Claremont takes up the right to save railway Claremont–Nedlands Post 27 June 1979 1 In July, the Town of Claremont held a meeting with about 150 ratepayers, to which the minister for transport, Cyril Rushton, and the convenor of Friends of the Railway, Peter Newman, attended. To assuage the ratepayers' concerns, Rushton said the closure would be on a trial basis, contrasting with previous pronouncements by ministers that the closure was permanent.Rushton hedges his bets: Rail closure may be only a tryout Subiaco Post 25 July 1979 1 According to the Post, Westrail staff had told the newspaper that the decision to close the Fremantle line was made based on false figures, and that Westrail was not asked to provide an assessment before the government made the decision.Rail closure decision was based on wrong figures Subiaco Post 27 June 1979 5 Staff also said that the government's claim that $3.6million per year would be saved was false.Only two weeks until the axe falls but: "Rail closure won't save us money" Subiaco Post 22 August 1979 1 The line closed to passenger services on schedule. The last passenger train to run on the line departed Perth station at 11:50pm, 1 September, and arrived at Fremantle station at 12:29am the following day.Hummerston David Bill gives two hoots for a dying railway The West Australian 3 September 1979 3Athol Thomas http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110596527 Protests fail to save service The Canberra Times 10 September 1979 9 National Library of Australia During closure thumb|A Mercedes-Benz O305G bus in Fremantle, pictured in 2012|alt=An articulated bus on a city street Fremantle line closure.map yes right 300 300 -32 115.8 11 A map of the train replacement bus route Seventeen articulated Mercedes-Benz O305G buses were acquired by the Metropolitan Transport Trust (MTT) to provide for replacement bus services.Mercedes articulated buses to replace Fremantle trains Bus & Truck Transportation March 1979First Mercedes-Benz O305G delivered Truck & Bus Transportation September 1979Articulated buses replace Perth trains Truck & Bus Transportation October 1979 The bus services were planned to follow the railway line as closely as possible and be at least as frequent as the train service. The rolling stock used on the Fremantle line was planned to be used elsewhere on the suburban rail network. It was later announced that those buses would be leased for $2.2million.Buses to be leased for port route The West Australian 19 January 1979 10 Branded as "Linc buses", the new bus service began on 2 September 1979. The route was originally planned to follow the railway line as closely as possible, which required dismantling sidings and building a new busway in the rail reserve in Claremont and Swanbourne. This was not able to be done, as the Australian Railways Union had placed a ban on dismantling the Fremantle line.Government has a second bus route up its sleeve Claremont–Nedlands Post 30 May 1979 4Union bans force Loch Street bus route Subiaco Post 25 July 1979 2 The route the buses followed leaving Fremantle was thus Queen Victoria Street, Stirling Highway, Loch Street, Railway Road, Roberts Road, and Wellington Street, ending at Bennett Street. This route bypassed Cottesloe, Grant Street, Swanbourne and Claremont stations,Family outings in new buses The West Australian 3 September 1979 3 although there were roads parallel to the railway line there that the union said could have been used.Rail unions leader: We did not hinder plans The West Australian 4 September 1979 11 Reopening During the 1983 state election, Labor leader Brian Burke promised to reopen the Fremantle line,Promises The West Australian 18 February 1983 46 which was reiterated following Labor's election victory.Trains back on the line soon The West Australian 22 February 1983 5 Over $800,000 was spent refurbishing the line, stations and trains before the reopening. The stations had been kept in decent condition.Winner Peter Now it's up to the public The West Australian 29 July 1983 I The Fremantle line reopened on 29 July 1983. The first train departed Fremantle station at 11:13am with Labor MP Ken McIver, a former train driver, driving, and Burke and Subiaco Liberal MP Tom Dadour in the driver's cab.Rival MPs on same track The West Australian 28 July 1983 4Better late than never: A big turnout The West Australian 30 July 1983 1 The initial frequency was every 15 minutes during peak, 20 minutes outside peak, and every 45 minutes at night. On Saturdays, the frequency was every half-hour, and on Sundays, the frequency was every hour. Shadow Transport Minister Ian Laurance labelled the reopening as "an act of financial vandalism", and said that if the government really wanted to reopen the line anyway, it should wait until the third quarter of 1984 so that new rolling stock could be used. The West Australian Football League's general manager welcomed the reopening, saying that trains do not cause the congestion that buses do. The Royal Agricultural Society's president said that the trains would make it easier for people to get to the Perth Royal Show in Claremont.Laurance: Rail move foolhardy The West Australian 4 May 1983 45 Aftermath Court never regretted the decision to close the Fremantle line. He said that he "never regretted what we did, but I realise it brought a lot of pain with it from a political point of view because it's so easy to stir up emotions. Most of the people that signed the petition had probably never been on the train."Jamieson Ronda Charles Court: I love this place 2010 St George Books 300 978-0-86778-293-6Kennedy Peter Peter Kennedy (journalist) Tales from Boom Town: Western Australian premiers from Brand to Barnett https://archive.org/details/talesfromboomtow0000kenn/ registration 2014 UWA Publishing 77–78 978-1-74258-533-8 Archive.org On the other hand, George Shea, the head of the MTT at the time, said that the reopening and electrification was "100 percent right" and that he "acted on the wrong advice from overseas. I was waiting for the city to have three million people". References Further reading Wainwright Janet The trains are in favour on the buses The West Australian 7 May 1983 20 Back to Fremantle The West Australian 29 July 1983 I–VIII De Poloni Gian Public backlash to closure of Fremantle rail line in 1979 still among biggest in WA history https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-03/fremantle-train-protests-turkey-sweat-russian-war-and-angry-mob/10767962 ABC News 3 February 2019 Quekett Malcolm Untold History of WA: 40 years ago there was backlash after the Fremantle to Perth railway line was closed https://thewest.com.au/travel/trains/untold-history-of-wa-40-years-ago-there-was-backlash-after-the-fremantle-to-perth-railway-line-was-closed-c-11391387 The West Australian 29 July 2023 Category:History of rail transport in Western Australia Category:1979 disestablishments in Australia