Canning Bridge railway station is a suburban railway and bus station on the Mandurah line in Perth, Western Australia. Situated in the suburb of Como next to the Canning River, the station is located at the interchange between the Kwinana Freeway and Canning Highway. The train platforms are at ground level within the median strip of the freeway, while the bus stands are on the bridge carrying Canning Highway.
Canning Bridge station opened as a bus station on 11 February 2002 to facilitate transfers between buses on the Kwinana Freeway and on Canning Highway. The ground-level bus stops closed on 29 January 2006 for conversion to train platforms by John Holland Group. The Mandurah line opened on 23 December 2007. The station is planned to be upgraded to improve the bus interchange as part of Metronet.
Trains at Canning Bridge station run at a five-minute frequency during peak hour, lowering to a fifteen-minute frequency off-peak and on weekends and public holidays. At night, trains are half-hourly or hourly. The journey to Perth Underground station takes seven minutes. There are ten bus routes that serve the station, including bus routes to Curtin University and Fremantle.
Canning Bridge station has two 150-metre (490 ft) side platforms, which are located at ground level within the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway.[5] At bridge level is a bus interchange with four bus stands. The two westbound bus stands are within the median of Canning Highway and the two eastbound bus stands are on the side of the highway. Each group of bus stands is linked to the platforms via stairs and a lift. A northbound bus on-ramp and southbound bus off-ramp link the bus interchange to the Kwinana Freeway towards Perth.[6][7] Canning Bridge is the only station on the Mandurah line to not have toilets[8] and the only station outside the Perth central business district (CBD) to not have any parking.[5] The station is fully accessible,[2] but pedestrian access to the station has come under criticism for requiring people to cross the on- or off-ramps.[9]
History
Early history as a bus station
From February to April 1987, Transperth and the Main Roads Department trialled a contraflow bus lane along the southbound Kwinana Freeway carriageway from the Perth CBD to South Terrace during the morning peak.[10][11][12] After the trial, it was decided that a permanent bus lane on the northbound carriageway from Canning Highway to the CBD would be built instead.[13][14] This involved building a curved bridge to take buses from Canning Highway over the northbound freeway carriageway and into the freeway median.[14][15] The bridge was built by Bocol Constructions.[16] The curved 55.7-metre (183 ft) span over the freeway was incrementally launched, which limited disruption to freeway traffic, while the rest of the bridge was constructed conventionally.[17] The bus lane was opened on 18 November 1989 by Transport Minister Bob Pearce. The City Busport (now known as Elizabeth Quay bus station) at the northern end of the bus lane was meant to open as well, but it encountered construction delays.[18][19] The Busport eventually opened on 30 November 1991.[20][21]
In March 1999, the South West Metropolitan Railway Master Plan was approved by the state government. It was to follow a route branching off the Armadale line before joining the Kwinana Freeway at Jandakot, bypassing the Kwinana Freeway from Perth to Jandakot. A busway for this section was planned instead.[22] Detailed plans for the bus transitway from the Narrows Bridge to the Murdoch Park 'n' Ride at South Street were unveiled in October 1999. The bus transitway was to be within the median of the Kwinana Freeway and separated from general traffic by concrete barriers, unlike the existing one-way bus lane. A bus station at Canning Highway was to be built to facilitate transfers from buses along Canning Highway to buses along the freeway bus transitway. A bus off-ramp was to be built to complement the bus on-ramp and the bridge carrying Canning Highway over the freeway was to be widened to accommodate the bus station.[23][24]
A joint venture between Henry Walker Eltin and Clough Engineering were announced as the preferred tenderer in June 2000[25] and awarded the $34million contract for the design and construction of stage one of the bus transitway in August 2000. This stage included the Canning Bridge bus station and transitway from Canning Highway to the Narrows Bridge, a distance of 5.9 kilometres (3.7 mi). Work was scheduled to begin the following month.[26][27]
The lower level as a bus station, July 2005
Following the election of a Labor government, in July 2001, the state government announced that the proposed South West Metropolitan Railway would be rerouted via the Kwinana Freeway between Jandakot and Perth.[28][29] Construction continued on the bus transitway though, as its concrete barriers and right-of-way would be used by the railway. By that point, only $4million of the project's budget had not been spent.[30] The bus station opened on 11 February 2002 as Canning Bridge bus station, less than a week after the bus transitway opened.[31][32][33] The bus station was credited with saving commute time for students at Curtin University and Murdoch University, with passengers no longer needing to travel to the City Busport to transfer.[32]
Conversion to train station
A new master plan for the South West Metropolitan Railway, also known as the Mandurah line, was released in August 2002.[34][35] It said the second stage of the bus transitway to Murdoch would not go ahead.[36] Bus services from along the Kwinana Freeway from Canning Bridge to the City Busport were planned to be kept, to prevent people from having to transfer from bus to train at Canning Bridge. This was unlike the bus routes further south, which were planned to be curtailed to terminate at the various bus-train interchanges.[37][38] Widening the Kwinana Freeway from Canning Bridge to the Narrows Bridge to include new bus lanes was considered,[39] but that was ruled out in January 2002 as it would encroach on the Swan River.[40] Instead, bus lanes on a limited section of the freeway from Judd Street on-ramp to the Narrows Bridge would be created, as this was the most congested section.[41] The Canning Bridge bus station was planned to be retained and converted to a train-bus transfer station.[42] The bus on-ramp was planned to be demolished and replaced by a new on-ramp.[41]
The construction of the Southern Suburbs Railway was divided into eight packages. Package D was for the construction of Canning Bridge, Bull Creek, and Murdoch stations. Package E was for the roadworks on the Kwinana Freeway, which included the replacement of the bus on-ramp at Canning Bridge station.[43][44]Leighton Contractors was selected as the preferred proponent for Package A in October 2003[45][46] and the contract was awarded in December 2003 for $99.1million.[47] Expressions of interest were called for Package D in September 2003.[48][49] The Package D contract was awarded to John Holland Group for $32million in November 2004.[50][51][52] Canning Bridge station was designed by Woodhead International Architects.[5]
The bus on-ramp, December 2022
As the bus on-ramp bridge was in the way of the proposed railway, it was planned to be demolished and replaced by a new bridge. To save costs, the contractor proposed moving the 1,560-tonne (1,720-ton), 124-metre-long (407 ft) bridge superstructure 9.5 metres (31 ft) south-west instead.[53][54] First, four temporary concrete blade walls were constructed as temporary supports. The bridge was jacked up so that steel cradles could be attached to its underside, which were to rest on bearings on the concrete walls, similar to the incremental launch technique.[55] The bus on-ramp was closed from August to December 2005, with buses diverted to the off-ramp, which was temporarily converted to an on-ramp.[56] The bridge relocation took place in the second half of 2005.[57] A hydraulic jacking system was used to push the bridge along the concrete walls to its new position, which took five to seven hours, all while the freeway remained open to traffic.[58][59]
From 29 January 2006, the lower level of the Canning Bridge bus station was closed for conversion to rail.[60] From 26 February 2006, the bus station was fully closed to reduce confusion.[61] Construction on the station by John Holland began in March 2006.[62] The platform height was raised to reach the height of the trains and the connection between platform level and bridge level was improved.[63] Other modifications included extra bus shelters at the bus interchange level.[5] Canning Bridge station reached practical completion in June 2007, alongside the other two Package D stations.[64] The Mandurah line opened on 23 December 2007.[65][66] By March 2008, Canning Bridge station had exceeded patronage expectations by 54 percent.[67] Extra bus services were soon added in response.[68]
Proposed upgrades
A report released by the Auditor-General in November 2017 found that the six bus routes along the freeway between Canning Bridge and Elizabeth Quay should be reduced or cancelled, which would save $4million per year. The Public Transport Authority said that making passengers transfer to a train at Canning Bridge station would be less convenient which could reduce patronage, and that the bus infrastructure at the station would have to be upgraded to allow for terminating buses.[69][70][71]
In February 2019, Infrastructure Australia added the "Canning Bridge crossing capacity and interchange" to its Infrastructure Priority List, noting that the interchange was causing congestion, pedestrian and cyclist access was poor, there were no drop-off facilities, and no toilets.[72][73][74]
As part of Metronet, the bus interchange at Canning Bridge station will be upgraded. Current plans involve a new bridge parallel and to the north of the existing bridge, to be used by buses. The new interchange will have twelve bus stands and allow for buses to turn around. Grade separated pedestrian access will be implemented. The existing bus on- and off-ramps will be connected to the new bridge.[75] In December 2021, the federal government committed an additional $25million towards the upgrades, which facilitated a new pedestrian bridge from Davilak Street to access the station from the south.[76] There will also be changes to the interchange, including relocating the northbound on-ramp and installing ramp metering.[75] State government funding was first announced in the May 2022 budget.[77] Current funding includes $150million for the bus interchange, $30million for the new entrance from the south, and $20million for the ramp metering. Contract procurement is scheduled to happen in 2025–26 and construction is scheduled to commenced before the end of 2026.[75]
Canning Bridge station is served by Mandurah line trains, which travel from Mandurah station in the south to Perth Underground station in the north, continuing north from there as the Yanchep line.[4] These services are operated by the Public Transport Authority.[78] During peak hour, trains stop at Canning Bridge station every five minutes, with roughly half of those services terminating or commencing at Cockburn Central station. Off peak and on weekends and public holidays, trains are every fifteen minutes. At night, trains are half-hourly or hourly. The journey to Perth Underground station takes seven minutes.[4]
Patronage projections for Canning Bridge station from the 2002 master plan were for 970 boardings per day, by far the least of any Mandurah line station.[79] The master plan said that patronage could be higher if the Raffles Hotel site were redeveloped and bus connections to Curtin University were created.[80] The station had 932,132 passengers in the 2013–14 financial year, making it the third-least used station on the Mandurah line.[81] In March 2018, there were approximately 4,000 boardings per weekday, of whom 2,800 transferred from buses.[74]
Bus interchange on Canning Highway
There are ten regular bus routes which service Canning Bridge station.[6] Route 100 and 101 go to Curtin University, with route 100 continuing past there to Cannington station.[82] Those two routes are jointly funded by Curtin University and the Public Transport Authority.[83][84][85] Running along the Kwinana Freeway to Elizabeth Quay bus station via the bus on-ramp are routes 111, 114, 115, 158, and 160.[6] In the other direction, route 111 goes to Fremantle station via Canning Highway,[86] route 114 goes to Lake Coogee,[87] route 115 goes to Hamilton Hill,[88] route 158 goes to Fremantle station via Bicton and Attadale,[86] and route 160 goes to Fremantle station via Willagee and Booragoon.[89] Running along Canning Highway without entering the freeway are routes 148, 510 and 910.[6] Route 148 runs from Como to Fremantle station via Bicton and Attadale.[86] Route 510 runs to Murdoch station.[6] Route 910 runs from the Perth CBD to Fremantle station via Canning Highway.[90] Additionally, there are two bus routes that run during events at Perth Stadium: 658, which runs from Perth Stadium to Hamilton Hill,[91] and 659, which runs from Perth Stadium to Fremantle.[92] Rail replacement bus services operate as route 909.[6]
