Perth City Link is an

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

and redevelopment project in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia. The projectbounded by the

Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a controlled-access highway, freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth (suburb), central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of List of road routes in Western ...

, Wellington Street, the Horseshoe Bridge and Roe Street is on land that was once the Perth/City railway yard and dedicated railway property west of

Perth railway station Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the Perth central business district, central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport line, Perth, Airport, Ar ...

. The land was used by the railways and reserved for their use, from the 1880s until the late 1990s. At the time of early proposals, much of the space was no longer required by the railway. The foundation project, involved sinking a small section of the Fremantle railway line, between the City and Northbridge and demolishing the old Wellington Street Bus Station. Underground rail, refurbishment and extension of Perth station and a new bus station, is allowing for redevelopment of the of surface land that has been reclaimed. The rail works were completed in December 2013 and the Perth Busport opened in 2016.

Transport

Rail

The $360 million rail project was the first stage of the Perth City Link. The scope of works included: *Sinking the

Fremantle line The Fremantle line is a suburban railway and service in Western Australia that connects the central business district (CBD) of Perth with Fremantle. History The railway on which the service runs opened on 1 March 1881 as the first suburban rai ...

between William Street and Lake/King Street. This created almost of a new covered section of the Fremantle line. *Upgrading Perth station with new tiling, lighting and services and converting the existing Platform 9 into an island Platform 8/9. *Creating a new tunnel under the northern end of the Barrack Street Bridge to service the new Platform 9. *Extending the existing Joondalup line tunnel roof from Lake Street to Milligan Street to be in line with the new Fremantle line tunnel. *Creating a new pedestrian underpass connecting Perth Underground station to all the platforms at Perth station. Work commenced in 2010 with the project initially scheduled for completion in mid-2014. By early 2013 the project was running six months ahead of schedule. Tunneling commenced on 31 January 2012, with Premier Colin Barnett, Transport Minister Troy Buswell, Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi and Senator Louise Pratt (representing Federal Infrastructure Minister

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

) taking part in a ceremony in which several documents were placed in a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

and buried at the station, to be unearthed in 2031. After a six-day shutdown, trains began running through the new tunnel on 18 July 2013. The final part of the project, the pedestrian underpass, was officially opened on 19 December 2013, signaling the completion of the rail project, six months ahead of schedule.

Bus

The $249 million Perth Busport was the second stage of the Perth City Link. It involved the demolition of the Wellington Street Bus Station, which opened in 1973, and the construction of Australia's first dynamic stand allocation underground bus station at the same location. It opened on 17 July 2016.

Precincts

The Arena

Located at the western end of the site, this precinct centres around the Perth Arena.

King Square

In late January 2014 Leighton Properties started construction on the King Square precinct on the former Perth Entertainment Centre site. Four office buildings were constructed with Shell Australia, John Holland, P&N Bank and HBF as tenants. In May 2013, three of the buildings were sold to Dexus. The buildings (along with the precinct) were completed in December 2015 and tenanted by early 2016.

Yagan Square

Yagan Square Yagan Square is a public space and a component of the Perth City Link in Perth, Western Australia. It is situated between the Horseshoe Bridge and the Perth Busport in the eastern part of the Perth City Link precinct, occupying . Constructio ...

, named after the Aboriginal warrior Yagan, is a public space located between the arms of the Horseshoe Bridge.

ECU City

ECU City is a inner city university currently being built as part of the Perth City Link project. It is being built on the west side of Yagan Square. It is expected to open in early 2026.

Previous proposal

In 1967 the government invited private developers, three internationally based, and one domestic group to submit proposals to place the railway underground, releasing for redevelopment. Financing issues and community opposition saw the project abandoned. In 1972 the government announced further plans to sink the railway, however this never eventuated.

References

External links

Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority
{{Perth public transport, state=collapsed Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority Buildings and structures under construction in Australia Redevelopment projects in Australia