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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just like Americans who refer to any urban rail as light rail

Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In celebration of Freo making the grand final, train frequencies to Fremantle will be doubled on grand final day, and travel will be free. I don’t recall this level of celebration back in 2018 🤔

rita_saffioti

EXTRA TRAINS THE WAY TO GO 💜⚓

We’re DOUBLING the number of trains heading to Freo this Saturday!

Between 9:30am and 6:00pm, Ellenbrook Line trains will be extended down to Fremantle, boosting capacity for the thousands of people expected to hit the streets this Saturday.

Public transport will also be completely FREE across the Transperth network, making it the best way to get down and watch the Grand Final.

Plan your journey at www.transperth.wa.gov.au or on the Transperth app

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

That would be good, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it happening (the second entry that is, there will definitely be consultation)

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Luckily this is planned to be upgraded somewhat soon

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Claisebrook station. It’s close to the city but is surrounded by a freeway on one side and a train depot on the other. It’s only access is via long ramps, making transferring lines and accessing the station inconvenient. (the station is at the junction of the Midland and Armadale corridors)

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I believe Transperth buses use these buttons. I think they are powered by the physical button press, which is enough to send a short radio wave. www.lumen.com.au

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Are the ones in Canberra wired? The ones in Perth are wireless and batteryless, and are pretty reliable

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Level crossings frequently disrupt train services. Its the same as being in favour of platform screen doors for their safety and reliability benefits

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Buses are disrupted by level crossings too. It makes it hard to have reliable bus services interchange with train stations.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I remember learning the apology in history at high school. It stood out to me as the most recent event we learned in history

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A little surprised United Kingdom is below Australia

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

More proof that people in Perth hate trees

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The current 1-line ferry system has about 900,000 passengers per year. What is there to suggest that patronage will be so much higher on the new route? Don't get me wrong, I support the ferry expansion, but why use such dodgy numbers? www.pta.wa.gov.au/Portals/15/A...

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The Perth ferry expansion business case is out. What caught my eye are these passenger projections. A: I find it hard to believe that there is so little difference between 15 minute and 30 minute frequencies B: I feel like these projections are very optimistic.

15‑minute service frequency
• 3.2 million extra trips by 2030
• 7.5 million extra trips by 2055

20‑minute service frequency
• 3.1 million extra trips by 2030
• 7.2 million extra trips by 2055

30‑minute service frequency
• 3.0 million extra trips by 2030
• 7.1 million extra trips by 2055

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I’m wondering why the T8 ends at Sydenham?

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Perth’s version of this map is just the default network map, with every line at 15 minutes

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Reposted by Midmantle

Gus @unspecificocean.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I have made these diagrams of the Sydney suburban rail network that show each service pattern that runs every 30 minutes as a separate line. There are separate diagrams for weekday off-peak services and weekend services.

A diagram of the Sydney suburban rail network showing weekday off-peak service patterns. Each line represents a service pattern that runs every 30 minutes, except for thicker lines which represent more frequent service patterns, with the frequency for these lines noted. A dot on a line indicates that that service pattern stops at a station. Different stations have different combinations of dots on the lines that go through the station, showing how at some stations, certain service patterns stop at the station and certain service patterns skip it.

A diagram of the Sydney suburban rail network showing weekend service patterns. Each line represents a service pattern that runs every 30 minutes, except for thicker lines which represent more frequent service patterns, with the frequency for these lines noted. A dot on a line indicates that that service pattern stops at a station. Different stations have different combinations of dots on the lines that go through the station, showing how at some stations, certain service patterns stop at the station and certain service patterns skip it.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Its surprising that Sydney's intercity lines are even electrified with such a low voltage. More interestingly would be Melbourne. V/Line would probably be more electrified if Melbourne had a higher voltage.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Labor has got to be kicking itself for not having already built Karnup station ahead of the Secret Harbour by-election. If they lose by a narrow margin, it’s conceivable that the station was a deciding factor.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

And many customers want local manufacturing

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

That’s the exact problem I have too

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Yes, but i assumed it was because my phone was on 3% battery

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

One of my least favourite parts about Perth is that people here seem to hate trees

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

IMO a better course of action for a link between Fremantle and the Mandurah line would be light rail to Murdoch. It's more direct, and would link Fremantle directly to Murdoch Uni and the hospitals there. Linking Freo to Mandurah line is a more important objective IMO than a circle line.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I've heard it is taking passengers now

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

This area is really flying under the radar. In combination with the Court Place development, the West Leederville station area is set to look completely different soon

447 new affordable and social homes at Court Place, Subiaco

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Light rail has the advantage that a tunnel would not be needed under Fremantle, as this part of the rail corridor is very constrained. The rail corridor through Fremantle could be pedestrianised. And more frequent stations would be possible than if it were built heavy rail.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I’ve been thinking about the potential for converting the freight rail line from Fremantle to Coogee into light rail when the new outer harbour opens. Looks like the PTA are considering what to do with this corridor too. westport.wa.gov.au/info-hub/faqs

What will happen to the freight rail currently operating between Fremantle and Cockburn?

The Public Transport Authority are investigating future opportunities to repurpose the current freight rail corridor between Fremantle and Cockburn for public transport purposes.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

That’s high for a multi-storey car park. For a surface level car park, that cost is downright horrible.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Yep, they are the two longest lines.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

The Mandurah and Yanchep lines combined make up over half of Perth's rail patronage, despite having less than a third of the network's stations.

As of June 2026:

Mandurah: 33.2%
Yanchep: 24.0%
Fremantle: 8.1%
Airport: 8.9%
Midland: 5.7%
Ellenbrook: 6.0%
Armadale: 8.2%
Thornlie-Cockburn: 5.8%

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

End of the mining boom mainly, which caused less CBD employment.

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Reposted by Midmantle

Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Per capita patronage has still not reached pre-Covid levels, but it's close and could surpass it next year. We are way behind 2011-2013 levels though.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Per capita patronage has still not reached pre-Covid levels, but it's close and could surpass it next year. We are way behind 2011-2013 levels though.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Buses have also set a new record of 86,541,806, with the help of non-ticketed bus boardings now being counted by bus drivers.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The Mandurah line has reached a record 23,728,644 boardings per year, but the Yanchep line has yet to break its record set in 2012-13. I wonder why these lines have such different trajectories. The Ellenbrook line (3,979,302 boardings) has eclipsed the Midland line (3,848,917 boardings).

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Transperth's patronage up to June 2026 is now out: the system overall has set a new record of 161,223,754 boardings in a year, and trains have set a new record of 73,749,274 boardings, destroying the previous record set in 2012-13 thanks to the reopening of the Armadale and Thornlie lines.

pta.wa.gov.au

Transport performance

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

We need to destroy the western suburbs

From The Post newspaper:

Metronet myth busted

By BRET CHRISTIAN

A local family saves a deposit,
buys a unit near a western
suburb train station and happily drops the car keys in a
drawer, hardly expecting to
need them again.
They can walk to the local shops,
cafes, bars and entertainment.
Fast trains are just at the end
of their street for long journeys.
This is the dream being
sold by Planning and Housing
Minister John Carey for his
“walkable” Transport Oriented
Developments, or TODs.
His latest announcement of
vast areas planned for highdensity development for 800m
around Cottesloe’s train stations have sent anxious shivers through many residents of
established suburbs (Circles of
Doom swallow our heritage streets,
POST, August 1).
But the dream is a fantasy.
Although the process is in its
infancy, early evidence is that
high-rise living near Metronet
stations will neither get people
out of their cars nor end urban
sprawl.
But once destroyed, nothing
can bring back the charm and
liveability of the carefully-curated homes and streets caught
inside Mr Carey’s very wide net.
There is no argument that
Metronet trains are valuable for
fixed point-to-point journeys if
there is a station near the workplace, footy oval or the airport.
But the evidence does not
support little use of car keys of
residents of these new towers.
Some expert opinions, backed
up by what is actually happening in the western suburbs,
indicate that people will always
choose their cars for multi-point
journeys.
Modern cars are private,
convenient, safe, comfortable,
climate-controlled music and
communication hubs that can
deliver a whole series of quick
benefits that trains can never
provide.
People who can afford them
use them, said Professor Patrick
Troy in an ABC debate 20 years
ago with local planning professor Peter Newman.
Prof. Newman, from Curtin
University, has long advocated
for Metronet and its TODs, with
his ideas adopted wholesale by
successive governments.

Prof. Troy, who was raised
in Perth and died in 2018, was
regarded for many decades as
Australia’s pre-eminent urban
policy thinker.
He argued that high-rise developments near transit centres
failed to reduce car use, while at
the same time reducing resident
amenity.
He maintained that the justification, to contain suburban
sprawl, was an emotional term
he said was used as an excuse by
people who had run out of ideas.
Sprawl was still happening
in big European cities that had
dense cores.
“Growth remains essential for
environmental sustainability
and equitable quality of life,”
he said.
Mr Carey evidently supports
this, too. Last year he authorised
the release of another 8300ha of
greenfield land for subdivision
in Perth’s northern suburbs for
20,000 new houses.
He again promoted TODs at
Bayswater station this week,
saying that it would help prevent
Perth’s outer suburbs reaching
Geraldton.
“One of the great fallacies
of this Transport Oriented
Development argument is that
we know that 80% of the population who live in houses want
to stay in houses, and 85% of
the population who live in flats
want to live in houses,” Prof.
Troy said.
Another TOD fallacy was
based on the old-fashioned notion that most people worked in
central hubs such as Perth and
Fremantle. They don’t.
Metro Perth is highly decentralised, he said. Far-flung
shopping centres, hospitals,
and huge industrial estates are
often accessible only by car. And
commuters often need to make
other stops on their journeys to
and from work.
“People have always wanted
to travel wherever they wanted,
to travel under the conditions
of comfort and security of their
choice,” Prof. Troy said.
“They’ve always sought to do
that as their economies and the
wealth and standard of living
has increased.”
In other words, even if home
and work are on Metronet, there
are kids to be picked up on the
way home, another stop to load
shopping in the boot, stops for
sport with all the equipment,
gym, sauna, music lessons, doctor, hair…

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

All good reasons, although the cost should definitely be way lower anyway.

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Is Melbourne soil just really hard to tunnel in, or are Victorian bureaucrats bad at their jobs for letting the Airport rail link get so expensive?

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I feel like Melbourne should be able to deliver the Airport line for less than $3 billion just by tunnelling from the Craigieburn line? Why don't they do that?

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Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

A 9 storey social and affordable housing development less than 100 m from Bayswater station has attracted 178 public submissions, with 142 objections, 20 in support and 16 neutral. Opponents said it is too big, there’s not enough parking, and it will destroy the area’s heritage.

perthnow.com.au

Social and affordable housing development sparks backlash

A proposed nine-storey $33.9 million social and affordable housing development in the heart of Bayswater has sparked concerns over its height, parking and impact on heritage.

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Reposted by Midmantle

Midmantle @midmantle.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Now can we have a by-election in South Perth please..

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