Western Australia celebrates local manufacturing milestone with first C-Series train journey

In a major milestone for local manufacturing, the first passenger train to be manufactured in Western Australia in more than 30 years has taken its maiden journey.

Hundreds of community members and workers joined Premier Roger Cook and Transport Minister Rita Saffioti on board the new METRONET C-series train, which took a 50-minute return journey on the Joondalup Line from Stadium Station.

It is the first of 41 new locally-built C-series trains to be completed and formally entered passenger services yesterday, operating on the Mandurah and Joondalup lines.

The new 143-metre train is fitted out with close to 400 seats and is capable of carrying more than 1,000 passengers. Once operational, the six-car train will manage more than 103,000 daily passenger boardings.

Passengers will be able to enjoy additional doors for better access, modern passenger display information and USB ports under select seats on the six-car sets.

Returning railcar manufacturing has been a long-held commitment of the WA Labor Government, which promised to bring railcar manufacturing home to WA as part of its 2017 Election commitments.

Since then, the WA Labor Government has established a new railcar manufacturing facility in Bellevue, which currently employs around 150 workers.

Returning railcar manufacturing to WA is also boosting the State’s industry capabilities with 15 local businesses playing a role in manufacturing parts for the new trains, including:

• bogie frames (Hofmann Engineering – Bassendean);
• battery boxes (Aerison – Forrestfield);
• pantographs (mounts on the roof of the train that connect with the overhead line, Austbreck – Kewdale);
• passenger seats (McConnell – Bayswater);
• piping (Parker Hannifin – Welshpool); and
• metallic components (Unique Metals – Wangara).

The Government is currently meeting its 50 percent local content target, a significant increase from the two percent local content on the previous B-series under the Liberal-National Government.

Over the duration of the 10-year railcar contract, 246 new METRONET C-series railcars (41 trains) and six new Australind railcars (two trains) will be built, helping to meet the growing demand for train services.

It is anticipated a new METRONET C-series train will enter passenger services every few months over the life of the 10-year contract.

Comments attributed to Premier Roger Cook:

“Local rail manufacturing is back in WA, and under my Labor Government, it’s here to stay.

“Through METRONET, we’re already expanding our rail network and transforming our suburbs, and now we’ve delivered locally-built railcars.

“We’re not stopping here, with hundreds of ‘Made in WA’ METRONET railcars set to roll out onto the network over the coming decade – creating long-term local manufacturing jobs for WA.”

Comments attributed to Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:

“We committed to bringing railcar manufacturing back to WA – and to see the first C-series train make its inaugural trip today will be a proud moment for all Western Australians.

“It’s been a massive journey to reach this point – and we now have a thriving WA railcar manufacturing industry – with hundreds of workers employed to both build our trains and manufacture components locally.

“We’re continuing to exceed our local manufacturing target of 50 percent – with 15 local businesses across Perth currently delivering key components for the trains.

“From tomorrow, the first C-series train will be available to the entire community, as it commences passenger services on the Mandurah and Joondalup Lines.

“I think it will be a moment of pride each time a West Aussie jumps on this train – knowing it has been built and manufactured right here by our local workforce.”