File:Perth rail map.png

English: Railways in Western Australia were developed in the 19th century both by the Government of Western Australia and a number of private companies. Today passenger rail services are controlled by the Public Transport Authority (a department of the Government of Western Australia) through Transperth, which operates public transport in Perth, and Transwa, which operates country passenger services. Great Southern Rail operates the Indian Pacific.

The interstate standard gauge line east from Kalgoorlie is owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation, with most other lines leased by the state to Arc Infrastructure.[1]

Freight rail was privatised in 2000. General intrastate freight is mainly operated by Aurizon, while grain traffic is operated by Watco under contract to the CBH Group. Interstate traffic is operated by Pacific National and SCT Logistics. A number of private iron ore haulage railways also operate in the Pilbara region of the state.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Timeline 1.2 By years 1.3 First lines 1.4 Southern lines 1.5 Northern lines 1.6 Goldfields line 1.7 Timber lines 1.8 Wheatbelt branch lines 1.9 Isolated branch lines 2 Operations 2.1 Perth suburban network 2.2 Regional passenger 2.3 Pilbara iron ore lines 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links History

The locomotive Ballarat in the sand at Wonnerup, 1921. Reputed to be the oldest in Western Australia, the engine now sits in St Marys Park, Busselton.

Railway construction circa 1926, Western Australia

Modern S class diesel locomotive on a bauxite train at Wellard.

Australian Railroad Group 1600 class locomotives at Forrestfield.

Transwa Australind at Claisebrook station The Western Australian lines developed in narrow 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge from Fremantle (the port of Perth), Geraldton, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance, mainly for carrying grain and minerals, with the private Midland Railway Company and Great Southern Railway adding 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge lines in the Wheatbelt with the support of land grants.

In 1907, the standard-gauge Trans-Australian Railway from Port Augusta, South Australia to Kalgoorlie was authorised. Construction started in 1912, and it was completed in 1917. It was run by the Commonwealth Railways. In the 1960s standard (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)) gauge lines penetrated to Perth and Esperance and long distance heavy-haul railways were built in the Pilbara region by major iron mining companies, particularly BHP and Hamersley Iron. The Perth suburban lines were electrified and extended.

Government railways were controlled by the Department of Works and Railways from 1877.[2]

The department became Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) in 1890. WAGR became Westrail in 1975 and continued to manage both passenger and freight rail services in Western Australia until 2000, when the freight business was sold to the Australian Railroad Group who operated it under the Australian Western Railroad brand.[2] This business was purchased by Queensland Rail in 2006 and rebranded Aurizon in 2013.[3] Westrail’s freight rail lines were leased to WestNet Rail, another subsidiary of the Australian Railroad Group.[4][5] This business was acquired by Babcock & Brown in 2006 and sold again in 2010 to Brookfield Asset Management and rebranded Brookfield Rail.[6][7][8][9] In July 2017 it was again rebranded as Arc Infrastructure.[10][11]