It’s now been a year since trains on the Armadale line ground to a halt.
With only six months remaining of the scheduled 18-month shutdown, doubts are starting to be raised in the community about whether the Byford Rail Extension will be completed on time and on budget.
The rumour mill has begun to pick up pace; one particular one about alleged faults in the concrete beams on the elevated rail structure that are likely to cause delays to the reopening of the line, has picked up traction.
The same community report suggested the line could be partially reopened between Perth and Gosnells until the Armadale end works are completed.
The Examiner took the concerns to Metronet to verify them. And while they did concede that a problem had been picked up, that issue was little more than a flash in a pan.
“During routine inspections on the Armadale Station viaduct, a slight misalignment with the elastomeric bearing pad that sits on the headstock at the underside of the viaduct beam was identified.” a spokesperson for Metronet said.
These bearings allow a bridge to shift horizontally slightly to compensate for ground movements or thermal expansion and contraction. Without them, cracks in the concrete beams could start to appear.
“A safe and workable solution, requiring some bearings to be replaced has been implemented and work is continuing on the Byford Rail Extension project,” the Metronet spokesperson explained.
The Examiner also queried why work on the Armadale Station had been delayed, with original estimates from project management indicating the build for both the Armadale and Byford stations would start mid-2024.
Installation of the structural steel for the Armadale concourse buildings began in October, but there is no sign of the pre-fabricated wall panels yet.
We asked when we might see the walls go up.
Metronet did not address these questions, but did say this: “The Armadale Line remains on track to reopen in the middle of next year, and as always, the government will provide more specific dates closer to the reopening”.
