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MP wants new rail to Thornlie

Liberal backbencher Peter Abetz wants the Government to commit to construction of a rail line linking Cockburn and Thornlie within five years.

Mr Abetz says the line would ease traffic congestion in his electorate, give those who work in the Canning Vale industrial area a public transport alternative to driving and help residents in the southern suburbs get efficiently to and from the new stadium at Burs-wood.

Mr Abetz, who campaigned on the issue locally in 2008, toldThe West Australian he had unsuccessfully lobbied the Government’s leadership to commit to the line in the lead-up to the 2013 State election. “I think they figured that the polling showed I was doing extremely well,” he said.

Transport Minister Dean Nalder confirmed the Public Transport Authority was working on a business case for the line, which would link the Mandurah line from Cockburn Central to the Thornlie spur line through the Canning Vale industrial area, but there was no timeline for the project.

Construction of the line also would allow those who board trains on the Mandurah line at Cockburn Central or stations south of it to catch a direct train to the new stadium, which is on the Armadale line at Burswood.

Under the Government’s present transport plan for the new stadium, those who take trains on the Mandurah line will have to change trains at Perth.

Mr Abetz said many who worked in Canning Vale lived in Mandurah and it would be much easier for football fans in the southern suburbs to catch one train instead of two.

“I’m hoping that within five years we’ll either get a commitment to it or even construction starting,” he said.

“If it wasn’t started within seven years, I’d be very disappointed.”

It is expected the project will cost at least $320 million.

The Government’s only committed rail project is the $2billion rail line to Perth Airport and Forrestfield, which Mr Abetz said he supported.

Mr Nalder said that while the Cockburn-Thornlie line would assist moving football crowds, it was a “valid project in its own right” and it had been deemed more “efficient and cost-effective” to have football passengers on the Mandurah line change trains at Perth.