Wellington St Bus Station demolition under way
Work has begun on the second stage of the Perth City Link project - the sinking of the Wellington Street Bus Station.
Transport Minister Troy Buswell today inspected demolition works at the familiar Perth structure, where excavators started this week, and will give way to a state-of-the-art underground busport.
“This is an exciting day for Perth, because while we are losing the 40-year-old bus station, the people of Perth are gaining one of the most technically advanced busports in the country,”
Mr Buswell said.
“The sinking of the Wellington Street Bus Station is the next stage of the Perth City Link project. Putting this important piece of transport infrastructure underground will connect the Perth CBD to the heart of Northbridge, fulfilling a more than 100-year dream.
“When you put these works with other major projects under way across the city, everyone can see that Perth is really undergoing a once in a generation era of transformation.”
In an Australian first the busport will feature dynamic stand allocation technology, similar to an airport departure gate system.
“This technology monitors buses as they approach the station and allocates each bus a stand at which to stop; this information is communicated to passengers in the central waiting area,” the Minister said.
The technology has been successfully used at the Christchurch Bus Exchange in New Zealand and the Kamppi Terminal in Helsinki, Finland to maximise space-efficiency benefits.
Mr Buswell said the new technology meant up to 50 per cent more buses would be able to operate through the facility, which will effectively be the same size as the existing Wellington Street Bus Station.
The Perth Busport project is due for completion in mid-2016 and is being funded by the State Government ($237million) and the City of Perth ($12million).
The first stage of the State Government’s Perth City Link project involved sinking the Fremantle rail line through Northbridge, which was completed in December, six months ahead of schedule.