‘Blown away with expectations’: Transport Minister says it’s all aboard on the airport line
Two years after its due date, the $1.9 billion Forrestfield-Airport link has created three new stations and an 8.5-kilometre tunnel below the Swan River.
Jake Battrick from the 6PR Nine Newsroom spoke to Gareth Parker from Redcliffe station where he spotted the Transport Minister.
Rita Saffioti told 6PR Breakfast that the airport train line is running smoothly with services starting this morning.
“We’re estimating 24,000 boarding, there was just people waiting to get on the first train,” she told Parker and Battrick.
“We had to put more trains on and turned our three car sets to six car sets,
“We were blown away with expectations.”
Tap PLAY to hear the Transport minister’s reaction to the new train line on Monday morning.
Jake Battrick first spoke to Gareth Parker on 6PR Breakfast from High Wycombe station.
“I am on platform 1, I am on the train… we’ll head into that enormous, long tunnel that was opened by the Premier and the Prime Minister yesterday,” he said.
“One gentleman told me he had to catch this train now because his bus service was cancelled,
“One commuter had to drive to Cannington from High Wycombe and get on the train there and get into the city, and the other had to go to Midland or Guildford train station, so they’re happy they’re going to save about half an hour on their commute.”
The first train left Perth station at 12 past five this morning due to arrive at Airport Central Station at half-past the hour.
Tap PLAY to hear the full report live from High Wycombe station.