Metronet rail project sees train building return to WA for first time in 30 years
Not far from the old Midland railway workshop, where carriages were once crafted from forge and fire, train manufacturing has returned to Perth's eastern suburbs for the first time in almost 30 years.
A five-stage assembly process is underway at the hangar-like facility built to manufacture 264 C-Series railcars for Perth's upcoming Metronet rail expansion project.
From arranging the wires and electronics that form the brain of the trains, to building the air-conditioning systems to cool passengers in Perth's summer heat, activity inside the new Midland facility signals the revival of a lost WA industry.
Until 2021, when the Metronet WA Railcar Program began, the sounds of train manufacturing in Midland had been silent since its railway workshops were closed by the state government amid staff protests in 1994.
"It is good to see it back," Paul Fitzgerald, a mechanical fitter for the new Metronet trains, said.
"There's actually one guy here that … did his apprenticeship at the old workshops, but in some ways we've lost probably a generation of the skills to do it.
"So the apprentices here are very important, that they pick up from the older guys how the trains are assembled and … engineering processes in general."
The old Midland factory was established in 1904 and was central to the growth of the neighbourhood.
The total Metronet project comprises 72 kilometres of new rail line, including a new Morley-Ellenbrook line, the Thornlie-Cockburn link and 23 new stations.
Professor Mike Dockery, a research fellow at the Curtin Economics Centre, said bringing manufacturing back to WA was good for the state because it helped reduce risk in case of a commodity price downturn.
"Presuming it's a competitive and viable investment, then certainly it's a plus," he said.
"It's great to have that diversification not just focusing on mining.
"That just gives you a little bit less risk to external shocks if you've got all your eggs in one basket."
Mr Fitzgerald said the skills developed while building the trains would also be essential for their long-term maintenance.
He previously worked building ships and now oversees the assembly of air conditioning and ceiling modules for the trains.
The railcars needed high-capacity air conditioning to cope with the summer heat that burst through the carriage doors at every station, he said.
He said he expected to feel a sense of pride at seeing the trains carrying passengers across the city when they were deployed.
"It'll be quite good actually, sitting around and thinking how I remember when these were a bare skeleton."
Daniel Holloway, an electrician with the testing and commissioning team, did maintenance on Transperth's B-Series trains for six years before starting work on the C-Series railcars.
He said working on trains appealed to him because it was a specialty role in a niche market.
"I didn't have a set passion to work with trains, I kind of just fell into the work at the time," Mr Holloway said.
"I was doing FIFO work and then started the family, came back to Perth and I just found it a good industry to get into."
Mr Holloway's job involves testing the train's electrical systems after production.
Paria Shomali worked at an automotive manufacturer in Iran before moving to Australia as a skilled immigrant in 2015 to work on trains.
"One of the most interesting things in train manufacturing is the contribution of this industry to the environment," Ms Shomali said.
"It's a product that in future can help the environment, can help community and it's something that has a public benefit."
Professor Dockery said skills developed through the train-building process could even be applied to growing future industries, such as the production of satellites for the space industry.
One of the new Metronet trains is being tested, with plans to have the first of them operational by year's end.
Metronet said it had a target of using 50 per cent locally made materials, including battery boxes, cab structures, passenger seats and some parts.
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