Premier flags ‘Metronet on the Swan’ ferry expansion

A business case into expanding the ferry system is being developed for the state government’s next major infrastructure undertaking after Metronet.

Speaking at Property Council of Australia’s Vision for the State event, Premier Roger Cook said the public transport system needed to evolve, from rail to river, dubbing it "Metronet on the Swan".

The state government has yet to earmark new ferry stops, but Transport Minister Rita Saffioti today referenced a route from Canning Bridge to Matilda Bay.

Ms Saffioti acknowledged there had been similar talks about the ferry system over the years without anything coming to fruition.

However, she said the recent pipeline of projects around the river was a key difference.

“We’ve gone into a very detailed business case analysis on this, including going into full costings and we're working through those at the moment,” Ms Saffioti said.

“If you look at, in particular, the Canning Bridge area where you see significant developments … and in relation to both sides [of the river], we've got some current developments and future developments.

“The key difference is that the buildings are being built and there's people moving to those areas.

“In relation to Sydney, for example, a lot of what drives their ferry system is the amount of people living in these areas, and the centre is close to the river.

“We've seen that now in Perth, which is a clear difference to those years [before].”

Mr Cook said the announcement followed a large number of ferry patrons in January of nearly 110,000 boardings, about 49,000 more than in January 2022.

“We're approaching the point where we need to consider the river and the role that it plays as part of our public transport system,” he said.

“This is something that we've never cracked in Western Australia beyond the Mends Street–Barrack Street route.

“But what we saw in January this year was truly remarkable ... January was the busiest month ever in relation to the use of the ferries.”

Ms Saffioti said the state government was always keen on a better utilisation for the Swan river.

“But of course, we've had a massive task and delivering Metronet,” she said.

“We're getting to, in a sense, the final stages of delivering Metronet, so it's a matter of now looking beyond Metronet stage one and see what are the next key proposals.

“We're continuing to work that [business case] and we're working through the system, and we hope to be able to make further announcements over the next six to eight months.

“It's an absolute fundamental part of any plan will be to have locally made ferries in WA.”