The Department of Transport has announced that the first fully-completed, locally-manufactured C-series train is now ready for testing on the rail network.
The new C-series design reveals that the 143-metre train has close to 400 seats. It will enter operations later this year on the Joondalup and Mandurah lines.
In a statement, the Department said two C-series train sets were already undergoing detailed diagnostic testing on the network, but still required seating and handrails to be installed.
“Once operational, the six-car C-series train will manage more than 103,000 daily passenger boardings safely, reliably, and smoothly,” the Department said.
It noted that when the first C-series train entered operation, it would be the first locally-manufactured and built train to join the rail network in more than 30 years.
Describing it as a “massive achievement for local train manufacturing”, the Minister for Transport, Rita Saffioti said the idea of bringing rail car manufacturing back to Western Australia was something the Government had committed to many years ago.
“Now, to see the first fully-completed C-series is something all Western Australians should be proud of,” Ms Saffioti said.
“This new train will be the very first to enter operations later this year, and will also be the first locally-built train to enter our network since the 1990s, with the B-Series brought in from Queensland and deployed directly on the network.”
She said over the next 10 years Western Australians would see 246 brand new, locally-built, C-series railcars which would significantly increase passenger carrying capacity for the rapidly growing rail network.
