Legislation for the construction of the Mandurah line passed in November 1999. The original proposed route branched from the Armadale line at Kenwick, and then ran alongside the Kwinana freight line until Jandakot where it would run in the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway. However, following a change in State Government, a bill passed that saw the route altered to start at Perth station, travel through a tunnel, traverse the Kwinana Freeway, and then continue along its initial route after Jandakot. This second route was much more direct, and allowed through services with the Joondalup line; however it was more costly. This decision also led to the relocation of the Rockingham station from the city centre to the outer edge in order to offset the additional costs of the Perth section. The original route included tunnels to bring the railway into the Rockingham CBD. As a trade-off for relocating Rockingham station to the outer edge, the State Government promised a light rail link to the Rockingham CBD. This was later revised to a Central Area Transit style bus service partly within a dedicated busway. As part of the work, the and Mount Henry Bridges were rebuilt. Construction of the line started in February 2004. The contract for the line was awarded to a joint venture of John Holland, Macmahon Contractors and Multiplex. The contract for the city centre works, including the tunnels, was awarded to a joint venture of Leighton Contractors and Kumagai Gumi. The contractors used a tunnel boring machine manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The first tunnel was completed on 3 June 2006, and the second on 27 October 2006. Between 2004 and 2006, the Leighton Kumagai Joint Venture was affected by a series of industrial disputes involving the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union. This culminated in the prosecution of 107 workers for taking illegal industrial action, by the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Prosecution of "the Perth 107" became a national and international cause célèbre, in part because it occurred as the Federal Government'sindustrial relations policy WorkChoices was taking place. From 7 to 14 October 2007, a planned shutdown of the whole Fremantle line and partial closure of the Joondalup line between Perth and Leederville stations was undertaken to allow workers to connect the Mandurah line to the Joondalup line. On 15 October 2007, Perth Underground and Esplanade stations opened. On this day, the railway also carried its first passengers with the extension of Joondalup line services to Esplanade station. On 9 November 2007, the first train crossed to Rockingham station, testing the new railway line at around 07:30 with a driver and a group of engineers. After the line testing completed, driver training was undertaken. The line was officially opened on 23 December 2007, with the first train carrying 1,500 passengers, including 1,000 members of the public selected by ballot. The line replaced bus services that previously travelled along the freeway to the city, which now terminate at Mandurah line stations. The exception is Canning Highway services, which stop at Canning Bridge station before continuing to the city. On 23 April 2017, Aubin Grove station opened between Cockburn Central and Kwinana.
Patronage
Below is the annual patronage of Mandurah railway line from 2010–2011 financial year. Figures are provided as total boardings, which includes all fare-paying boardings and free travel on stations within the free transit zones as well as transfers between stations. The figures for rail replacement and special events services are not included in the total.
Stations
The section between the Perth Underground and Elizabeth Quay stations is considered to be part of both the Joondalup and Mandurah lines. Special event services terminate at West Leederville station on the Fremantle line. These services skip Esplanade/Elizabeth Quay and Perth on the Mandurah line as well as City West on the Fremantle line.
