Construction continues on the METRONET Thornlie-Cockburn Link, with a 120 tonne piling rig recently moved into the Ranford Road Station site and almost 500 workers currently employed across all project work sites.
The piling rig is forming the foundations for the new Ranford Road bridge, drilling 156, 18-metre deep holes, which will be filled with concrete to form the foundation superstructure.
The new bridge will have six general traffic lanes, two bus lanes and a shared path on each side.
Construction of temporary retaining walls in the rail corridor has started, as well as installation and commissioning of the project's temporary main cable route.
Premier Mark McGowan said his government was getting on and building the transport infrastructure needed for tomorrow.
"The Thornlie-Cockburn Link was one of our key election commitments and it's fantastic to see construction steaming ahead," Mr McGowan said.
"This will be Perth's first east-west train link and will make a huge difference for people looking to travel across our southern suburbs.
"This year we have nine METRONET projects under construction, with several more in procurement, creating thousands of local jobs and opportunities for local businesses.
"As construction continues, we thank everyone for their patience as there will be disruption."
Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said the Morrison Government's multi-billion dollar investment into METRONET was helping transform Perth's public transport network.
"All along we said that METRONET would re-shape Perth and we are seeing that happen before our eyes," Mr Tudge said.
"Our targeted infrastructure means jobs for hard-working West Australians and a massive boost for the WA economy right now."
WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the McGowan Government was looking to the future as well as shoring up WA's immediate economic recovery.
"We're supporting thousands of local jobs and training opportunities across Western Australia through our METRONET and transport infrastructure projects," Ms Saffioti said.
"We recently launched a new training course called 'Infrastructure Ready' which gives jobseekers the opportunity to learn on the job skills on some of our major projects, including METRONET.
"I heard so many personal stories from people who had lost their jobs due to COVID and were now re-training - I'm so pleased we could provide these opportunities on our major projects."
Federal Member for Tangney Ben Morton said the southern suburbs were set to boom over coming years and the Thornlie-Cockburn Link was an important future investment.
"The Thornlie-Cockburn Link will help ease congestion and get people from A to B quickly and safely," Mr Morton said.
"Projects like this are all about creating connected communities, with opportunities for transit-oriented development and new, diverse housing options planned to supply a projected population boom in the eastern suburbs."
The 14.5km of new passenger rail from Thornlie to Cockburn Central stations (with an additional 3km to be built between Thornlie and Beckenham stations) will serve the current and future growth occurring between the Mandurah and Armadale lines and address gaps in public transport in these communities, as well as providing a direct link to Optus Stadium for Mandurah Line passengers.
Major construction is due to be completed in 2022 with the first trains expected to run on the Thornlie-Cockburn Link in 2023.
