Oats Street railway station is a Transperth suburban railway station in Western Australia, located in the Perth suburbs of Carlisle and East Victoria Park. The station is served by the Armadale and Thornlie lines and has connections to bus services as well.
Oats Street station opened on 28 November 1954, as the introduction of diesel railcars made closer together stations possible. The CircleRoute bus began operating in 1998, allowing access to Curtin University from the Armadale line. A bus interchange was constructed soon thereafter, and Oats Street soon became one of the most important stations on the Armadale line. The Thornlie line opened in 2005, with Oats Street station being one of the few transfer stations between the two lines, further increasing its importance. The station is planned to close for eighteen months starting in November 2023 to allow for the railway to be elevated and for Oats Street station to be rebuilt as an elevated station, as part of the Victoria Park-Canning Level Crossing Removal Project.
The Armadale and Thornlie lines each have a 15-minute frequency, reducing to every 30 minutes at night. The Thornlie line is less frequent on Sundays, operating every 30 minutes, and the Armadale line is more frequent during peak hour. Bus routes from Oats Street station go to Airport Central station, Kalamunda bus station, Curtin University, Belmont, and Kewdale.
Description
Oats Street station is on the boundary of Carlisle and East Victoria Park, which are suburbs of Perth. The station is between Rutland Avenue to the east and Bank Street to the west, just north of the Oats Street level crossing. The station is along the South Western Railway, which links Perth and Bunbury, and is owned by the Public Transport Authority (PTA). Adjacent stations are Carlisle station to the north-west and Welshpool station to the south-east. Oats Street station is from Perth station.
Oats Street station consists of two side platforms. At each end of the platforms are level crossings for pedestrians. As these level crossings have gaps of up to , the station is not considered fully accessible. On the west side of the station is a bus interchange with four bus stands. There are three car parks around the station, for a total of 73 car bays. Other amenities include bike shelters and transit officer booths.
The surrounding area predominantly consists of low density residential development, with some light industrial to the south. There is also the Carlisle campus of the South Metropolitan TAFE directly to the west of Oats Street station.
History
Diesel railcars were introduced to Perth's rail network in 1954. The diesel railcars had faster acceleration than steam trains, which allowed for more stations to open. Oats Street station opened on 28 November 1954 as an infill station between Carlisle and Welshpool stations, along with six other stations on the same day: Ashfield, Higham (now known as Beckenham station), Grant Street, Stokely, Loch Street, and Victoria Street.
On 16 February 1998, the first stage of the CircleRoute bus route launched. This stage went from Fremantle station to Oats Street station via Curtin University. The second stage opened on 22 February 1999, forming a full loop around Perth. The Oats Street bus interchange was built between 1998 and 2002 to make transferring between bus and train easier. This yielded a 22 percent increase in patronage at Oats Street station for 2002 compared to 1998. Oats Street station has since become an important station for people travelling to Curtin University and the Carlisle TAFE campus.
The original plans for the Mandurah line had it branch off the Armadale line at Kenwick, which would have meant an increase in trains at Oats Street station. The South West Metropolitan Railway Master Plan, published in 1999, said that Oats Street station would become a transfer point between the Mandurah and Armadale lines, with Mandurah line trains running express along most of the Armadale line. It therefore said that Oats Street station would need to be grade separated and rebuilt. It would either become elevated over Oats Street or in a trench; further planning was not done due to the site's constraints.