The Western Australian government has released the tender for the construction of the Bellevue railcar manufacturing facility.

The facility will enable the first locally manufactured trains in WA since the closure of the Midland Railway Workshop in 1994.

Currently, Alstom is the preferred proponent for the manufacture of the railcars, which will be carried out at the 180-metre-long building. The site will include two cranes which lift 25 tonnes, a heavy maintenance railroad with a crane which can lift up to 10 tonnes, as well as offices, workshops, and storage areas.

The plant will manufacture 246 railcars, arranged into 41 six car sets. 102 of these cars will be utilised in METRONET projects, and 144 will replace the A-series fleet.

“The release of today’s tender to construct the Bellevue depot is another step towards bringing railcar manufacturing back to Western Australia,” said WA Premier Mark McGowan.

“The new manufacturing and assembly plant in Bellevue will bring railcar manufacturing back to WA and back to its home in the Midland area.

“It means hundreds of quality, local jobs, more training and apprenticeship opportunities for our kids and WA made trains, on our new WA built METRONET lines,” said McGowan.

In a statement, the WA government estimates that the factory will create over 200 direct long-term jobs, and further associated indirect jobs.

Transport Minister, Rita Saffioti, highlighted how the release of a tender for the construction of the facility follows through on a commitment by the McGowan government.

“One of our key election commitments was to bring railcar manufacturing back to Western Australia – today’s tender release is another step in bringing those manufacturing jobs home.

“The new Bellevue facility will be where our new, locally built trains are assembled and maintained,” said Saffioti.

As part of the contract to deliver the trains, Alstom will need to meet a target of 50 per cent local content.