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A new station at Bassendean was opened in July 20042Reece WaldockChief Executive Officer’sOverviewThe Public Transport Authority (PTA) achieved 4.9%growth in patronage, on the Transperth system, takingcustomer numbers to a record level across the publictransport network. We carried 94.99 millionpassengers.The main contributor to this significant growth was theexpansion of the metropolitan rail system to Clarksonand the introduction of three railcar train sets on therailway network. We completed new train stations atClarkson, Gosnells, Greenwood, Armadale andBassendean, encouraging public usage of the system.Work related trips increased and continuedinternational pressure on oil supplies is expected toincrease the demand for public transport. Theunprecedented $1563 million investment in NewMetroRail is particularly timely. Once the majorinvestment has been made, PTA will have approximately180km of railway extending north, east, west and south,including the new line to Mandurah. Together with thefully integrated bus services, this will be a key contributorto the sustainable growth of our city.PTA is proud of its continued high level of customersatisfaction.The customer satisfaction survey results for2004/05 increased one per cent to a very pleasing 85.6per cent.This rating is primarily due to our reliability ofservices, with on-time running in the mid 90 per centrange across all modes of transport. This strongperformance is to a large extent attributable to PTA’sstaff, who are committed to customer service.Recruitment of additional train drivers and transitguards lifted staff numbers to 1000.PTA is considered by its peers in other Australiancapitalcities (eg. Sydney and Adelaide) as a model tobe studied in their strategic planning because of PTA’sintegrated transport modes, ticketing, fares and stationinterchanges.Construction of the Southern Suburbs Railway (SSR)by the New MetroRail team continues to be a majorfocus for the PTA. There has been a $45.2 millionincrease in the cost of the total project, including theNorthern Suburbs Extension and Thornlie Spur, to$1563 million and completion is now scheduled forApril 2007. The growth of Mandurah (currentlyAustralia’s fastest growing city) and the high level ofdevelopment in the southern corridor clearly ratifiesthe State Government’s foresight in committing fundsto this project.With the northern rail extension to Clarkson openedon the 4th October, 2004 and the Thornlie project,which commenced operations in August 2005, NewMetroRail is now able to concentrate fully on the SSRproject. It will be more than 70km long, have 11stations and projected to carry 45,000 passengerseach work day. It will alleviate pressure on the stressedfreeway and road system in Perth, where threequarters of all trips are made by car.PUBLIC TRANSPORT AUTHORITYANNUAL REPORT 2005

PTA implemented a major security upgrade across thenetwork and progressed the SmartRider electronicticketing system, to be fully rolled out in January 2006.The recent completion of a central monitoring room,that provides a closed circuit television systemdelivering real time images from stations across the railnetwork, has placed PTA at the leading edge ofsecurity and counter terrorism technology in Australia.In concert with this, a centrally operated public addresssystem, improved lighting and the near completion ofour transit guard deployment programme at stationsand on all trains after 7:00pm provides passengers withan improved sense of security.The SmartRider system, used with great success inEurope and Asia, will allow people to pass throughgates at the start and finish of a journey.The electroniccard will automatically calculate the trip fare at the endof the journey. Passengers will be able to pass betweenferry, bus and train using the same card, improvingcustomer convenience and transport efficiency.Other significant developments during the yearincluded:• The introduction of six railcar trains carrying upto 1100 passengers.This has improved capacityin peak periods and has been beneficial for bigevents such as Skyworks and major sportingfixtures.• The introduction of gas powered buses toTransperth’s bus fleet has added to passengercomfort, a reduced environmental impact and ismoving the Transperth bus system to thesecurity of a local energy source.• A new train control centre has beencommissioned at East Perth.• A new training centre has been built atClaisebrook, incorporating a railcar cabsimulator for driver training to meet the needsof the expanding rail system.• The Prospector train service has overcometeething problems and is now providingexcellent high speed services to the Goldfieldsand places en route.The achievements of the year are the result of adedicated and enthusiastic team. I thank all the staff ofPTA for their continued high level of performance andcommitment to PTA’s purpose of customer focused,safe and cost effective passenger transport services.Reece WaldockChief Executive Officer3Night work took place on Perth’s foreshore for the Southern Suburbs Railway