Ranford Road Station is a key part of the current State Governments METRONET Thornlie - Cockburn Link project. The Thornlie-Cockburn Link (TCL) is one of Western Australia’s Government’s major infrastructure projects being delivered to support Perth’s population growth. It will be Perth’s first east-west connection and will efficiently join the southern suburbs by providing a more flexible and higher level of public transport.

The Ranford Road site for the future station is located adjacent to an old landfill site which bounds the west and north of an area of natural ground adjacent Ranford Road. The Woodbridge-Kwinana freight rail reserve runs across the north of the land with the rail in a cutting under Ranford Road. There is a Bush Forever site to the south and the Parmelia Bunbury high pressure gas pipeline and BP light oil fuel line parallel the railway in the south embankment. A mobile telecommunications tower sits on the existing land proposed for transport purposes. The existing land form / profile is in effect a hill with level differences between rail and the natural land of around 7m and the natural land and the top of the landfill site of around a further 6m.

The new station design will encompass a Station Entry building, concourse building and associated vertical circulation, bus interchange, carpark, public amenities and replacement/expansion of the Ranford Road bridge.

The architectural design for Ranford Road Station proposes a striking response to its location and the station entry building and pedestrian overpass link provide distinct and clearly identifiable entry points to the Station and support intuitive wayfinding.

The Station Forecourt & Entry Building is the primary arrival point for patrons and its canopy provides the link for pedestrians to transfer the concourse level overpass. The entry building also houses Staff and Public amenities with convenient access to the station precinct, shared path, bus interchange and station carparking facilities.

The station building above the platform and the pedestrian overpass continues the design theme of the Station Entry building providing an expressive contiguous roof and façade arrangement that provides protection for patrons against the weather. The façade design provides patron weather protection and helps maximise passive surveillance between station areas. The concourse features the Lobby Communications room (LCR), with future space provisions for automated fare gates and a Customer Services Booth (CSO). Stair access and two lifts deliver patrons to the Island platform below.

Patron vehicular access to the proposed station car parking shall be via an access road off the proposed East Link Rd to minimise traffic impact on Ranford Road. Bus access to the internal bus interchange is via Ranford Road and East Link Road. A dedicated bus lane and associated bus stands are also located directly alongside the northbound traffic lanes on Ranford Road.

A shared path runs along the north of the station entry building (between itself and the platform) providing bicycle access immediately adjacent the station bicycle parking area, and is supplemented by other shared path access from the east and south of the site. The project brief and the scope items undertaken as part of preparing the Architectural design are as follows:

Photography by Brian Smyth, Sitevisuals