There was a follow-up report exploring options in about 2002 for AMcT also by HGM. This looked at a range of options for Perth-Bunbury including very high speed and speeding up the Australind to 90 minutes then 60 minutes. As it is 182 km, it was a bit of an ask and when they wanted to retain station stops it gave rise to cynicism. A Harrier jump jet would not meet that. There was also the issue that Bunbury trains lost priority from Armadale and anyone who has followed a stopping train on the Australind knows what that means. One issue was the checking of all tickets before boarding and that could take 4 minutes at Brunswick and Pinjarra. Another was the freight traffic approaching capacity on the single line, with some key sections identified.
This report also looked at returning quality passenger services to Pemberton and Margaret River, pointing out that Busselton was a possible viable destination especially as all the corridor was available and much of the track intact and operable. Whilst the highway obliterated the railway near Busselton, a corridor was retained for rail parallel to the road and was zoned for transport.
When the population of Bunbury increases 10 fold, the report may be dusted off and revisited.
For info, HGM became Maunsell and then AECOM.
The option of using the Mandurah line and following the median of the highway from about Lakelands or going across to Pinjarra was included in the report.