The original stage of the Joondalup line began construction in November 1989. and extended to
Currambine station on 8 August 1993. An extension to Clarkson station opened on 4 October 2004.
Planning and construction During planning for the Joondalup line extension from Currambine station to Clarkson station in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it was recognised that the Joondalup line would be eventually extended north of Clarkson. Two potential stations were recognised: a park-and-ride station at
Lukin Drive, called Butler station; and a station north of that, surrounded by a
transit oriented development, called Brighton station. The name "Brighton" is a commonly used, but unofficial name for part of Butler.
A$2.1million was allocated in the 2007 state budget for planning the extension to Butler. Before the
2008 Western Australian state election, both the
Labor and
Liberal parties promised to extend the Joondalup line to Butler. After the Liberal Party formed government following the election,
Transport Minister Simon O'Brien said in 2009 that it was hoped that construction would start in 2011–12, and the extension would open in 2014. At the time, the number of stations on the extension was not decided. In November 2009, the government introduced the
Railway (Butler to Brighton) Bill into
Parliament. The railway extension had a predicted cost of $240million, a length of , and one station at the end of the extension, known then as Brighton station. The opposition criticised the plan to not build the station at Lukin Drive. O'Brien defended the choice of building only one station, saying that the Public Transport Authority told him it was a better idea to do so. The bill passed in July 2010. The first of the main contracts for the project was awarded to R J Vincent & Co in December 2010. The contract was worth $6million, and was for of earthworks between the entrance of the
Nowergup depot near
Hester Avenue, and Landbeach Boulevard, joining up with the earthworks done previously north of Landbeach Boulevard. The earthworks for double tracks had already been completed during the construction of a single track between Clarkson station and Nowergup depot. The station design was approved by a Joint Development Assessment Panel on 5 December 2011. A $22million contract for the construction of Butler station was awarded to Cooper and Oxley in July 2012, and construction on the station began on 16 July 2012. In November 2012, a $19.7million contract was signed with
Ansaldo STS Australia to design and construct the railway signalling system for the extension. Included in the funding for the project were four new
Transperth B-series trains and 11 new buses.
Commissioning and opening The first train ran on the extension on 25 August 2014, with train driver familiarisation beginning after that. The station was opened on 21 September 2014 by
Premier Colin Barnett and Minister for Transport
Dean Nalder, several months early and $20million under budget. Some nearby residents experienced excessive vibrations when trains passed their homes. 178 people signed a petition saying that they and their homes were "severely and adversely impacted" by vibrations from trains. On 12 October 2014, 50 residents gathered around the railway line to protest against the vibrations. Opposition leader
Mark McGowan, Member for
Butler John Quigley and Shadow Transport Minister
Ken Travers attended the protest as well. McGowan said that the of matting was not enough. Nalder reiterated that the government was undertaking vibration monitoring. In December 2014, the results of noise monitoring were released. The monitoring found that noise and vibration levels near Butler station were within acceptable standards, but noise and vibrations were above acceptable levels at Kilkee Street, near Nowergup depot. The PTA said that a larger earth noise wall would be built there. Before opening, the projected patronage for the station was 2,000 people per day. The station reached that patronage nine days after opening. In August 2015, the station had 2,022 daily boardings, with a total of 600,000 in its first year of operation. Boardings on buses in the surrounding area were also up by 13% compared to before the station opened. In March 2018, Butler station had approximately 2,750 boardings on an average weekday, making it the seventh busiest station on the Joondalup line.
Railway extension north of Butler In late 2019, construction started on extending the Joondalup line north to
Yanchep, with three new stations. As part of the extension, the platforms at Butler station were lengthened. The extension to Yanchep opened on 14 July 2024. ==Services==