The Eastern Railway is the main railway route between Fremantle and Northam in Western Australia. It opened in stages between 1881 and 1893. The line continues east to Kalgoorlie as the Eastern Goldfields Railway. Initial section The first sod of the Fremantle-Guildford Railway was turned by Governor Ord at Guildford on 3 June 1879. The event coincided with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of settlement of Western Australia. The alignment of this first section of the railway has remained generally unchanged since it opened on 1 March 1881 and now forms part of Transperth's Fremantle Line and Midland Line. Notable changes to this section include: Electrification of the Perth suburban rail network in 1991 Sinking of Subiaco station in 1998 as part of Subi Centro Sinking of the line through the former Perth Yards as part of Perth City Link The centenary of the railway was celebrated on 1 March 1981. First route The First Route, from to , was opened on 11 March 1884. The principal contractor of the works was J.W. Wright & Co. The route ascended the escarpment around Greenmount Hill passing through Boya, Darlington, Glen Forrest, Mundaring and Sawyers Valley before turning north to Mount Helena, originally known as White's Mill then as Lion Mill. A significant delay in construction was experienced at a site that became popularly known as Devil's Terror - a location between Darlington and Glen Forrest. Clay was struck when a cutting was under construction followed by a subsurface spring. The resulting flooding turned the clay into a bottomless bog. The rail alignment had to be moved 100 metres south along the bed of Nyaania Creek, which was diverted into a specially constructed channel. A year after the opening of the line to Chidlow it was further extended to Spencers Brook, opening 20 June 1885.The next year it had been extended again, opening to Northam on 13 October 1886. Both extensions were constructed by Edward Keane. It soon became apparent that the section between Bellevue and Mount Helena was too steep for the increasingly heavier trains and engines required for the route. As a result, the Second Route was quickly devised in the 1890s. After the completion of this alternate section, the original line became known in Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) records as the Smith's Mill Branch, then the Mundaring Branch, and later as the Mundaring Loop. Passenger traffic ceased