The government of Western Australia has approved a $240m plan to extend capital city Perth’s Joondalup railway by 7.5km.

The railway, which runs through Perth’s northern suburbs and ends at Clarkson, will be extended north of Clarkson to Butler.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2011 and finish by the end of 2014.

Work involves building a new railway station and a park-and-ride facility in the far northern suburb.

The project is aimed at serving the increasing number of rail users, which is expected to more than quadruple from 41,000 in 2006 to 188,000 by 2031 for the northwest corridor from Clarkson to Two Rocks.