Aldridge

A HISTORY OF INNOVATION AND TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE

ALREADY SYNONYMOUS WITH QUALITY ROAD TRAFFIC SIGNALLING DESIGN, MANUFACTURE, INSTALLATION AND MAINTENANCE FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS, ALDRIDGE IS NOW EARNING ACCOLADES IN THE RAILWAY SIGNALLING INDUSTRY.

RAILWAY SIGNAL

MANUFACTURER Aldridge recently achieved Authorised Engineering Organisation status with Transport for NSW, recognising its excellence in innovation and engineering.

It’s further testament to the strides the company has made since being established in the early 1990s as a local manufacturer of railway signals. Since then, Aldridge has supplied signals and products to Sydney Trains, ARTC, CRN, Queensland Rail, Aurizon, PTSSA, PTAWA, TasRail as well as exporting signals to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and New Zealand.

A privately owned Indigenous Australian company, Aldridge Railway Signals (signal manufacturer) and its sister company Aldridge Signal Infrastructure (signals installation) employ more than 100 Australians in this high technology sector.

Aldridge can develop and certify new products, prepare client concept designs, specification including rail signal functional specification, supply and manufacture, complete site installation, testing, commissioning, site demobilisation and warranty.

In 1995, Aldridge Railway Signals designed, manufactured, and commissioned Australia’s first LED (light-emitting diode) rail signals into the Sydney Underground System, better known as “The City Circle”. This re-program replaced all incandescent signals with LEDs.

In 1998 Aldridge’s high standards of engineering excellence were recognised when it achieved compliance with ISO 9001 for a Quality Management System in the design and manufacture of railway signals and associated hardware.

Expanding its product offering, in 2018 Aldridge became the Australian distributor for Kyosan, which was first established as Tokyo Electric Industry Co in 1917.

Since then, Kyosan Electric has been developing and producing various products, among which are many Japan’s and world’s first products. These products include platform screen doors and mechanical gap fillers for Metro train systems as well as perway products such as points and point motors right through to interlocking systems.

In 2019 Aldridge supplied the first Smart signals for the new North-West Rail, fully automated and driverless system, and at the end of that year Aldridge ITS launched the Wireless Level Crossing (WLX).

This new approach brings new savings, with the WLX controller only requiring low power operation supplied by solar panels and 12V battery, which saves on power infrastructure.

Communication back to a central server uses 3G/4G to log and manage system data with user access managed from the server.

Should sensors need to be located in cuttings or on bends, relay towers (repeaters) are set up between the sensor transmission tower and the railway crossing to prevent any transmission loss.

This approach also saves on cabling as there is no requirement to trench and install cables from the wheel sensors, which may be located kilometres from the level crossing.

In 2020 Aldridge achieved recognition as an Australian Indigenous company, registered with Supply Nation as a Certified Supplier.

Capping off all these achievements

Aldridge Signal Infrastructure provided services to the Moorebank Intermodal Terminal.

was the AEO status, granted in July 2021 for signalling and control trackside systems (including cabling) in the areas of material procurement, manufacturing or fabrication, testing and commissioning as well as acceptance services.

INLAND RAIL

One of Aldridge’s major projects is to supply signals to the Inland Rail Narrabri to North Star (N2NS) Phase 1 project in NSW.

Aldridge Railway Signals will be providing about 95 mainline signals and 35 shunting signals, all state-ofthe-art LEDs.

In addition, Aldridge will supply 14 sets of level crossing lighting assemblies, LED modules for level crossing gate arms and ancillary devices as well as numerous trackside facility enclosures.

Aldridge will also install all 65 articulated post assemblies prewired with 65 main signals and 30 BOL (block over lap) signals, 14 complete level crossing sets and ancillary devices as well as numerous trackside facility enclosures.

Meanwhile, Aldridge Signal Infrastructure was contracted for the installation and commissioning.

The N2NS route is within the Narrabri, Moree Plains and Gwydir local government areas in north-west NSW. N2NS extends about 173km from north of Narrabri Junction, terminating at North Star, about half-way between Moree and the Queensland border town of Goondiwindi.

The project is generally within the existing rail corridor requiring the upgrading of an existing line.

The upgraded line is to include 12 passing loops, nine level crossings as well as a marshalling yard at Moree, with Aldridge Signal Infrastructure responsible for the installation and commissioning of the upgraded signalling systems and associated infrastructure.

Aldridge Signal Infrastructure managing director Phil Anderson said the company had assigned significant resources to the project and it was “without doubt very significant for our business”.

“We see this contract as an opportunity to double the size of the business and look forward to contributing to a project that will bring tremendous benefits to the Australian nation,” he said.

“We see opportunities for the next 10 years and to have this major involvement in a big project is a great position to be in.”

KEY PROJECTS

Aldridge Signal Infrastructure has completed several major projects including: • The Sydney Intermodal Terminal

Alliance (SIMTA) Terminal at

Moorebank: A new Intermodal

Terminal off the Australian Rail

Track Corporation’s Southern

Sydney Freight Line at Glenfield.

The company was contracted to

CPB Contracting for the supply, installation and commissioning of the signalling system, upgrading the existing Westrace MKI Interlocking to ARTC’s first Westrace MKII

Interlocking through to the new terminal. This project was awarded at $2.5m but with the inclusion of additional scope grew to $7.5m incorporating the Intermodal Terminal itself. • The Georges Plains Crossing Loop: A new crossing loop between Bathurst and Newbridge on the Main West

Line. This project also included four level crossing and in-section controlled signals for following movements in the Georges Plains to Newbridge section, with the client being John

Holland CRN. • Installation and commissioning of 11 Level Crossing Improvement

Project (LCIP) level crossing upgrades throughout NSW for the ARTC and

JHCRN. • Ettamogah Rail Hub container handling, intermodal transport facility providing a rail-transport option for national and international freight to and from the Albury-Wodonga region. The project was funded by federal and state government and aims to get heavy vehicles off the road. Contracted to provide a turnkey solution for the system from detail design, supply, installation and commissioning, the project was initially to be completed in six months but due to scope creep from changes to operational requirements it was completed in 24 months. It was a significant project in which Aldridge played a key role.

Aldridge Railway Signals stand sentinel at a Goonumbla grain silo siding. The signal includes a points direction indicator.

For further information, contact David Aldridge on +61 2 9807 7777 or sales@railsignal.com