National

Madew appointed Infrastructure Australia boss

GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL CEO Romilly Madew has been appointed the next chief executive of Infrastructure Australia, the Federal Government’s independent infrastructure advisor.

Madew was named Infrastructure Australia’s next CEO in January, to assume the role in April, replacing Anna Chau who was acting CEO since Philip Davies left at the end of his three-year term last year.

Deputy prime minister Michael McCormack said Madew’s appointment would bolster IA’s skill and expertise, helping it better assist with planning and delivery of major infrastructure.

“Ms Madew has a proven ability to forge strong working relationships with colleagues and external shareholders in industry, government and the community and I welcome her appointment to this important leadership position,” McCormack, also the federal minister for infrastructure, said.

“Ms Madew’s expertise will help to ensure IA can continue to consult with a broad range of stakeholders to provide high quality advice and strategic feedback, to assist the Federal Government and others with making important decisions about major infrastructure investments.” McCormack said one of Madew’s first priorities would be overseeing the finalisation of IA’s next Australian Infrastructure Audit, due for release in mid-2019.

Madew has been the CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia since 2006. She has occupied multiple board positions including as deputy president of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council, the World Green Building Council, and the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

She won the national 2009 Telstra Business Women’s Award for Community and Government, in 2015 she won the US Green Building Council’s International Leadership Award, and in 2017 she won the World Green Building Council Chairman’s Award.

IA chair Julieanne Alroe said Madew had been a driving force behind Australia’s sustainable building movement. “Recognised around the world as a AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF COMPANY DIRECTORS

leader in the property and construction industry, Romilly is an experienced CEO with expertise in strategy, governance and policy development,” Alroe said. “She has forged strong working relationships with industry, government and community stakeholders through her current role and previous executive positions.”

Alroe said it was “an incredibly important time” for Madew to be joining IA, with the Audit due, and work soon to begin on the next Australian Infrastructure Plan.

Madew said she was honoured to begin a new chapter as IA’s CEO.

“Infrastructure Australia has a critical role to play in helping governments prioritise projects and reforms that best serve our communities,” she said. Romilly Madew’s appointment was welcomed by infrastructure minister Michael McCormack.

“I look forward to growing the organisation’s focus on delivering better outcomes for individual users across transport, energy, telecommunications, water and social infrastructure.”

The appointment was immediately welcomed by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, which represents industry members.

“The appointment of Ms Madew will add strength to the independent advice of Infrastructure Australia in what is set to be a major year for infrastructure delivery,” IPA chief executive Adrian Dwyer said. “Infrastructure Australia has enjoyed bipartisan support from both sides of the aisle over the years and it will be important that this tradition continues in the lead up to the election.”

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Australian rail operators ‘get on board’ with the implementation of Project i-TRACE

Project i-Trace is an initiative of GS1, a not-for-profit developing global standards for business communication.

THE AUSTRALASIAN RAILWAY Association (ARA) Board, together with operators and suppliers, has agreed on the industry-wide adoption of the GS1 data standards, the most comprehensive and widely used supply chain standards in the world. This important initiative involves standardising the capture of data relating to all assets and materials in the rail sector using GS1 global data standards. The objective is to be able to follow a component, part or asset throughout its lifecycle (including maintenance) from procurement to disposal.

GS1 and ARA are in agreement: Keeping pace with technological advancements is key to ensuring the Australian rail industry is prepared forchange.

“Around the world there is a realization that the digitilisation of the rail industry is essential. Project i-TRACE is a fundamental building block towards achieving digital capability in the sector,” ARA Chief Executive Danny Broad says. “The ARA Board is encouraging all of industry - operators, track managers, contractors, suppliers and manufacturers –

to implement GS1 global data standards in their businesses.”

GS1 Australia’s Senior Manager for Freight, Logistics & Industrial Sectors, Bonnie Ryan, told Rail Express 2019 is marked as the year to implement Project i-TRACE. “The message for rail businesses is to get on board so you can take advantage of the many benefits of this initiative,” Ryan said. A range of industry-wide efficiencies are targeted with the Project i-TRACE plan to standardise rail’s supply chain: • A reduction in inventory write-offs and waste, leading to optimal inventory management. • Improvements in maintenance and repair operations. • Improvements in traceability and warranty management which is fundamental for lifecycle tracking. • A reduction in costs through fewer transaction errors and better data quality. • The elimination of operational tasks by enabling the automation of manual processes. Sydney Trains Chief Executive Officer Howard Collins said the introduction of a

new SAP asset management system signals the start of Sydney Trains’ digital journey. “Project i-TRACE allows us to trace every component from when it’s been ma nufactured all the way through to installation and to the whole of life performance of that asset,” Collins said. “My message to all those involved in the rail industry whether you are a small supplier, all the way through to us as a big maintainer, is get on board with i-TRACE.” Rail businesses can subscribe to the Project i-TRACE newsletter at www. gs1au.org/project-itrace-news to keep up to date with the latest implementation news and resources or watch the ‘Time to Get on Board’ video at bit.ly/2ShJElm To ensure rail businesses are compliant with the GS1 global data standards, download the rail guideline from the GS1 website, or for more information about Project i-TRACE, contact Bonnie Ryan, Senior Manager- Freight, Logistics & Industrial Sectors, GS1 Australia, at bonnie.ryan@gs1au. org or Duncan Sheppard, General Manager – Freights & Contractors, Australasian RailwayAssociation, at dsheppard@ara.net.au.

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Trains continue to engross Slow Summer viewers

AUSTRALIA’S RAIL INDUSTRY IS receiving positive PR from a rather unexpected source. Three-hour, dialoguefree documentaries featuring footage from the most iconic passenger journeys are transfixing SBS viewers across the nation. The peculiar genre ‘Slow TV’ began in 2009 when Norway’s national broadcasting corporation showed a sevenhour train journey between Bergen and Oslo, as part of the 100-year anniversary of the Bergen Line.

Bergensbanen – minutt for minutt featured interior and exterior footage from four cameras, along with interviews with drivers, crew and historians, and was watched by roughly 20 per cent of the Norwegian population.

Follow-up documentaries included other iconic train journeys, knitting, animal observations and boat trips, including 2011’s Hurtigruten – minutt for minutt, a 134-hour live event covering the voyage of the ferry MS Nordnorge from Bergen to Kirkenes.

Australia’s SBS network got in on the action last year, producing The Ghan, a three-hour documentary of the journey between Adelaide and Darwin, combining new footage with archival imagery to tell the story of the journey and its history. The Ghan was an instant hit, with an average of 583,000 viewers reported, and social media ablaze over not only how fascinating a concept Slow TV was, but how interested they had become in the train journey itself.

Viewers were again transfixed by Slow TV on January 6, 2019, with Indian Pacific, the broadcaster’s return to the format. The three-hour film, this time covering the iconic train trip from Perth to Sydney, again fascinated social media.

“I totally thought this #indianpacific was a gimmick and that I’d only watch five minutes. Half hour later I’m still here and mesmerized by the 300 mile straight,” one Twitter user posted. “Let’s get #SlowSummer a Logie,” another user added. “I’m loving all these interesting facts about different towns along the path of the #indianpacific,” another said.

Three hours wasn’t enough for some viewers: On January 12, SBS ran 17-hour version of Indian Pacific on its secondary

VICELAND channel.

VICELAND then ran an all-day version of The Ghan on January 26.

KiwiRail gets in on it This year’s Slow TV from SBS also includes The Kimberley Cruise, a boat trip from Broome to Darwin, All Aboard! The Canal Trip, along England’s Kennet and Avon Canal, and North to South, an epic journey from Auckland to the West Coast of the South Island. North to South, or Go South as it was called in New Zealand, aired on January 27 with its three-hour version, and February 2 in its 12-hour format.

Viewers travelled on the Northern Explorer from Auckland to Wellington, crossed the Cook Strait on Interislander, took the Coastal Pacific from Picton to Christchurch and crossed the Southern Alps to the West Coast on the

TranzAlpine. In real time, the journey would take roughly 40 hours.

“The return of the Coastal Pacific in December connected the dots between Picton and Christchurch, and increasing numbers of customers are booking the entire journey from Auckland through to Greymouth,” KiwiRail head of tourism and marketing Ahleen Rayner said. “Worldwide, there has been a resurgence in demand for immersive journeys, and it’s definitely something we’ve seen reflected here in New Zealand. Last summer we experienced a record tourism season and we’re expecting similar results this year.

“To capture the footage, special cameras were positioned throughout our ferries and trains, including the cabs of our locomotives – meaning viewers also have the unique opportunity of seeing what our drivers see.”

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IA adds six rail initiatives to Priority List

INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA’S newest Infrastructure Priority List has been welcomed by the Australasian Railway Association (ARA), with six new or updated rail initiatives included.

Capacity on Victoria’s Cranbourne and Hurstbridge lines, port access at Melbourne, and connectivity on the Gold Coast and in Perth are all new aspects of the latest List, released on February 14.

The List is compiled by Infrastructure Australia, arranging proposals into early-stage ‘Initiatives’, and ‘Projects’ whose business cases have been approved by Infrastructure Australia, thus recommending them for federal funding. In all, the ARA counts 54 rail-related projects and initiatives among the 124 on the new list.

“As Australia’s population grows, rail infrastructure will increasingly become the backbone to meet Australia’s growing passenger and freight needs,” ARA chief executive Danny Broad said. “To manage the challenges posed in our cities and regions in the long-term, Australia will need to ensure that it continuously invests in rail infrastructure.”

The list is developed using data from the Australian Infrastructure Audit, and submissions from state and territory governments, industry and the community, including more than 100 submissions in the last year. Not much has changed at the top end of the list produced on February 14. Three ‘High Priority Projects’ have graduated from the list entirely: New South Wales’ WestConnex road project and Victoria’s Monash Freeway Upgrade Stage 2 and North East Link projects. No ‘High Priority Projects’ have been added, and no railrelated ‘Priority Projects’ have been added or removed from the list.

Six new rail-related Initiatives are included on the new list, however. 1. A new Priority Initiative concerns the duplication of eight kilometres of the Cranbourne Line between Dandenong and Cranbourne southeast of Melbourne, which the Andrews Government has already committed $750 million to deliver by 2023. 2. Another new Priority Initiative is for capacity on the state’s Hurstbridge Line. Before last year’s election the Andrews Government targeted marginal seats with a $530 million proposal to build a new train station

Two major capacity projects for Melbourne’s metropolitan network were added to IA’s latest Priority List.

at Greensborough, and duplicate sections of track along the line. 3. An initiative concerning container terminal capacity at Melbourne was updated to include the neartime landside transport initiatives needed to support capacity growth, “including road and rail access from metropolitan, regional and national networks”. 4. Stage 3A of the Gold Coast’s G:link light rail line was essentially added, listed as ‘Public transport connectivity between Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads’. The Federal Government in November 2018 committed $112 million to the project, and the Queensland Government is progressing with the plan. 5. Transport connectivity between

www.railexpress.com.au Morley and Ellenbrook is a new Priority Initiative, the third of Perth’s Metronet urban rail projects added. WA’s Government submitted the Morley-Ellenbrook Line for the list in September, and it joins the Yanchep Rail Extension, a High Priority Project, and the Thornlie-Cockburn Link, a Priority Project. Metronet’s Forrestfield-Airport Link was also once on the list, but has graduated. 6. Also in Perth, a new Priority Initiative is to improve the Canning Bridge public transport interchange, to improve public transport patronage and reduce impact on the adjacent road network. Canning Bridge station is on the Mandurah Line. Infrastructure Australia chair Julieanne Alroe described the 2019 list as the independent advisor’s “largest, most comprehensive and most diverse” yet. “With a record 121 nationally significant proposals and a $58 billion project pipeline, the Priority List will guide the next 15 years of Australian infrastructure investment,” she said.

“The 2019 Priority List provides a credible pipeline of nationally significant proposals for governments at all levels to choose from. As an evidence-based list of opportunities to improve both our living standards and productivity, the Priority List reflects the diversity of Australia’s future infrastructure needs across transport, energy, water, communications, housing andeducation.” Alroe noted many of the new projects would respond to the challenge of population growth in Australia. SYDNEY METRO Sydney Metro City & Southwest will include 31km of tunnels. “Congestion in our cities and fastergrowing regional centres not only has significant consequences for the Australian economy, but has direct impacts on communities, reducing people’s access to education, health services, employment and other opportunities,” Alroe said.

Citing the forthcoming NSW and federal elections, Alroe urged politicians to a void making politically-motivated funding commitments, and to trust the independent advisor’s analysis when making budgetdecisions. “Infrastructure Australia is urging decision makers to commit to solving any emerging or growing problem by embarking on a feasibility study to identify potential options, rather than a pre-defined project that may not be the most effective solution,” she said.

“Decision makers at all levels will best serve all Australians by continuing to consult the Priority List as a source of informed analysis on the projects that represent the best use of our infrastructure funding.” One of those decision makers, deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure Michael McCormack, said the Government was now taking this approach. “Once upon a time there was a ‘build it and they will come’ sort of attitude,” McCormack said when the new list was released. “There were also the political ramifications and implications and benefits of spending money on infrastructure. But the fact remains that we need rigour and accountability around what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and where we’re delivering it.”

The third stage of light rail for the Gold Coast is included in the new list.