Rex Aug 2021

I S S U E 07 | A U G U S T 2021

W W W. R A I L E X P R E S S . C O M . A U

All seeing, all knowing How high tech companies are leading the way with network monitoring - PAGE 24 Signalling solutions on Inland Rail

Bob Herbert on creating a safer network

RISSB and changes for level crossings

PAGE 42

PAGE 46

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Contents Issue 07 - August 2021

4

From the Editor

7

Industry News

CONDITION MONITORING 24

Siemens’ bold and innovative approach

26 CQU’s Centre for Railway Engineering and predictive maintenance

26

28

Wabtec and seeing the way to better monitoring

30

Holland L.P and a culture of service

34

Monitoring technology from the Arctic to the Pilbara

36

Salix Products takes its business to a global market

40

Overhead cameras provide the true picture.

O P E R AT I O N S

30

42

Aldridge’s Inland Rail work sends a signal

44

STRAILastic and the sounds of silence

I N D U S T RY I N T E RV I E W 46

Bob Herbert on creating a safer network

WO M E N I N I N D U S T RY 48 An engineer comments on a changing rail sector.

S A F E TY A N D A S S U R A N C E 49 34

36

RISSB and a change for level crossings

I N D U S T R Y A S S O C I AT I O N S 50 Australasian Railway Association and the report that backs the role of light rail 52 The Australian Logistics Council on establishing fairness across the supply chain CO N T RACT S I N B R I E F 54

The latest in rail projects around Australia

49 I S S U E 07 | A U G U S T 2021

W W W. R A I L E X P R E S S . C O M . A U

COVER STORY Technological innovations in condition monitoring are helping rail companies worldwide get the absolute maximum from their networks.

All seeing, all knowing How high tech companies are leading the way with network monitoring - PAGE 24 Signalling solutions on Inland Rail

Bob Herbert on creating a safer network

RISSB and changes for level crossings

PAGE 42

PAGE 46

PAGE 49

See page 24.

SUPPORTED BY:

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From the Editor Issue 07 - August 2021

Published by:

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David Sexton

Chief Operating Officer Zelda Tupicoff E: zelda.tupicoff@primecreative.com.au Group Managing Editor (Northern) Syed Shah E: syed.shah@primecreative.com.au Editor David Sexton E: david.sexton@primecreative.com.au Business Development Manager Michael Usic T: 03 9690 8766 E: michael.usic@primecreative.com.au Client Success Manager Janine Clements E: janine.clements@primecreative.com.au Design Production Manager Michelle Weston E: michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au Art Director Blake Storey E: blake.storey@primecreative.com.au Design Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty Subscriptions subscriptions@primecreative.com.au

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4 | ISSUE 7 - AUGUST 2021 | RAIL EXPRESS

Editor - Rail Express

Welcome to our August edition of Rail Express

A

S THE NATION’S POLITICIANS and public servants get into an awful muddle over the management of COVID-19, the world of rail powers ahead.

In fact, it would seem that rail innovation and enterprise have even increased over the past 18 months.

In a world of limited resources, we need to make the best of what we have. The rail sector is known for its high environmental credentials, being low in emissions and contributing towards getting people out of their polluting automobiles. But even rail has room for improvement. In this edition of Rail Express, we speak with a number of businesses who are making an important contribution towards getting the most out of rail resources. Ensuring that wear and tear is limited and that fuel efficiency is maximised are worthy goals. We recognise some of the businesses making progress in this sphere and tell you some of their fascinating stories.

Elsewhere, we feature an interview with Bob Herbert, the outgoing chairman of the TrackSAFE Foundation.

The former Australasian Railway Association chairman knows as well as anyone the mental health challenges that can occur among those working in rail. As he hands over the reins at TrackSAFE, we are pleased to be able to share with you his thoughts on what has been achieved and what more can be done. We think you will find it thought-provoking.

On other topics, we include a report entitled the Renaissance of Light Rail. This report examines in detail the benefits of light

rail, outlining the benefits for communities, while also cautioning against the use of so-called “trackless trams”. With successful projects in Canberra and the Gold Coast and Sydney’s network finally kicking into gear, light rail might be seen to be staging an important comeback. A Sunshine Coast network may not be too far off. This is all quite a contrast to decades past, such as in the 1970s when Lord Mayor Clem Jones famously scrapped Brisbane’s trams. Jeff Kennett apparently considered doing the same to Melbourne’s iconic trams in the early 1990s (fortunately he had a change of heart). For some of us, light rail is more than just a mode of transport. The sound of trams rattling down Camberwell Road is embedded in this correspondent’s childhood memories.

The fact that light rail is part of the future and not some dinosaur relic of a bygone era is profoundly reassuring.

Elsewhere, the Women in Industry Awards are coming up, being scheduled for Melbourne later this month.

This event is a tremendous opportunity to recognise those women who have forged a path in areas traditionally dominated by the blokes. While nominations are closed, at the time of writing there is still time to book tickets to attend this grand event.

But don’t wait too long, they are selling like hotcakes.

Thanks for your ongoing support and enjoy the August edition of Rail Express.

david.sexton@primecreative.com.au

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News

National

Transport sector welcomes additions to skilled occupations list New occupations added to the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) recently are expected to help in the delivery of major road and rail construction projects across the country.

That’s the view of industry bodies the Australasian Railway Association and Roads Australia.

In a joint statement, the ARA and RA said the federal government’s decision to include several engineering roles on the list would enable industry to effectively deliver a significant pipeline of work.

ARA chief executive Caroline Wilkie said confirmation of 22 new occupations

on the list followed extensive industry consultation.

“This is welcome recognition of the critical role infrastructure construction will play in driving the nation’s economic growth,” Wilkie said.

“We expect to see increasing demand for skilled workers as new road and rail projects get underway and the addition of these key occupations will help ensure the industry can meet this need.

“This announcement confirms the valuable contribution of the transport sector and reflects strong consultation with industry throughout the review process.”

RA chief executive Michael Kilgariff said the addition of the new occupations reflected industry views put forward in a joint submission to the federal parliament’s skilled migration inquiry in March.

“The fact that so many of the new occupations are relevant to the transport sector is an appropriate recognition of the significant work the sector is undertaking to deliver critical new road and rail projects across the country,” Kilgariff said.

A total of 22 new occupations were added to the PMSOL, including electrical engineer, structural engineer, geotechnical engineer and transport engineer.

Calls for Barnaby Joyce to intervene in regional rail Rail workers have called on new infrastructure minister and deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce to block moves to shift the transport of domestic containerised freight from Australian trains onto international-flagged ships.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union national secretary Mark Diamond said thousands of jobs in regional areas were at risk from a departmental proposal to further deregulate coastal trading laws, which would allow overseas-based ships to compete for domestic freight.

“Barnaby Joyce has been returned to leadership of the National Party with a mandate to stand up for jobs in regional Australia. As Minister for Transport, the jobs of regional rail workers are his responsibility,” Diamond said.

“The proposals put forward by his new department will make it easier for foreignflagged vessels to operate in the Australian domestic freight market and compete directly with local rail operators.

“But it will be far from a level playing field: overseas shippers don’t have to pay Australian wages or meet Australian workplace standards.

“We are concerned these reforms, if adopted, could see the end trains carrying containerised freight in Australia.

Diamond said Joyce should start by ruling out any changes to coastal shipping that “undermine the rail industry”.

“Looking forward, rail workers want to

see a level playing for the transport of containerised freight in Australia, and an industry plan to support growth in this sector into the future.”

The ‘house on the hill’ plays a big role in determining national rail policy.

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News

National

Deborah Spring appointed to lead RISSB A new era has begun for Australia’s Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) with the appointment of Deborah Spring as chief executive.

Spring, currently the board’s executive chair, has been acting CEO for two years, overseeing a 120% increase in membership, refocusing RISSB’s products and services on industry needs and making a step change in improving productivity and service delivery.

Spring began her new role on 1 July.

Rail industry veteran David George takes on her old role as chair and Spring is to continue as an independent director on the RISSB Board.

Both joined the board in 2015.

“We have had a lot of national and international interest in the CEO role, but recruitment has been complicated by the current environment,” George said.

“When we re-assessed the process, the board realised the best person for the job was already doing it. Deborah also realised she was really enjoying it.”

Spring, a mechanical engineer with an MBA from Harvard Business School, previously held senior executive positions with TasRail, National Rail, Australia Post and Exxon-Mobil.

She also has 15 years’ experience as a professional director, including with V/Line Corporation and the Donric Group.

George has held many senior rail leadership roles in three countries as well as serving on several boards, including TasRail

and Queensland Rail.

Established in 2003, RISSB is the only accredited standards development organisation for the rail industry in Australia, and also works in New Zealand. When surveyed last year, all industry respondents reported using RISSB’s services, and 90% accessed its suite of products.

“Feedback about RISSB’s performance over the past two years has been very positive, and it is clear we are seen as industry’s partner in co-regulation delivering true value to industry,” Spring said.

During the past two years under Spring’s leadership, RISSB’s catalogue of publications has increased to over 240 and RISSB is now developing Standards for the growing light rail sector.

RISSB has also introduced new products and services to address key challenges facing industry. This work has included the creation of a Major Projects Portfolio focusing on seven key areas and supporting the National Rail Action Plan.

The Track Worker Safety Options report launched at the 2021 RISSB Safety Conference is just one example where this program has already started to contribute to improving safety in the number one safety issue identified by the rail industry.

“We have also expanded our data and risk capabilities, with a 40% increase in the use of the Australian Rail Risk Model, and recently assumed stewardship of the Australian Level

Deborah Spring is ready for the myriad challenges that come with ensuring rail safety.

Crossing Assessment Model,” Spring said.

“We have increased our industry connections through webinars and podcasts. RISSB will also soon launch an expanded suite of courses providing on-line, blended and face-to-face attendance options.”

Spring and George are said to bring a powerful combination of international perspectives and a wealth of experience that will lead RISSB into a new era of growth and success.

Greg Hood retires from ATSB The Australian Transport Safety Bureau Commission has acknowledged the retirement of Greg Hood as chief commissioner and chief executive, and has thanked him for his leadership, professionalism, guidance and compassion in leading the ATSB from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2021.

Hood has retired from the ATSB at the end of his five-year term, in which time he drove an innovation and transformation agenda at the ATSB, which saw the introduction of worldleading practices like a multi-modal teams approach to investigations, new recruitment practices, a tertiary partnership with RMIT University, and new technologies to support investigations such as remotely piloted aircraft and 3D modelling.

All have helped to further establish

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the ATSB as a global leader in transport safety investigation.

During his tenure, Hood, with the other members of the ATSB Commission, approved more than 530 aviation, rail and maritime investigation reports for public release to improve transport safety for all Australians.

In addition, under Hood’s leadership, the ATSB developed a strategic property plan that included the establishment of a Melbourne office and increases in staffing in the agency’s Brisbane and Perth offices, and introduced a replacement program for all enterprise IT systems, including the procurement of a new investigation information management system.

Hood also served a two-year term as chair of the International Transportation Safety Association (ITSA), the network of the heads of

18 independent transport safety investigation authorities, at a time when the world was navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, and when safe and efficient transport networks were needed like never before.

He also oversaw a partnership agreement with the Defence Flight Safety Bureau to align accident investigator skillsets and to participate in each other’s investigation activities, and further strengthened the ATSB’s close working relationships with New South Wales’ Office of Transport Safety Investigations and Victoria’s Chief Investigator, Transport Safety.

ATSB chief operating officer Colin McNamara is to act as chief commissioner and chief executive pending the appointment of Hood’s successor.

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News

Victoria

A more reliable power supply means more reliable trains

A close-up look at the Box Hill substation.

Electrical substations are critical pieces of railway infrastructure that help Metro operate trains, signals and communications equipment across the network.

At Box Hill, in Melbourne’s east, the substation has undergone significant

Electrical systems behind closed doors.

upgrades to improve the reliability of services.

New equipment allows Metro’s electrical engineers to remotely access the substation to operate equipment – rather than having to go to the site in person.

This new process significantly improves

the speed in which Metro can diagnose and fix power supply issues that may otherwise delay passengers. It’s also creating a safer environment for engineers to carry out maintenance.

The upgrades also mean Comeng and X’Trapolis trains can run more reliably than ever for passengers who use the Belgrave, Lilydale and Alamein lines.

Metro Trains senior project manager Chris Hughes said the benefits for the network were huge.

“The integration of any new equipment onto the Metro network simply can’t succeed without the support of multiple teams, and this project is a brilliant example of that,” she said.

These upgrades also allowed the power capacity of the substation to be increased from 1.5MW to 2.5MW – providing more capacity to run trains efficiently and reliably.

Originally built back in the 1960s, the Box Hill substation equipment was approaching the end of its useable life.

The team completed the upgrades during an extended weekend occupation.

The remote switching systems are serving as a ‘testing ground’ to be rolled out to other locations, including major project sites across the Metro network.

Four level crossings to go in Melbourne’s north Four of Melbourne’s level crossings soon will be gone, with works now underway on the state government’s Preston Level Crossing Removal Project.

Level crossings at Oakover Road, Bell Street, Cramer Street and Murray Road in Preston will be gone by the end of 2022, with new stations at Bell and Preston and significant new open space under the rail bridge ready for the community to thoroughly enjoy in 2023.

The project is set to benefit more than 82,000 motorists who pass through these level crossings on the Mernda line every day – with the boom gates down for up to 40 per cent of the morning peak, and will make Bell Street – one of Melbourne’s busiest arterial roads – completely level crossing free.

With the contract for major construction at

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Preston awarded at the end of last year, work on the project will ramp up this weekend as buses replace trains between Clifton Hill and Reservoir on the Mernda line.

During construction, disruptions to train services on the Mernda line will be minimal, with the rail line not closing for more than 12 consecutive days at a time – ensuring trains can continue to access the Epping train maintenance facility, which is critical for the smooth running of the wider rail network.

The two new modern stations at Bell and Preston will rejuvenate the station precincts for locals and create safer and more direct links between public transport, local shops and parking – with the community encouraged to have their say on the new open space the project will create through

the Preston Open Space Advisory Panel.

In the south-east, work is ramping up on the Pakenham line, with major construction underway to remove level crossings in Dandenong, Hallam, Berwick, and work fast tracked on the removal of three more sets of boom gates at Pakenham – where new stations will also be built at Pakenham and Pakenham East.

Construction on the Cranbourne Line Upgrade is making great progress, with work underway to duplicate eight kilometres of track between Dandenong and Cranbourne, remove the last four remaining level crossings between Cranbourne and the city, and build a new station at Merinda Park in Lyndhurst.

The project is reported to be on track to remove 75 level crossings by 2025.

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News

Victoria

EOIs sought for Melbourne Airport rail An expressions of interest process is underway for contractors to deliver Melbourne Airport Rail Link works around Sunshine and Albion.

Federal urban infrastructure minister Paul Fletcher MP, and Victorian transport infrastructure minister Jacinta Allan announced the first works package for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link was out to market and contractors were being invited to submit their initial proposals.

Fletcher said these works were the first of several work packages to go out to market.

“Melbourne airport is one of the key gateways to Australia and provides crucial links to interstate and regional destinations, helping to drive business and trade by connecting Victorians to the rest of Australia and the world,” he said.

“That is why the Morrison government has committed $5bn to deliver this crucial

transport infrastructure project, which will better connect commuters to the airport and support Melbourne’s long-term commuter needs as its population continues to grow.

“More than 100 organisations in Australia and across the world have registered their interest to be a part of building this once-ina-generation project.”

The first step in transforming Sunshine Station is to include a new accessible pedestrian concourse that will enable transfers at either end of the platforms and double the number of lifts available, with extra ticketing gates and weather-protected platform extensions also included.

Allan said more information on key elements of the project soon would be shared publicly.

“We want to get construction started on this much-needed project as soon as possible,” she said.

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“Melbourne Airport Rail Link will play a critical role in Victoria’s plan to transform Sunshine into a transport superhub.

Together with the Metro Tunnel, Geelong Fast Rail and Western Rail Plan, we will be delivering more trains more often.”

A trip to the CBD from Sunshine through the Metro Tunnel is predicted to take around 16 minutes, while a journey in the other direction to Melbourne Airport is to take about 11 minutes. Melbourne Airport Rail Link will also deliver safer connections for pedestrians and cyclists.

The Australian and Victorian governments have committed $5 billion each towards Melbourne Airport Rail Link, which will take passengers from Melbourne Airport into the heart of the city in around 30 minutes via the Metro Tunnel. Construction is set to start in 2022.

Keeping travellers moving With major tram works along St Kilda Road happening right now, Yarra Trams has enlisted the support of Travellers Aid Australia to help all passengers get where they need to go.

Set up at either end of the works, passengers with mobility needs can catch a free buggy service from Stop 17 Grant Street/Police Memorial to the Arts Centre.

There is also a wheelchair service for the rest of the journey going to and from Collins Street.

Travellers are urged to “keep an eye out” for the Travellers Aid signs and friendly volunteers. More information is available via the Yarra Trams website.

The tram network has been affected by construction works related to the Melbourne Metro project including the new Domain Station.

Yarra Trams has enlisted the help of a specialist agency in helping all passengers get where they need to go.

All signs point to a bright future for Metro’s newest recruit Earlier this year graduate architect Kushagra Jhurani had applied for at least 200 jobs across Australia without any success.

He decided to hit the streets and make his resume public – standing opposite Southern Cross Station with a sign saying “Looking 4 a graduate of architecture? HIRE ME”.

In April, Metro digital engineering manager Scott Poll was heading to work when he spotted the graduate standing on Spencer Street with his sign.

“I thought that’s a young kid with a lot of courage to be able to do that, at one of the busiest intersections in the city.

“If he is willing to do that, I know he is going to be willing to be a hard worker.”

When he got to the office, Poll thought he should go back and speak to the young man about a possible role, but when he returned, Kushagra had taken his search for work elsewhere.

Metro’s team of graduates then got online to begin the desperate search for Kushagra, and eventually found him on LinkedIn. After exchanging messages and a formal interview process, Jhurani was offered a

Kushagra Jhurani is encouraging other jobseekers to “put yourselves out there” after getting a job with Melbourne Metro.

position as a draftsperson with Metro. He began work on 24 May. “I never thought actually this would work. I am in awe to be honest, and I am very grateful to Scott that he took me in,” Jhurani said.

His advice for other jobseekers trying to break into competitive industries? Put yourself out there.

“Not necessarily what I did, but you shouldn’t be scared — you can only give your best shot.”

WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 13

News

Victoria

Rail project creates opportunities for Victorian artists and creatives The Metro Tunnel Creative Program Artist Pool recently was opened for registrations from Victorian creatives.

This opportunity was aimed at visual artists, illustrators, designers, poets, writers, essayists, performers, theatre, film and TV workers and musicians.

The Artist Pool is one of the primary methods for inviting artists to apply for future opportunities managed by the Metro Tunnel Creative Program.

Online submissions closed at the end of July, with reports of plenty of interest.

According to organisers, the Artist Pool is a key method for inviting artists to apply for future creative opportunities.

These may include artwork on hoardings, interpretation pieces related to the Metro Tunnel Project and activations that align with major city events. To date, 64 creative practitioners have received commissions through the Artist Pool, to the collective

Emma Coulter’s spatial deconstruction #23 (resilience) at the Metro Tunnel’s City Square acoustic shed.

14 | ISSUE 7 - AUGUST 2021 | RAIL EXPRESS

Artists take advantage of the Metro Tunnel Creative Program in Melbourne.

value of more than $150,000.

“Evaluation criteria will vary depending on skills required for future opportunities,” a spokesperson said.

“When invited to provide concepts for specific commissions, you will be provided relevant project information

and a concept fee to deliver proposals for selection by the Metro Tunnel Creative Program Steering Committee and any of its invited advisors.”

The submission process allows for submissions to be saved for completion if required.

News

South Australia

NAIDOC Week tram a reminder to “Care for Country”

A tram with NAIDOC week art glides through Adelaide.

An Adelaide Metro tram dedicated to NAIDOC Week began operating recently, with beautiful artwork embodying the NAIDOC theme for 2021 Heal Country.

To mark and support NAIDOC Week (4 – 11 July), the Department for Infrastructure and Transport’s (DIT) Rail Care program wrapped an Adelaide Metro tram in the artwork of the 2021 National NAIDOC Poster, titled Care for Country, as part of its Public Transport Inclusion initiative.

The tram wrap is to operate until Sunday, 1 August.

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across the country each July to acknowledge and celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples. It is celebrated not only in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, but by Australians from all walks of life.

The 2021 National NAIDOC Week Poster was designed by Gubbi Gubbi artist MaggieJean Douglas, of Queensland, and draws on the different colours of landscapes around Australia to show how they come together

in our beautiful country.

The poster artwork shows communities/ people, animals and bush medicine spread over different landscapes of red dirt, green grass, bushland and coastal areas, to tell the story of the many ways country can and has healed First Nations people throughout their lives and journeys. In recognition of this year’s NAIDOC Week theme, DIT staff members have reflected on their own connection to their Country.

Ngarrindjeri and Arabuna woman Jade Wilson, who coordinates the department’s Aboriginal road safety and driver licensing program On the Right Track, was born and raised in Port Augusta.

“Arabuna Country is quite dry and has a lot of red dirt, with ochre colours coming through and the kangaroos, the snakes and the lizards, whereas Ngarrindjeri Country is all water and birds and that type of environment,” Jade said.

“So there are very different dynamics for my language groups.

“Some of these places in my countries have wider significance to the Arabuna and Ngarrindjeri people, in particular when rains

happen as it’s around replenishing the Country and all the animals come back, the kangaroos come back and the birds come back, to get food,” she said.

“These places mean a lot to me because it’s about replenishing my soul while I get back to Country, really connecting with my family and friends who are still living on country and getting back to basics away from city.”

Nauo woman Ashleigh Easthope, who also works in the On The Right Track program, reflected on her connection to Sheringa in the Eyre Peninsula.

“My favourite place on Country is Johnny’s Block at Sheringa, it was my great-great-great grandparents land,” Ashleigh said.

“My favourite thing about Johnny’s Block is being able to see where my ancestors grew up – where they lived and where they worked.

“It was amazing to see the Mulberry tree there. As soon as I arrived, I felt at home and I felt very peaceful and I was very happy to see where my great-great-great grandmother had worked on birthing all the children there for the community.”

Rail closures in Adelaide Several rail lines in Adelaide are being closed or restricted as authorities proceed with maintenance works.

For rail closures, the rail line will be shut and passengers won’t be able to use these train or tram services. This may be due to an upgrade project, or an unexpected incident.

Rail maintenance involves pre-planned works that occur on the rail line which

don’t impact on passenger services. These are usually completed overnight and are just to clean, repair and maintain the current network.

The full Gawler line is closed until November 2021, with various car parks reduced or closed along the way.

The Outer Harbor and Grange Line is to be closed from 25 September until 10

October (in line with school holidays), having also experienced closures during July.

On the Seaford and Flinders Line and the Belair Line, additional weekend closures will be required during the school holiday periods in September/October 2021, and a full network closure around October2021.

WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 15

News

New South Wales

Money for Parramatta Light Rail welcomed

More government money has been provided for light rail in Sydney’s west.

The Australasian Railway Association welcomed $50 million in new funding to kick off Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 as part of the 2021-22 NSW Budget.

CEO Caroline Wilkie said the funds for development and planning works was an

important step forward for the project.

“This announcement provides much needed certainty for this critical project and will ensure the benefits of light rail can be shared by more people in Sydney’s west,” Wilkie said.

“It is pleasing to see the NSW

Government further its rail investment to support the state’s long term growth.”

The announcement follows the release of the ARA’s latest research report on light rail last week, which confirmed the transformational impact of light rail projects.

Wilkie said the value of projects like Parramatta Light Rail to the community were wide ranging.

“Light rail projects are uniquely positioned to drive urban renewal and increased land values and can be the launching pad for further development in the community,” she said.

“Parramatta Light Rail will help unleash that opportunity and provide new opportunities to support sustainable lifestyles in the city’s west.

“It is good to see the community will reap the full benefits of light rail in this next phase of the project.”

The $2.4 billion Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 due to be completed in 2023, with 50 per cent of tracks expected to be laid by the end of June.

Stage 2 would connect Stage 1 and the Parramatta CBD to Ermington, Melrose Park, Wentworth Point and Sydney Olympic Park.

Report to be prepared following Bomen incident An investigation is underway into why a speed restriction was not applied to a passenger train at Bomen, New South Wales, on 29 June.

According to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, a speed restriction was not applied following welding repairs which allowed passenger train to traverse a section of track at 115 km/h when a 40 km/h speed restriction should have been in place. There was no damage or injury as a result.

An investigation being led by the NSW Office of Transport Safety Investigations is currently underway. OTSI conducts rail investigations in NSW on behalf of the ATSB. OTSI transport safety investigators have commenced collecting relevant evidence and statements from involved parties. A report is to be published following the investigation. The ATSB is to notify relevant parties should any critical safety issues be detected.

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The ATSB is examining an incident near Bomen in southern New South Wales.

Safer level crossings rolled out across regions Speed limits for drivers approaching thirteen level crossings on the state and local road network across the region have been reduced as part of a Statewide program to improve safety at level crossings.

Regional transport minister Paul Toole said from 2001 to 2020, there were 154 crashes between trains and vehicles at level crossings in NSW, which resulted in 14 fatalities and 24 serious injuries.

“Crashes at level crossings have the potential to cause multiple fatalities and have devastating impacts on families and local communities,” Toole said.

“More than 30 per cent of these crashes occurred at locations where the speed limit was 100 km/h or greater, which is why we’ve reduced speed limits at 13 level crossings across the region by at least 20km/h.”

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said some trains could take up to 1.4km to

The NSW government has stepped up to ensure greater safety at regional level crossings.

stop, which meant that even if trains saw you, they could not stop.

“Reducing speed limits is one way we can improve safety at level crossings, allowing drivers more time to react and stop safely,” Cooke said.

“It is fantastic to see revised speed limits at

a number of level crossings right across the region, which is all about ensuring people get home safely at the end of the day.”

Motorists can sign up at the Safer Roads NSW website to receive updates about changes to permanent speed limits in their nominated area and to have a say on speed limits.

Government of Western Australia Public Transport Authority

Expressions of Interest Critical Rail Industry opportunities The Public Transport Authority of Western Australia (PTA), is an innovative Government Agency and a highly sought-after employer offering once in a lifetime opportunities to work on major rail infrastructure projects. The PTA is looking for qualified and experienced engineers and transport professionals to help maintain the state’s public transport network.

We are looking for applicants who have a proven track record and relevant experience in the delivery of complex, high value rail based public transport projects. Most of the opportunities involve engineering however; rail operations planning, operations management and commissioning within a project delivery environment are also being sought.

The current specialist positions being recruited are: Project Track Engineering Manager | Permanent Way Engineer | Project Commissioning Manager | Commissioning Project Manager Railway Systems | Principal OLE Engineer | Principal Traction Power Engineer | Principal Signals Engineer | Senior Signals Engineer | Signals Engineer | Principal Controls & Communications Engineer | Railway Operations Manager | Engineering Manager (Rail Systems Projects) | Engineering Assurance Manager In addition to the above, the PTA is seeking people with appropriate experience in the area of Systems Safety Assurance. Systems Safety Assurance ensures that projects achieve Engineering Safety for the Rail industry. Applicants should have extensive experience in the applications of Systems Assurance Engineering including: Systems definition including development of preliminary System Context Diagram and System Breakdown Structure | Requirements Engineering Management | Traceability to Verifications and Validations | Extensive knowledge of and experience in the application of ISO/IEC 15288 Systems and software engineering – System life cycle processes.

Interested? Please visit www.pta.wa.gov.au/jobinterest CLOSING DATE: 5.00PM, Friday 27 August 2021 DOJ_18151

News

Queensland

Construction closer for light rail to Burleigh Construction of the Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads light rail extension is closer to starting with an agreement to get early works underway.

The agreement will see GoldlinQ and John Holland undertake detailed construction planning, identify and inspect underground services and start establishing a site presence along the 6.7 kilometre corridor.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said fasttracking delivery of major infrastructure projects was central to the government’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan.

“Building new infrastructure is vital to creating jobs on the Gold Coast,” the Premier said.

“Initiatives like light rail feature prominently in our COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan.

“We’ll continue to invest in transport on the Gold Coast to take more cars off the road and cater for growth in the future.”

Queensland transport minister Mark Bailey said creating good quality construction jobs on the Gold Coast by building light rail was part of Queensland’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan.

“This is a $1 billion project that will create local jobs, with most of the wages and payments to workers and suppliers going straight back into the local and regional economy,” Bailey said.

“We will ensure that this investment represents value for money for Queenslanders, including through more training to help build our future workforce, and better safety on our construction sites.

“Building the next stage of light rail presents opportunities over the next few years for local contractors, workers and suppliers on the Gold Coast.

“Previous stages of the light rail created significant employment opportunities, with 90 percent of workers on Stage 1 and Stage 2 coming from the Gold Coast and surrounding regions.”

“The light rail is a transformational piece of infrastructure.

Bailey said John Holland’s team would be engaging directly with the community and businesses to ensure they were informed before and throughout Stage 3 construction.

“The most important way the community can support businesses between Broadbeach and Burleigh Heads and ensure their longterm success is for regular customers and locals to continue shopping locally,” Bailey said.

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John Holland will also host a Local Industry Forum in September, presenting to potential local suppliers on upcoming work packages and answering questions.

GoldlinQ chairman John Witheriff said many local suppliers and workers had already registered their interest and are eager to be part of this important project.

“This project will be built by locals and will contribute significantly to the Gold Coast economy which is vitally important at this time,” he said.

“We understand the importance of working with the community throughout delivery, and the Stage 3 project team is committed to ongoing communication and minimising impacts to residents, businesses and motorists as much as possible.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said seamless

Light rail is seen as crucial for the future of the Gold Coast.

public transport was crucial to the Gold Coast’s future.

“The light rail corridor – from Helensvale all the way to Coolangatta – is seen as our public transport spine. From that, we will link rapid public transport connections both east and west,’’ he said.

“Studies are now underway into these east-west connectors which may involve hydro buses, electric buses and even automated transport modes including driverless systems.

This month, a new round of community consultation also starts to canvass views on a future 13km Stage 4 extension of light rail between Burleigh and Coolangatta, via the Gold Coast Airport.

The next round of consultation will run from 12 July to 17 September (starting after the June/July school holidays).

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News

Western Australia

Investment in Goldfields rail infrastructure aims to support growing demand ARC Infrastructure has enabled more than $3 million new investment in the state’s freight rail network this year via construction of rail infrastructure to support Watco and Qube with their new Goldfields operations.

Watco and Qube were recently awarded the freight logistics contract for the BHP Nickel West transport task which will see products being transported between multiple Goldfields locations, Kwinana and Fremantle Port via Arc’s freight rail network.

To facilitate the transportation of this task via rail, Arc, in conjunction with Qube and Watco, completed the preliminary stage works on a new rail and intermodal terminal at the Hampton ballast siding on the Esperance Line ahead of operations starting in March.

Arc Infrastructure general manager commercial and development, Nathan Speed, said the business welcomed the opportunity to work with Qube and Watco to ensure rail remained a key part of BHP Nickel

Staffers from Watco, Qube and ARC gathered at the new intermodal.

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West’s supply chain.

“There was a very real risk a large part of this task could have moved to road but thanks to the hard work of our people, and Watco and Qube, we were able to demonstrate the continued competitiveness and flexibility of the rail supply chain, compared to road,” Speed said.

The works to date have included the development of two new rail sidings, container storage and transfer facilities and rail provisioning services, which will sit alongside Arc’s existing ballast storage and works delivery operations.

“This was a significant undertaking for Arc because the infrastructure development needed to be completed within a very short timeframe,” Speed said.

“Projects of this size and scale can often take many months but we were able to quickly mobilise to deliver the new rail infrastructure ahead of operations commencing.”

An aerial view of the new intermodal facility.

A majority of the works were done by Arc’s Goldfields team with the support of local contractors.

While the preliminary stage works are now complete, a program of ongoing works is planned to future-proof the Hampton site for expected growth in the Goldfields region.

News

New Zealand

Engineering award for rail companies Rail companies KiwiRail, Downer and Aurecon New Zealand have won the Engineering Innovation Award for the Trentham Upper Hutt Double Tracking project.

This project is part of the Wellington Metro Upgrade program.

The Trentham to Upper Hutt (T2UH) was described as “a visionary project” where KiwiRail boldly attempted the first completely paperless BIM project of its scale.

“They showed true innovation in digital delivery and have set a benchmark for a new way of working,” judges wrote.

The T2UH involved double-tracking of 2.7 km of the Hutt Valley line between Trentham and Upper Hutt stations, enabling trains to travel in both directions simultaneously and delivering more frequent and reliable services.

The project was delivered under a collaborative early contractor involvement (ECI) model, KiwiRail were intentional in achieving a new way of working that aligns with the values of the Construction Sector Accord.

“The digital innovation in this project is a step-change in Australia and New Zealand,” judges wrote.

“Through the creation of a collaborative,

high-performing team, KiwiRail, along with partners, Downer and Aurecon, achieved breakthrough innovations on T2UH, which provided game-changing safety and productivity benefits for working in the rail corridor.”

Key innovations include machine

control and avoidance technology.

Digital tools developed on T2UH will contribute to a more resilient, productive rail sector, and have the potential to enhance outcomes on other infrastructure projects in New Zealand.

Three rail combined have been recognised for outstanding engineering in New Zealand.

Inaugural rail programme creates certainty and jobs The inaugural three-year plan for investing in New Zealand’s rail network creates certainty and jobs and marks the start of a new era for KiwiRail, the company’s group chief executive Greg Miller said.

Transport minister Michael Wood recently released the first Rail Network Investment Programme (RNIP), which details the NZ$1.3bn investment to maintain and improve rail lines across the country over the next three years.

“This plan has major benefits for KiwiRail, will create and sustain jobs, and will help ensure New Zealand’s exports and domestic freight get where they need to go,” Miller said.

“It covers the important work of replacing aging bridges, worn-out tracks and the civil works necessary to ensure that our national rail network is up to standard so that the thousands of train services we run are reliable.

“With 70 per cent fewer emissions than road

transport, getting more freight onto rail offers a real opportunity to reduce New Zealand’s transport emissions. But we’re only going to see that mode-shift if we have a resilient and reliable network. This first RNIP is about getting the basics right, which will allow us to really grow rail.”

Miller said having a funded three-year plan also created the certainty needed for KiwiRail and its customers to make effective business decisions.

“Instead of having to go to the government every 12 months for funding to maintain the network without knowing if we will get more money the next year, we now have certainty of funding and a three-year plan,” he said.

“That’s essential for any infrastructure business and it means we can confidently take on the staff we need, knowing there is a pipeline of work ahead of us.

“KiwiRail is among New Zealand’s largest infrastructure construction companies, with about 1,200 track staff already, working 24/7 across the country. We need to increase our staff by 15 per cent to carry out this work, with a commitment taking on more trainees. In addition, this investment will support numerous civil contractors and material supply businesses.”

Miller said having a solid plan also gave KiwiRail a massive procurement advantage.

“The best way to use capital is to carefully plan spending,” he said.

“For example, the RNIP means we can purchase some materials needed in bulk three years at a time, which helps manage costs.

“I’m sure our customers will be delighted with the RNIP. It gives them clarity on where network investment will be happening and when, so that they can make their own investment decisions.”

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News

New Zealand

KiwiRail joins Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia KiwiRail is joining the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) and will be partnering with it to deliver sustainable outcomes across selected infrastructure projects.

KiwiRail moves people and freight by rail and sea and is the guardian of the national rail network. We aspire to be a modern, efficient rail company supporting many varied sectors of the New Zealand based supply chain,” said KiwiRail chief operating officer – capital projects and asset development, David Gordon.

“Sustainability is important to KiwiRail. The company values inter-generational wellbeing

KiwiRail is looking to step up in the sphere of sustainability.

in its social, environmental and economic decision-making and is the guardian of the rail corridor for future generations.

“That is why we have put in place commitments and strategies to help ensure sustainability is integrated into our decisionmaking, operations and capital works projects,” Gordon said.

KiwiRail has a significant capital projects programme to achieve over the next 10 years. This is the result of recent Government investment to ensure New Zealand has a reliable and resilient rail network that will encourage more freight to shift from road to rail, thereby lowering overall greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.

By becoming an ISCA member, KiwiRail joins a community of like-minded organisations and professionals looking to leverage investment in infrastructure to provide greater social, environmental, cultural and economic benefits.

Use of the council’s Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) Rating Scheme will support KiwiRail in translating the aspirations in its corporate Sustainability Strategy into measurable outcomes, helping to drive delivery of broader outcomes across its capital projects.

“Certifying a project under a sustainability rating scheme will help drive further sustainability innovations and outcomes, as well as support us to build more internal

capability and ensure we are delivering sustainable infrastructure for communities and customers into the future,” Gordon said.

ISCA is Australia and New Zealand’s authority on sustainable infrastructure projects and assets. As a member-based, not-for-profit peak body operating across Australia and New Zealand, ISCA supports the sector with training and capacity building, connecting suppliers of sustainable products and services, and through advocacy that advances policy, standards and specifications toward a low carbon, resilient, inclusive infrastructure future.

ISCA’s recent study, IS Rating Scheme Return on Investment, found that infrastructure projects rated under the IS Rating Scheme can deliver up to NZ$2.60 in benefits for every dollar spent.

ISCA’s New Zealand general manager Adrienne Miller said ISCA is delighted to see KiwiRail join the membership community.

“KiwiRail joins other major infrastructure procurers here in Aotearoa New Zealand leading the charge on different ways of doing things, particularly given the importance of rail to the decarbonisation of transport,” Miller said.

KiwiRail will work with ISCA in coming months to ensure that information and places on ISCA’s training courses are available to internal and external stakeholders wanting to learn more about the IS Rating Scheme.

Rail business looks seaward with new ferries KiwiRail Group chief executive Greg Miller says the Interislander’s two new ferries will be a game-changer for New Zealand.

KiwiRail and Korean shipyard Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) have now signed a binding contract for the delivery of two new, state-ofthe-art, Cook Strait ferries.

Miller said he was delighted to sign the contract for two new ferries with HMD after years of research and planning, a robust and lengthy procurement process, and productive technical and commercial negotiations with the shipyard over the last four months.

KiwiRail has been working on the ferry upgrade project for years.

“The new ferries will ensure a safe and resilient rail and passenger service between

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the North and South Islands, which is a vital part of the economy and a key part of New Zealand’s supply chain, transport and tourism infrastructure,” Miller said.

Interislander operates around 3800 ferry services a year, transporting about 850,000 passengers, 250,000 cars and billions of dollars worth of freight, and with significant growth predicted.

“With an ageing fleet of ships coming to the end of their working lives, this replacement programme had become time critical, so it’s great news that we are now able to move ahead with the next stage of design and the build of the two new ferries, and required port infrastructure,” Miller said.

The new ferries will deliver a major

improvement in KiwiRail’s performance in all areas, including contributing to a 40 per cent reduction in Interislander’s carbon emissions immediately.

The two, rail-enabled ferries, when running at full operating capacity, will be able to carry nearly double the number of passengers, and commercial and passenger vehicles when compared with the current fleet.

The rail freight capacity will triple. The only currently rail-enabled ferry Aratere can carry a maximum of 27, sixty-foot equivalent wagons per sailing. The two new rail-enabled ships will be able to carry 40, sixty-foot equivalent wagons per vessel on up to three return sailings each per day. That is a 300 per cent increase in capacity at peak.

Creative homeless artists contribute to City Rail Link Homeless artists living on the streets of Auckland have found a unique place to showcase their creative talents – inside one of the buildings used by the country’s biggest transport infrastructure project.

Five sculptural reliefs by artists who belong to a homeless collective known as Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa (AMTK) greet

Artist Teare Turetahi sharing his thoughts on his work.

visitors at the entrance of the Te Manawa building at 1 New North Road, Eden Terrace.

Meaning ‘The Heart’, Te Manawa is home to the City Rail Link’s public visitor centre and staff training and induction facility.

One of Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa’s artists, Teare Turetahi, says he and his three fellow artists are “honoured and humbled to use

their art and be part of CRL.” The other AMTK collective artists involved are Melvin Henry, Martin Rawiri and Rob Smith.

Their sculptural reliefs are to be used as visual learning aids incorporating painting and traditional carving patterns.

Te Manawa is a place of learning and the reliefs will be used to share mātauranga – traditional knowledge and education – with those who view them.

City Rail Link’s lead contractor, the Link Alliance, welcomes the collective’s contribution.

“We’re very pleased to accept the collective’s creative works as an indoor extension to what we call Auckland’s largest public art project with local artwork already displayed on perimeter fences around our main construction sites,” says Francois Dudouit, Project Director for the Link Alliance.

“The project will have a huge impact on Auckland’s future, but the Awhina Mai Tatou Katoa artists remind us that it’s equally important not to lose sight of the past and the themes and narratives important to Tāmaki Makaurau. Their works rightly sit at Te Manawa where people come to learn and to share.”

The City Rail Link is planned to open in late 2024, providing more frequent and quicker rail services into central Auckland.

Art on display at City Rail Link public visitor centre, Auckland.

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Condition Monitoring

The competitive advantage of Siemens’ different monitoring systems is the common hook through asset management solution Railigent.

A world of progress With six monitoring patents either issued or pending for the market from the Australian business alone, Siemens Mobility is setting the standard according to CEO (ANZ) Raphaelle Guerineau.

Digitalisation is now a primary driver in rail maintenance, with operators and maintainers focussed on utilising interconnected digital platforms to drive conditionbased maintenance strategies. Traditional maintenance strategies are becoming obsolete as customers realise the value of increased safety, availability, reliability, and ultimately cost saving.

According to Siemens Mobility CEO, Raphaelle Guerineau, the digital services market has attracted a large variety of different players, from IT companies to small rail niche-players who provide monitoring services. Siemens Mobility has several highly advanced products in this area for example Point Monitoring, Crossing Monitoring, Remote Data Access, Interlocking Monitoring and Broken rail detection.

“The competitive advantage of our Siemens systems is that we have a common hook through our asset management solution Railigent,” Guerineau said.

“This allows integration into higher level systems while maintaining local storage and access to the data where that is desirable. In

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comparison many other vendors are not IP owners or original equipment manufacturers like Siemens Mobility so one must consider the effectiveness of these products.”

CONDITION MONITORING PRODUCTS Siemens Mobility has a strong IP footprint in Australia and dedicated products for condition monitoring are developed and manufactured in Australia, namely in their MRX business operations in Perth and in Port Melbourne. Some of their most sought-after products are the Broken Rail Detection System and the Vehicle Equipment Measurement Systems. Many Siemens Mobility products such as their trains or their rail infrastructure equipment are “condition monitoring products” as they’re self-monitoring continuously. All information from dedicated measurement devices and from rolling stock and infrastructure is transferred to and consolidated in their asset management solution “Railigent”.

Railigent allows infrastructure and rollingstock data to be combined in multiple ways. One example is the Broken Rail

CEO Raphaelle Guerineau: “Serving customers with our bold innovative approach.”

Detection solution. This system normally is located on the last car of a train and monitors with its patented and unique technology if there’s any breaks or other artefacts on the rail. It has been shown that this technology finds far more rail breaks than other technologies such as rail circuits. This

Siemens monitoring technology is making a world of difference.

cutting-edge technology avoids derailments, not only contributing to higher safety of railway operations, but also preventing derailments, with a single such incident having the potential to cost millions of dollars in damages.

REMOTE DATA ACCESS Another example is Siemens Remote Data Access, a hardware device that, along with a Natural Series Database Filter, interfaces with locomotive communication and converts process data into human readable format.

This data is continuously streamed and transmitted by our customer to a landside team where the data is used to optimise maintenance and operations. In their service centre in Mackay, Queensland, Siemens Mobility recently installed Siemens Remote Data Access across their customer fleet of Siemens locomotives. The team installed the system on108 locomotives in total.

Guerineau said algorithms would drive the next stage of progress.

“So far, the main target was to understand the condition of an asset and maintain the asset according to its condition,” she said.

“The next step is to move into predictive maintenance using machine learning algorithms to identify upcoming issues before they actually happen.”

According to Guerineau, if all data from different sources came together on the Railigent platform, the possibilities and ideas would be so great that no single company could implement them.

“Therefore, our philosophy is that we want to create an open ecosystem, and everybody can contribute to this spread of new ideas,” she said.

“We allow component suppliers and other vendors to feed their data into our open

platform Railigent, and we are opening this platform to operators and maintainers who will be able to develop their own apps and use cases on our platform.”

Siemens Mobility maintains rolling stock, rail infrastructure and turnkey systems all around the globe. Condition monitoring is for the European tech giant an enabler to support their target of 100% availability.

“It helps us to be more efficient and it supports the safety of the systems that we’re servicing. So, in first line, condition monitoring is a great tool for our own use to optimise our services,” Guerineau said.

“However, we’re happy to share the tools that we’re developing for this purpose also with our customers, no matter if they let

us service their equipment or if they do their own maintenance.”

Guerineau said while the market might seem competitive, the advantages for Siemens Mobility products spoke for themselves.

“As accessibility to great freeware, mainly in the AI space, is so easy nowadays, there’s a lot of established companies and start-ups that jump onto this train,” she said.

“However, when our customers look deeper into their requirements, they regularly realise that they need a trusted partner like Siemens Mobility to get what they want.

“There are of course big IT players in the market, but the domain knowledge that Siemens Mobility has attained over the years puts us in a unique position to turn the data into information.

“In Australia alone, we have six local patents in monitoring and monitoring technologies.”

FINAL THOUGHTS Guerineau said the new rail energy sources would further strengthen the need for condition monitoring .

“Hydrogen as an energy source for locomotives is emerging as an reasonable and sustainable alternative to conventional fuels,” she said.

“Condition monitoring can be further utilised and integrated in this tech for example monitor fuel storage and safety systems.

“For each innovation there are new players entering the market and we will also collaborate with them in the future to get the best outcome for our customers.”

Siemens Mobility is holding six local patents in monitoring technologies in Australia.

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Condition Monitoring

CQUniversity and the digitalisation path to predictive maintenance How the Centre for Railway Engineering at Central Queensland University is using advanced simulation techniques for railway maintenance applications.

The ability of academia and industry to create and execute increasingly complex models with greater accuracy and applicability to practical scenarios is quite important for developing comprehensive and system wide train/vehicle/track simulations. This is an important step forward toward providing more accurate predictions of the maintenance and damage and due to the improved modelling better understanding of the uncertainties and dependencies in the predictions. At the same time, the use of the latest computational methods allows faster and more efficient information delivery than the existing methods.

Offices and buildings at the Centre for Railway Engineering CQU.

Railway research is one of the main priority research areas at Central Queensland University. As a result, the use of digital technology by the Centre for Rail Engineering (CRE) located at the North Rockhampton campus is helping drive improvements and innovations in the sphere of rollingstock and track monitoring and maintenance.

Research projects and programs performed by the CRE team are focused on achieving a comprehensive understanding and characterisation of railway track component damage processes considering dynamic and impact loading at the wheel-rail interface.

Centre deputy director Professor Maksym Spiryagin said the focus of recent industry research projects was on rail wear and fatigue crack initiation and propagation, known as rolling contact fatigue (RCF).

“The research requires multi-disciplinary knowledge to be applied to cover such complex systems that starts from locomotive and wagon design and finishes at the track design levels,” Spiryagin said.

“The research studies use monitoring and measurement techniques to deliver input parameters (friction characteristic at the wheel-

26 | ISSUE 7 - AUGUST 2021 | RAIL EXPRESS

rail interface, wear in terms of changes in wheel and rail profiles, in-train, traction and braking forces, wheel-rail contact forces etc.) for digital twins combining advanced locomotive, wagon and train models with monitored parameters such as dynamic loads, and accelerations.”

SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY The Centre has a long history of not only using simulation but also developing new modelling and simulation codes from scratch. This valuable intellectual property allows totally new simulation modelling of new products and facilitates smarter transducer devices with embedded modelling codes that can achieve on-board processing. Such technology means that solutions can be found to extend big data and internet-of-things technologies into new areas. These capabilities ensure that developments are not held back using

Laser profile management being deployed by workers.

“yesterday’s software”. Important developments include work on all aspects of train dynamics in a team led by Professor Colin Cole, a CRE director. Meanwhile Dr Qing Wu, the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award, is focussed on parallel computing and track modelling tasks, and their applications on high performance computing platforms.

Professor Spiryagin considers himself a system integrator in advanced simulation developments.

“Digital twin study approach avoids any limitations connected with the costs of experimental programs including interruption of train operational services,” Spiryagin said.

Considering the research problem is focussed on the complexities of the non-linear wheel-rail contact interface characteristics and the numerical characterisation of wear processes considering tribological aspects and train operational scenarios that includes a full-mechatronic model of rail vehicles and a detailed model of track, the virtual simulation platform is implemented on CQU’s HPC cluster.

The digital twin model uses the parallel computing and co-simulation technique. It uses one independent processor core on the HPC to simulate each vehicle in the train on the whole railway route.

“Individual cores then communicate with the longitudinal train dynamics simulation through the co-simulation interface to replicate actual train behaviour by means of the application of digital twin technologies,” Spiryagin said.

MODELLING AND VALIDATION In recent projects, a key emphasis has been on specific application components.

These include creep force and adhesion modelling. Modelling and validation of locomotive dynamic behaviour involves complex multi-disciplinary engineering problems which require coverage of all uncertainties and non-linearities present in the system. Key non-linearities in this complex task are the adhesion and friction processes at the wheel-rail interface and the characteristics of the control and traction system. The current theoretical contact models cannot accurately represent the creep force characteristics at the wheel-rail interface without friction measurements being performed. To avoid high costs and disruption, CRE researchers, Dr Sundar Shrestha and Esteban Bernal Arango, led by Spiryagin studied recent developments in creep force measurement and modelling techniques allowing locomotive/track damage models to use friction-creep curves delivered using laboratory testing of rail and wheel

Professor Maksym Spiryagin in the field.

steels on the Centre’s tribology /wear testing machine and the hand-operated tribometer in the field. The experimental data provided an understanding of adhesion behaviour as well as modelling principles of frictionadhesion behaviour when third body materials (pollutants, lubricants, water) are the present at the wheel-rail interface.

Also examined in detail has been rail heat modelling. The advanced modelling that allowed the estimation of the heat transfer processes at the rail through the temperature measurements in the field and modelling with parallel simulation on the HPC was performed by the Centre’s PhD student, Chris Bosomworth who has developed a low cost self-powered IoT device manufactured for rail temperature measurements. These devices were magnetically attached and built, based on electrically insulated temperature sensors. The work allowed to further improve accuracy of the heat transfer prediction processes at the wheel-rail interface and rail, in addition to detection of its influence on adhesion and rail damage.

All these modelling techniques and

approaches bring commercial benefits from virtual testing. “The combination of experimental studies and a virtual testing platform is progressing toward providing a better understanding of the track damage processes between wheels and rails,” Spiryagin said.

“It will allow predicting the service life cycle of Australian rail materials and track components under specific locomotive and wagon operational conditions in several Australian states.

“New analysis tools and techniques have been developed yo allow for analysing train and vehicle/track simulation data with a view to identifying track sections with a high risk of rail damage and possible derailments.

“This is indeed a significant development.”

FINAL THOUGHTS The research studies in this area were, and are, funded by the Australasian Centre for Rail Innovation and its industry partners who believe there is a contribution towards better operational safety and performance of the whole train/track system.

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Condition Monitoring

If you see it, you can monitor it With well over 200 systems deployed worldwide and multiple site installations on every inhabited continent, Wabtec is leading the way with asset monitoring.

The Wabtec Rail Bam.

In 2015 a business by the name of C2CE, specialising in railway signalling, communications and control systems was acquired by Wabtec Corporation and became what is now known as Wabtec Control Systems.

The business has since grown year-on-year in the signalling market and expanded their service offering to become a quality provider of railway signalling, control systems, industrial electrical and communications solutions, safe working and track protection services to the Australian railway market.

WCS is also a major global supplier of wayside condition monitoring equipment and

data analytics. In 2015 Wabtec acquired the Australian company, Track IQ, a global leader in acoustic bearing monitoring, weigh in motion and wheel impact load detection, among other things. Through further product development and acquisition, the WCS Asset Monitoring division now boasts one of the largest portfolios of wayside condition monitoring systems on the market.

The product portfolio, known as the Track IQ range, has evolved to include products for monitoring of bearings (axle and traction motors), WIM/WILD systems, train noise monitoring, bogie geometry monitoring, thermal

TRACK IQ technology by a rail line in Norway.

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imaging products, including hot bearing/wheel detectors (HBD), and a full range of machine vision capability, including monitoring of wheels, brakes and couplers.

“If we can see it, we can monitor it,” said John Dowie, Wabtec Control Systems general manager business development.

“We now have well over 200 systems deployed worldwide, with multiple site installations on every inhabited continent and system support located globally to ensure we can meet the needs of our customers wherever they are.

“As a Wabtec company we have the capability to support our customers wherever they are.”

Dowie said it was this “focus on the customer” that was central to the work of the WCS asset monitoring team.

“The evolution of our Track IQ portfolio is in response to our customers and market needs,” he said.

“We listen to our customers and aim to provide products to meet their need and add value to their business. We know our products improve railway safety, increase operational

efficiency and, if applied correctly, can significantly reduce cost of maintenance.”

Dowie said their technology was designed to inspect rollingstock in an operational environment, either depot-based or on main line installations. Inspection activities can be undertaken during normal operating hours while a train is in service, reducing the time required for inspection upon arrival at the maintenance facility.

“There are also significant benefits that are less well understood. Working with our customers we can extend the value of our asset monitoring technology to drive additional benefits including realigning the structure of maintenance cycles, improving asset utilisation and gaining greater efficiency and throughout of maintenance facilities,” he said.

“We have worked with our customers to fully automate the process from defect identification right through to production of a maintenance work order.”

A HOLISTIC APPROACH Customers are beginning to understand the benefits of a holistic approach to asset monitoring technology.

“While the majority of our installations have, in the past, been limited to one or two systems, we are working with an increasing number of customers who are rolling out supersites to undertake major inspection of a range of rolling stock components,” Dowie said.

“This can be done as a single large-scale installation or can be built on an incremental basis using our modular based capabilities.”

System design is focussed on ease of installation, with minimal impact on railway maintenance activities, and are, of course designed to withstand the harsh environments experienced by railways around the world.

Once installed, systems can be remotely monitored to ensure maximum system Wayside monitoring equipment.

Wabtec technology deployed in the field.

reliability and operation.

All systems are supplied with the Track IQ FleetONE data management software.

FleetONE unifies all wayside data into one easy to use easy to use software packages backed by a powerful data warehousing back end. FleetONE also provides the ability to trend any measurement parameter over time and to compose complex searches to retrieve condition information. Once composed, a search can be re-run at any time and emailed out as a scheduled report or alert. As such, identifying defective components within FleetONE is as simple as clicking a button or receiving an email. Add the ability to interface with an asset monitoring system and FleetONE really shows its strength as a powerful addition to the asset monitoring suite of tools.

GROWTH POTENTIAL Dowie said the Track IQ portfolio was continuously growing with new technology playing a part.

“Most recently we have developed thermal imaging capability, which includes our ThermalCAM and Hot Box Detector (HBD) “That combined with our data analytics software really means we can provide from trackside collection of data through to provision of information right up to integrating with data management systems and workshop work orders.”

More broadly Wabtec offers a complete portfolio of digital solutions, including products like EdgeLINC, a comprehensive edge device lifecycle management platform providing IIoT connectivity, data flow management, device management and streaming analytics at the edge and the back office driving significant improvements in asset performance and operational efficiency. Wabtec’s Movement Planner provides real-time rail traffic planning and optimisation, enabling freight to move more efficiently using existing rail networks and products like Trip Optimiser provides live information on efficient train handling.

According to Dowie, companies like Wabtec have tremendous ability to add value.

“In an industry that is going through significant change and a requirement for efficiency, reliability, greater asset utilisation, and an ever-increasing move towards automation, it will be companies like Wabtec that will support railways of the future on this journey,” Dowie said.

WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 29

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Condition Monitoring

Growing markets Down Under Holland, L.P, a specialty flashbutt welding service provider from North America, is growing its Australian footprint with its new-to-market technology Intelliweld and a culture of service and innovation bringing higher levels of qualification performance and weld quality.

The AMW 980 deployed on track.

For Holland Rail Services Australia managing director Kevin Piefer, quality results supported by quick delivery is of the essence.

“Generally, we are very quick in delivering change and improved performance,” Piefer said.

“Our process may only take three to four weeks for us to qualify welds for a customer or project. We hear stories of others, who don’t have our top to bottom data analysis, taking months or even longer to qualify as we do. That is if they are even able to qualify.” We are confident in our system and process that we can offer max-time qualification guarantees that sets us apart as well.

As a reminder, Holland is a specialist in flashbutt welding, whose technology is built to facilitate quality welding outcomes with extensive data collection and analysis.

The family-owned business from North America entered the Australian market in

March 2020, just as the global lockdown was beginning. Since then, it has blazed a trail of success thanks to a continuous effort in working with the mining companies in the Pilbara as well as supporting some local Perth transit work.

So what makes them different? Piefer is keen to elaborate.

“Flashbutt welding is a contracted service, but our differentiation is we really shine on the technical side,” he said.

“It involves science, engineering and data collection, and we really take it to the next level in differentiation from other contractors.

“We are able to close the loop inhouse because of our Intelliweld control system.

We collect data from our machines as they’re welding, and we do a lot of predictive analytics with that data.

“Although we are a contractor and have expert operators that perform the

service, we surround them with a lot of technical expertise making us a railroad service provider first, followed closely as a technology and data analytics business.

“We are very unique because there aren’t many businesses that can do what we do.”

AUSTRALIAN OPPORTUNITIES Despite running, a successful business in North America, Holland, L.P was keen to expand into the Australian market.

Piefer said this was due to myriad opportunities, albeit with mining companies providing “the lion’s share” of business.

“The Australian market is smaller [than North America}, but the amount of work that is here is still significant for a business like ours to obtain,” he said.

“Culturally, Australia is similar to North America and the rail infrastructure owners and operators need a reliable flashbutt welding service which makes it a low risk

WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 31

Condition Monitoring

development, helping customers improve their welding outcomes,” he said.

“A slow bend tester is a large tool that is part of our testing. You put the rail in a machine and bend it to a point of failure.

“We use that as an initial indicator of how we need to change some of our weld programming to improve our weld outcomes.”

Piefer said this had proven a useful tool in all of their operations and are now “bringing the same thing to Australia”.

“It is part of our service and shows we are committed to research and development and creating partnerships,” he said.

The MobileWelder deployed in the Pilbara.

market to penetrate.”

The first piece of Holland equipment arrived in Australia right as the world was shutting down in March 2020. Due to careful management of border closures, they have been able to grow the business and import other machinery during the pandemic.

“Our equipment was here, we could showcase and demonstrate and have customers. We were still able to advance the business,” he said.

Although shipping of heavy machinery became “a bit tougher”, it was otherwise a successful business launch in the Australian market.

TRAINING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE Piefer emphasises the need to engineer equipment specifically to meet customer needs.

“We engineer our equipment, we maintain our equipment, we have teams that perform upgrades, not only mechanically, but also technologically,” he said.

“We are able to create a service that if it needs to be changed, we can be on the front foot of change, because we can change the process with our equipment and can change the technology that is required to improve it.

“Then we can deliver that to our employees because we are training them right down the line that these changes are coming. We call it a ‘closed loop’ because

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we came from engineering all the way to innovating.”

THE SLOW BEND TESTER A key piece of technology arriving soon is their slow bend tester, something which Piefer says helps Holland meet its weld quality initiatives and helps partnering with customers.

“Part of that partnering is research and An Intelliweld screen on a Holland Welderhead.

FINAL THOUGHTS Looking ahead, Piefer said they were particularly keen to work with Australian universities and to seek out growth options more generally.

“We have been embedded in North America for 40-plus years and our customers there really understand what we do although we are always reinventing ourselves with new technology,” he said.

“A key point is we are not just a contracting resource.”

Piefer said the family owners were continuing to invest in the business.

“We probably will be tripling our investment in Australia through next year,” he said.

“Most of it is in the mining sector, though there is some major transport work that we hope to successfully weld as well.

“Overall, there are many opportunities ahead in the Australian market.”

Condition Monitoring

Making condition monitoring work for your business With a broad customer base and a wide range of systems, Trimble Beena Vision technology is being used by major railways from the Artic Circle to the harsh terrain of the Pilbara.

Trimble Beena Vision is one of the leading global providers of wayside vision-based condition monitoring systems for the examination of rolling stock. With a wide range of systems and broad customer base, Beena Vision technology is used by railways across the world from Australia’s Pilbara to within the Arctic circle, from high-speed passenger to the longest and heaviest freight trains, and from US Class 1 railways to major mining operations.

FOCUS ON BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION Trimble director of sales for Asia Pacific and South America, Chris Prebble, said the reliability, accuracy, and capabilities of Beena Vision’s systems and software produced the information needed to power transformation within railways.

“This transformation focuses on the automation of inspections, assists with the prediction and management of reliability and safety issues, enables condition based maintenance, improves asset productivity, and better manages components such as wheels and brakes,” Prebble said.

“Trimble Beena Vision takes a businesscentric approach to system implementation where the role of the technology is to Trimble Beena Vision WheelView system.

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enable business change.”

According to Prebble, the most successful projects have clear business objectives and both qualitative and quantitative targets around these key metrics: • Safety • Asset performance • Maintenance planning and costs • Component life cycle management • Operational reliability • Train productivity.

“The Beena Vision team use a collective experience to assist customers to get these objectives correct. This approach changes the process of justification for the investment from engineering and technical terms to language that can be easily understood by senior executives,” Prebble said.

“The Beena Vision approach looks to change the implementation of condition monitoring technologies from a technical/ engineering project focus to a business one, where measurable objectives are used to develop scope and measure project success.”

The technology plays an enabling role and the focus on business outcomes better informs the technical scope and configuration of the systems and software. This helps ensure adequate recognition is given to

how the solutions will be used within the operation, what processes are impacted, what systems require integration, and what change management is required.

USING CONDITION DATA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE Monitoring wheelsets are a good example of how condition monitoring can be used to a business’s advantage, as they are one of the key drivers of safety risk, reliability issues, rolling stock asset productivity, and component cost. It is easily understood that having access to wheel profile data is a welcome source of valuable information for a railway and that a wheel profile measurement system can provide data to for instance identify and alarm for wheels at condemning limits.

“Beena Vision’s preferred approach is to firstly understand all value that can be enabled with this data, in addition to the alarming of wheels that require immediate removal,” Prebble said.

“This process identifies how wheel profile information may be used to predict when the wheel should be changed and allow this activity to be planned rather than unscheduled, to calculate wear rates and to identify particular anomalies such as bogie

Trimble CMMS (Condition Monitoring Management System) software.

geometry, rail profile, lubrication issues, and to identify other conditions of interest.”

This information also can be used to drive procurement forecasts, to identify “bow-waves” in demand for wheels, labour, and facilities, and to allow wheel life to be maximised.

Ultimately wheel profile information can be used to manage lifecycles on expensive traction wheelsets by optimising when reprofiling is performed to maximise life.

Understanding wheel and other component conditions enables conditionbased maintenance programs that reduce component, facility utilisation, labour, and inspection costs and that optimise activities such as shunting. Beena Vision’s experience is that the business initiative approach is much more effective than a technical/engineering approach and delivers greater value in shorter timeframes.

Beena Vision also recommends customers understand the wider role the information wayside systems produce can play within their organisations. The availability of wayside Trimble Beena Vision system in freight operations.

data for data analytics and for use by other applications within a rail operation is also an important consideration. It is the ability to maximise the value of the data collected and to drive incremental value from condition monitoring systems that makes the difference.

MAXIMISING AUTOMATED CONDITION MONITORING Trimble Beena Vision’s field-proven trackside systems function reliably and accurately with minimal maintenance being required.

Trackside images and scans are collected before site server infrastructure uses advanced Machine Vision Algorithms (MVAs) and other processes to generate the data that defines the condition of the components, vehicles, and trains.

The generated images and data are then accessible in the Trimble CMMS (Condition Monitoring Management System) software where further activities and automations take place.

Trimble CMMS has been designed in

conjunction with real rail operators to deliver the functionality required to drive improvements in how they operate, maintain, and utilise rolling stock—to reduce costs and improve safety.

The software includes a rules engine that data passes through to apply business rules, relevant to that operation. The rules engine generates alarms, warnings, alerts, and workflows to notify the relevant stakeholders, or to create work automatically within maintenance systems like Maximo or SAP. Trimble CMMS imports and consolidates condition monitoring data (including from non-Beena Vision sources) so it can be assessed centrally as decisions are made regarding maintenance planning or rolling stock condition. Consolidation of condition monitoring data also allows “composite rules” to be executed across different types of information.

Advanced features in CMMS maximise data accuracy to support key processes and to generate data trending and CMMS is structured so data can be used by other systems or analytics. A range of powerful reports and functions convert the information generated and managed by CMMS into the business insights a railway needs such as train condition summaries, condition based maintenance projections, train braking reports, and many other areas.

As Trimble Beena Vision work to maintain a leading position in wayside rolling stock vision-based systems and to stand alone on a technical, reliability, and accuracy basis they are always focused on helping their customers to enable and deliver real transformational change within their operations.

For more details see rail.trimble.com

Super site with multiple installed Beena Vision systems.

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Early Warning Condition Monitoring for: Pantographs & Rail Overhead Wire Networks

Detect Damage to pantographs and power lines can present a real hazard to passengers and rail staff. OH-CAM systems constantly analyse pantographs and the overhead network, sending critical alerts to the maintenance crew.

Prevent Angry commuters, traffic gridlock and customer dissatisfaction – all preventable with OH-CAM. DTI has saved rail operators millions in penalties and lost revenue, alerting them of OLE faults.

photo courtesy of SMH: Sydney CBD congestion caused by entanglement at Hornsby Line May 2013

Reduce OH-CAM reduces manpower and increases safety for maintenance staff. Using Ai Deep Learning technology, real time information sent from rail vehicles, make it easy to pinpoint potential failures before they occur.

Inform OH-CAM comes with an extensive suite of analysis tools allowing operations to replay incidents in high-definition video, generate reports and fault trending charts with regional map data overlays.

OH-CAM OLE Fault Analysis www.dti.com.au

info@dti.com.au

+61 9479 1195

Condition Monitoring

Going truly global Salix Products is set to take its product knowledge, development and innovative design solutions to the international market.

Salix general manager Mark Fulford is excited about the future and the possibilities the new pipeline of works across Australia and New Zealand will provide.

“The market is currently going through an unprecedented boom, with a number of regional and metro projects coming online at an extremely fast rate – we are seeing the same trend internationally,” Fulford said.

“For more than 15 years, we have been supplying turnouts and other rail products to the Australian market and our vision is to expand into the export market and showcase our engineering expertise and product knowledge worldwide.”

The Australian owned company has experienced major success and recognition in the local market for design and supply of turnouts, while competing against internationally-owned businesses.

Salix has developed innovative railway product solutions - and now with a new business name and brand, the team will focus on taking Australian-developed railway product solutions to the global market. Salix has already achieved growth from exports that have resulted in an

increase of 30 per cent in revenue attributed to these export sales. The company is strategically investing to grow export revenue by a further 70 per cent.

Fulford said the Salix Products tagline ‘Enabling the Future’ referred to several key themes, including: • A willingness to take on large-scale and complex projects; • Opportunities within the local and international rail markets; • A readiness to provide new and diverse rail construction products; • Delivering complete supply solutions for all rail products, and • A focus on quality assurance, ensuring products are made with sustainability in mind.

“We enjoy taking on the tough and complex projects and providing a best-forproject solution for our clients and that’s what sets us apart,” Fulford said.

“Under the Salix brand, we offer expert product knowledge and innovative design solutions to consistently deliver construction benefits, operational performance and maintenance cost savings.”

Fulford said the key to Salix’s success was

Salix specialises in a variety of rail products.

a collaborative team culture and the passion of its talented engineers, project managers, designers and support services.

“Our in-house product design and manufacturing teams understand the construction process – specifically around safety and efficiency - and this allow us to develop products and tooling to benefit rail construction projects.”

Salix general manager Mark Fulford (middle) with Salix team.

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Condition Monitoring

Turnouts supplied for Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 1.

Salix has emphasised the importance of ‘customer service’ to its business. But what does this mean?

“It means that we are there for the client from beginning to end,” Fulford said.

“Our customer service approach is to collaborate with the client to ensure they have a fit for purpose product, we work with them through the whole supply chain process to ensure we capture all their needs and wants.

“We not only need to ensure our product complies to rail owner and national standards but also that the client is involved through the whole delivery process so the client’s project runs smoothly, and they have a product that will perform for its whole life cycle.”

Fulford said the scale and diversity of rail projects on both sides of the Tasman provides a unique opportunity for an Australian owned company to excel, albeit there were always challenges.

“This is a great time to be working in infrastructure and getting to partner on many blue-ribbon projects,” he said.

“Over the years, various projects provided us with opportunities to design and develop 1200 turnout solutions in Australia.

“Due to the opportunities presented by both projects and clients, we have expanded out products catalogue enormously – and that includes everything within the rail corridor – through from civil to railway system needs.

“This was also made easy by our extremely knowledgeable team, robust supply chain and knowledge of rail products.”

Fulford said the Australian rail market was a particularly interesting one.

“The market is so unique with multiple

38 | ISSUE 7 - AUGUST 2021 | RAIL EXPRESS

network owners and operators all working to their own set of track standards, as you know many of these networks operate with different track gauges, different rollingstock and therefore very different requirements as you can imagine,” he said.

More recently, the team successfully delivered tailormade solutions for Forrestfield Airport Link in Western Australia and KiwiRail in Auckland.

“We focus on providing the best tailormade solutions for our clients, we recently received a two-year extension on our turnout supply contract with KiwiRail and remain their exclusive turnout supplier and have been for the past five years,” Fulford said.

“The other unique aspect we face is product type approvals. Currently each network has Design and supply of scissor crossing for KiwiRail’s Britomart Station.

its own approval process for new products, therefore to supply a product to a new network even if you have it approved in other networks is a whole new application process which can take up time and resources.

“The team has navigated these challenges and received all necessary approvals across all railways which enables us to extend our reach across the globe,” he said.

“The team has already received international recognition our quality of design and fit-for-purpose product solutions and we are looking forward to what the future holds for the business.”

From a unique experience working across multiple networks, Salix looks set to well and truly service the growing international rail market.

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I S S U E 07 | A U G U S T 2021

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Condition Monitoring

Monitoring overhead electrics The OHCAM system has made the process of identifying potential faults from pantograph and overhead network video recordings easier. system in 2011, with its core functions being the detection of excessive arching and abnormal pantograph activity. This early system proved successful as it was highly effective in capturing pantograph and overhead wire anomalies that were previously undetected by the human eye during replay. Unfortunately, the technology available at the time meant the system also generated numerous false positive alerts, which required an operator’s time to filter out what weren’t real events.

“Ten years on and OHCAM has become a highly sophisticated system using the very latest in Ai-Deep Learning technology, which is used to filter out environmental and other scene interference that could previously be indexed as a false event,” Erdbrink said.

“The latest user interface also allows for operator feedback and input to further enhance the reliability of information being reported.”

A French tram with OHCAM camera.

Back in 2010, DTI representatives visited one of their customers in the United Kingdom who had invited them to see how well their on-train pantograph recording systems were working at capturing the overhead wire and pantographs in high quality, in all lighting and weather conditions. At the desk sat a maintenance engineer with notepad, coffee and donuts, sifting through hours of pantograph recordings. His job was to observe, detect and write down every anomaly with time/data and GPS location.

As expected, numerous events were missed, especially after two to three hours into a manual observation session. As a direct result of this visit, DTI identified an enormous opportunity in the OLE condition monitoring and one that could be rolled out onto normal electric locos, at fraction of the cost of purpose-built survey vehicles. Additional rail customers were consulted, a design brief was created and development at DTI’s head office in Perth was fast tracked.

EARLY DEPLOYMENTS DTI global business development manager Fred Erdbrink said they deployed a pilot

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OHCAM IN DETAIL To meet the individual needs of each operator, the OHCAM system comprises several modules that can be used as a combined enterprise rail communications suite or as standalone modules: • DTI-CENTRAL with OBSERVER – captures and sends “live” event notifications, utilising on-vehicle analytics and transmission of event data via mobile networks. Remotely manages all functions and monitors the health of all DTI onboard sub-systems, including surveillance cameras and passenger audio/ communications.

• OBSERVER – captures and sends “live” event notifications, utilising on-vehicle analytics and transmission of event data via mobile networks.

• DATA-VIEWER - post analysis tool, processes pre-recorded video and metadata from the on-board system.

This tool is also included in the OBSERVER module above.

Where high-speed 4G/5G networks are available, the OBSERVER module can also analyse and record video in the cloud, in near real-time. If high cellular data usage associated with continuous transmission

to a cloud-based analysis server is a concern and/or event reporting is required within the shortest possible time, then the system can be configured to carry out analysis on-board the train.

RAIL OPERATORS ARE BENEFITTING The DTI system has grown rapidly in popularity. Hundreds of systems are in operation across the EU and the UK, providing rail maintenance teams with those crucial early warnings. For these operators, OHCAM has become an essential tool for many as an early warning to what could develop into a major catastrophic event such as a de-wirement or OLE entanglement. “In Australia, the PTA were one of the first to adopt the DTI system and are still using it today,” Erdbrink said.

OHCAM has the potential to detect and report potential faults on the network in real-time. As each section of the network is measured multiple times per day, providing proactive maintenance data, as it is also possible to accurately predict

An OHCAM camera on top of an Australian train.

Event log and reporting via OHCAM.

erratic height/stagger changes to ensure even wear on carbon strips and prevent potentially serious OLE failures.

High definition video recordings of the section of track associated with the alert can be obtained in real-time over the 3G/4G network so the fault can be assessed with appropriate action taken immediately.

“Since a maintenance crew may have to travel many hours to fix a fault, the OHCAM data will assist management in determining the level of response and priority within the existing maintenance regime,” Erdbrink said.

“In addition, the collaborative height/ stagger data and arching events, collected from numerous operating rail vehicles that are running under the OLE will provide a highly accurate view of the overall infrastructure condition.”

The stagger and height breaches detected by OHCAM reflect true operating conditions which can be quite different from those collected by survey vehicles due to the variance in vehicle dynamics. In one example, a UK operator using OHCAM downgraded the status of their entire

Technology allows for the detection of pantograph anomalies and height/ stagger breaches on overhead lines.

network after they witnessed indisputable video analytics evidence that overhead wire stagger from operating passenger trains were quite different from those obtained by their own survey vehicle.

FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS Today, the use of video analytics in vehicle control and maintenance is commonplace.

There is increasing financial pressure to decrease train downtime, which means the use of video-based data, which is harvested and used for predictive analytics, will continue to play a critical role. In the near future, the system will be able to simply

The OHCAM analytics detects a height breach.

add a module to provide some exciting new enhancements. These will include: • Driver behaviour monitoring including fatigue detection; • Detecting the colour of trackside signals to forewarn the driver and assist with SPADS analysis; • Detecting and classify objects in the path of the train for asset tracking or to warn the driver of a potential hazard.

OHCAM is a 100% Australian invention incorporating technology that is now protected by numerous patents, globally.

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Operations and Maintenance

Signalling the way forward A contract to install and commission signalling on the next stage of Inland Rail is reflective of a company on a path to growth.

INLAND RAIL Aldridge Signal Infrastructure recently had something of a coup with an important project with the Inland Rail project.

For those in need of a recap, the Inland Rail project is a freight only railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane with the express purpose of speeding freight distribution in Australia.

It is seen as one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the history of the Australian federation.

An initiative of the Commonwealth, line construction began in 2018 and is proceeding in 13 stages, with the most recently completed 182.8 km section being between the New South Wales towns of Parkes and Narrabri.

Aldridge Railway Signals supplied for this section 95 mainline signals and 35 shunting signals. All signals are “state of the art” lightemitting diode (LED) types, with Aldridge being the first to innovate with LED technology in Australian Rail Signalling.

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

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enclosures. Contracts have been confirmed for the section that runs from Narrabri to North Star, (N2NS) with Aldridge Railway Signals providing all 65 articulated post assemblies prewired with 65 main signals and 30 BOL Signals, 14 complete level crossing sets and ancillary devices as well as numerous trackside facility enclosures and Aldridge Signal Infrastructure contracted for Installation and Commissioning.

The Narrabri to North Star (N2NS) route is within the Narrabri, Moree Plains and Gwydir local government areas in northwest 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.

Located at Bogan Road, Goonumbla, this is one of 14 Level Crossings located between Parkes and Narrabri.

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

“We have assigned significant resources to this project and it is without doubt very significant for our business,” Anderson said.

“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.”

“We have been operating for just over six years and it has been great to be involved with Inland Rail,” Anderson said.

“We see opportunities for the next 10 years and to have this major involvement in a big

CREDIT: BIANCA SL ATER

Phil Anderson can barely contain his enthusiasm when it comes to talking business.

“I have been working in rail since 1985 and have never seen so many work opportunities,” said the managing director of Aldridge Signal Infrastructure.

“I can’t see it ending for 10 years, in fact it is hard to really see an end to it.

That means a bright future and a strong position for the business to be in.”

Aldridge Railway Signals (signal manufacturing) and Aldridge Signal Infrastructure (signalling systems installation) employ between them 100+ Australians in a high-technology sector.

Aldridge Railway Signals is a privately owned Australian Indigenous company registered with Supply Nation, the Indigenous business database.

The business has been manufacturing rail signals in Australia since the early 1990s and is a major exporter of signals to Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, New Zealand,Taiwan,Thailand and Ireland.

KEY PROJECTS Aldridge Signal Infrastructure was established in 2015 and since then it has completed several major projects including: • The Sydney Intermodal Terminal Alliance (SIMTA) Terminal at Moorebank: A new Intermodal Terminal off the Australian Rail Track Corporations Southern Sydney Freight Line at Glenfield. 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.

• T he Georges Plains Crossing Loop: A new crossing loop between Bathurst and Newbridge on the Main West Line. This project also included 4 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 AlburyWodonga 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 signalling system from detail signalling design, supply, installation and commissioning, the project was initially to be completed in six months but due to scope creep from changes to

CREDIT: BIANCA SL ATER

project is a great position to be in.

Anderson said focusing on a distinct geographical area was good policy.

“Our current business model is to focus on work in NSW,” he said.

“There are so many opportunities in NSW we don’t need to look elsewhere and we can focus on being our best in our established market.”

Located at Brolgan Road, Parkes, this is one of 95 Mainline signals in the section between Parkes and Narrabri.

operational requirements it was completed in 24 months. It was a significant project in which Aldridge played a key role.

“Projects such as these are going to drive the future of Australian freight and it is a real pleasure to be able to contribute.”

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Operations and Maintenance

The sounds of silence How recycled moulded rubber is helping bring about coexistence between humans and railways.

The mighty Roman Empire stood for many centuries but there were some enemies that even it could not defeat. No, not the Vandals, the Huns or the Visigoths – rather we’re talking train noise.

Some years ago, German authorities in the Upper Rhine Valley faced a conundrum.

A UNESCO-World Heritage Roman city wall was being affected by rail noise, noise that was also affecting nearby cafes in this popular tourist region. However, the railway was also one of the key German freight routes from the northern ports into the south and west. Clearly, something had to be done.

Large sound barriers were deemed a poor option, being unsightly and blocking the view of the old roman arch bridge for café goers.

An alternative was found, that of a noise attenuation system developed by STRAILastic.

This system, involves a panel called the STRAILastic IP, an acoustically optimised rubber plate that can be fitted directly onto existing railing or rail structures.

The noise attenuation system is made from compressed recycled rubber, compressed with a force of about 1200 tonnes and then cooled in a special chamber. It can then be moulded into the small barriers that are placed near the tracks, nullifying the worst noise effects.

“It was enough reduction in noise from freight and passenger trains to allow people to enjoy sitting outside and inside the café near the rail line,” said Andreas Goeschl, A close-up view of a STRAILastic noise attenuation system.

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STRAILastic Australia operations director.

“The benefit here is that you are placing the noise attenuation system as close as possible to the noise source.

“An additional advantage is that all products are made more or less from recycled material and can be recycled again.”

STRAILastic which manufactures and markets both noise attenuation products and light rail track systems, is part of a business owned by German business KRAIBURG STRAIL (a composite word meaning ‘street meets rail’), which also includes STRAIL Level Crossings and STRAILway which deals in composite sleepers.

All three business divisions operate on the basis of using recycled material. The KRAIBURG Group business employs 2500 employees in total.

All products are made from recycled material and can be recycled again.

“Our material sources are from all over Europe but with strict quality control,” Goeschl said.

“This allows for broad quality sourcing and development of long relationships for the reliability of the materials supply source that are used which we know can be safely handled.”

The noise attenuation system has a core of 70plus per cent recycled rubber and filler materials and is then covered in virgin rubber sheet prior to moulding. This outer layer is treated to resist ultraviolet rays and fire, something that could otherwise lead to

A sound barrier helps separate a housing community from the noise of a train.

deterioration in rubber products.

“We have a special UV cover sheet for Australian conditions that is tuned to higher levels of sunlight and UV light,” Goeschl said.

KEY BENEFITS Advantages of the STRAILastic system is that it can provide noise isolation on both sides of the track and can be installed quite quickly. It also has an anti-graffiti covering and a metal cage to thwart the most determined vandal.

“But a really important point is that you can be installed in existing infrastructure; you don’t need any base or foundation that costs a lot of money and time to install,” Goeschl said.

“Nor do you need a detailed planning approval from governments.

“It is worth noting that If you change the foundations, you may need to seek formal

planning approval which takes time, so our system avoids a tremendous amount of hassle and time wasting.”

OFFERING A “TOOLBOX” Goeschl said they sought to offer their clients ‘a toolbox’ suite of options for dealing with sound and vibration from railways.

“In Europe, railway operators are required to reduce noise. From a cost efficiency calculation, the more people who benefit from noise attenuation using these types of products, the more funding can be found to assist the railway authorities,” he said.

“We acknowledge you can’t substitute high noise barriers everywhere, but in particular areas, especially where we have embankments that are ideal for our setup or in tunnels with the new high absorbing panels, we are able to show clients all the options.”

THE FUTURE IN AUSTRALIA? Strail has been selling its products into Australian railways for more than 40 years . Strailastic product range builds on that experience of providing quality products with a long asset life in the harsh Australia environment. The community want products that utilise and reuse existing materials which can perform as well as being sustainable.

Strailastic has taken a cautious approach since 2018, to building acceptance of their noise attenuation products and light rail track systems across Australia, concentrating initially on the extensive list of new projects for new metro rail and light rail track systems. It was

“We acknowledge you can’t substitute high noise barriers everywhere, but in particular areas, especially where we have embankments that are ideal for our setup or in tunnels with the new high absorbing panels, we are able to show clients all the options.”

Andreas Goeschl, STRAILastic Australia operations director. unsuccessful with the Sydney and South East metro extension and It is currently bidding three projects for Metronet in Perth using its new high absorbing noise mini sound wall panels either curved to fit the tunnel profiles of these new rail extensions or as flat panels to fit to the top of bridge parapets on several grade separations where previously large concrete walls typically post and panel walls were used.

Strailastic works closely with acoustic engineers to combine their range of products to cost effectively manage noise attenuation.

The noise walls are typically combined with track web dampers as designed to reduce noise levels significantly typically about 50% reduction to the human ear.

“Our heavy web dampers have been installed on the Brisbane Metro network on the Merivale Bridge and on the approaches

to the Roma Street tunnel and an 80 metre trial at Waverton on the North shore Line for Sydney Trains.”

Managing the noise from railways is an increasingly an issue in Australians cities and towns along major rail corridors as land scarcity has housing and offices building closer to railway corridors. But the community doesn’t want to see the large graffiti covered concrete walls to manage noise. This product range provides a much more acceptable alternative.

As in other markets around the world, Strailastic will work closely with Australian and New Zealand clients by uses its extensive research and development to work with clients on their particular noise challengers and will look to modify products to suit.

Reducing noise is as important as other sustainability efforts to the quality of the community in which we all live.

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Industry Interview

Creating a safer network TrackSAFE co-founder and chairman Bob Herbert is retiring. He talks about the group’s work to overcome mental health challenges in the rail workplace.

Bob Herbert says the creation of TrackSAFE came via a gradual realisation of how much trauma was occurring on rail networks.

It was back in 2011 when he joined the Board of MainCo Melbourne, a joint venture between UGL and Connex running the Melbourne passenger franchise.

“I was shocked to see every month there were five or six suicides on the network,” Herbert said.

“Around Australia the rail suicides exceeded 100 annually. Naturally this was of huge concern to me and the impact it had on rail staff involved – train drivers, station staff and cleaners.

“Most drivers with 10 years’ experience had hit someone, some were involved in a number of such tragedies. Something had to be done.”

TrackSAFE co-founder and chairman Bob Herbert AM.

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Herbert said establishing TrackSAFE had its challenges.

“But it was relatively easy to gain support from UGL and progressively rail operators generally,” he said.

“My fellow MainCo/UGL director Andy Summers and I, with the support of ARA CEO Bryan Nye, pulled together key representatives to discuss the formation of the TrackSAFE Foundation.”

They drew inspiration from the Chris Cairns Foundation in New Zealand, set up after the death of Cairns’s sister in a level crossing accident.

UGL agreed to provide an initial $200,000 to establish TrackSAFE and Pacific National soon matched this, followed by contributions from other operators.

“We set a four point mission - to reduce suicides on rail, address trespass, for example train surfing, pursue safety at level crossings and address employee trauma arising from such incidents,” he said.

In 2012 they assembled a representative Board with Andy Summers as the founding chairperson.

Following the first meeting Summers accepted an appointment in the U.S and Herbert was appointed chair – a position he has held since.

Former deputy prime minister and rail buff, the late Tim Fischer, became patron.

TrackSAFE became ARA’s charity and provided staffing backup, including with Naomi Frauenfelder as executive director from 2017.

Herbert said early support from industry and unions was strong and has remained so.

“Industry support, including from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union has been strong and continuing,” he said.

“The board comprises the most senior executives from the passenger and freight operators and the RTBU general secretary.

“The board is very engaged.”

He noted the healthy support of industry.

“An early decision was not to rely on government funding, but for industry to sustain TrackSAFE as a viable activity,” Herbert said.

“We now have 30 financial supporting organisations and this is growing “Government has funded some special programs including social media, fencing, and so on.”

Herbert said TrackSAFE was “successful by any measure”.

“First, we decided rather than build up a large staff complement, we would establish key partnerships with LifeLine and the RUOK?DAY organisation,” he said.

“Working together we have made great progress on the TrackSAFE agenda. We have established ‘help seeking’ mechanisms across the network and in suicide ‘hot spots’ via social media, community stations and fencing to deny access to the track.”

He noted the recent Rail RUOK?DAY in April engaged 110 organisations and reached 100,000 employees.

Participation has grown each year.

“We offer mental health, first aid training and adapted trauma management programs in concert with the defence and veterans sector,” Herbert said.

“We have rekindled the National Level Crossing Safety Committee which is now setting its 10 year forward strategies.

“In cooperation with ONRSR we have now an accurate measure of incidents, fatal or otherwise, including near misses.”

“We set a four point mission – to reduce suicides on rail, address trespass, for example train surfing, pursue safety at level crossings and address employee trauma arising from such incidents.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE Herbert said he had enjoyed many rewarding experiences during his career, but none gave him greater satisfaction than what TrackSAFE had been able to achieve.

“For me to be involved in an organisation that sees preventing incidents, suicides, accidents, and the like, that cause rail employees trauma is hugely motivating, though a continuing challenge,” he said.

“I feel great pride in being involved from the ‘get go’ and enjoying the support from the industry leaders in delivering TrackSAFE’s mission. Our scope is widening

Bob Herbert, TruckSAFE co-founder and chairman. to embrace the mental health and wellbeing of rail employees generally.”

Herbert notes that a key lesson for associations is to be proactive.

“The construction sector is proactive and in the trucking and warehouse sector a new organisation has emerged,” he said.

“COVID has produced many challenges and managing them is for the industry players to respond, not just by putting the hand out for government help.

“The message is to be proactive and

Nikada / E+ via Getty Images

Engineering.

Consulting.

Operations.

achieve ‘buy in’ by the leaders in the sector concerned.”

Herbert said he would be an “interested bystander” at TrackSAFE. “I leave TrackSAFE in good hands – Danny Broad as chair and Heather Neil as executive director are sure to make a tremendous contribution.

“I wish them well – they will enjoy continuing support from a strong board.”

If this story has raised any issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Women in Industry

The way ahead Engineer and Women in Industry nominee Diane Mather has seen the rail sector change for the good over the past two decades.

Brisbane engineer Diane Mather says she has observed the rail industry change for the better during the past two decades.

Mather has been working in rail since 1998 and is a nominee for the Women in Industry Awards, in the category of Excellence in Engineering.

The winners are to be announced this month.

“I think the rail industry, and the infrastructure industry in general, has changed in the fact that we are not just engineers or constructors,” she said.

“As an industry we have become a lot more diverse across the disciplines. That has enabled a lot more opportunities for women in some of the ‘softer’ areas of rail.

“The number of women graduates in engineering is still low – and that is an area where we would like to see improvement – but we are now seeing graduates being hired from the social sciences for things like systems assurance and environmental stakeholder engagement.

“In these roles there are more women and the rail industry is doing well to embrace and recognise those skills.”

Mather has been an active member of the Australian tunnelling industry since migrating to Australian from the United Kingdom in 2005. During her career she has worked on a series of interesting projects, including Melbourne Metro, Airport link and the road project West Connex.

Mather has been on committees of Engineers Australia Technical Societies from 2005- 2011. She was the secretary of the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society and from 20112019 was the secretary of the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Tunnelling Society.

In 2019 Diane became the Queensland ATS Chapter chair and is currently in her second term as the chair. Through this 15year period Diane has been instrumental in organising several technical Sessions across various themes and topics and one day workshops including full day practical experiences for the tunneling industry where on-site demonstrations offer supplier, contractor and designer engagement.

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Working for the Australian Rail Track Corporation, Diane Mather became a natural mentor to several young women engineers within the project, providing advice and guidance to help them build their tunnelling knowledge and enhance their future career prospects.

Mather also represents a strong role model for women working within what is a probably the most masculine area of the engineering industry, tunnelling. She is said to be strongly “hands-on” focussed and practically based, has a very strong work ethic, is determined and exhibits unquestionable expertise as a part of her professional client focus.

Since joining ARTC, Mather has made positive contributions to the workplace with her technical experience and knowledge in the tunnelling industry and continuous support for women in engineering. Mather provides exceptional support to the project and her team. She is said to be passionate in her field and shares her deep knowledge she has accumulated in her professional experience with her team in her role as a design manager at ARTC, as well as more broadly in the industry through her role as Queensland ATS Chapter chair.

Her extensive and detailed knowledge is said to have been “a boon” to the Inland Rail project, where she has become an integral part of the team.

“I find the rail industry has a certain culture and camaraderie that is always quite inspiring and supportive,” Mather said.

“It is a big achievement and a tremendous honour to be nominated.”

The Women in Industry Awards recognise outstanding women from the industrials sector – those who work in mining, road transport, manufacturing, engineering, logistics, bulk handling, waste management, rail and infrastructure.

The 2021 Women in Industry Ambassador is Rachael Ashfield. Last year, Rachael was nominated by her colleagues for the Business Development Success of the Year category, and subsequently won.

“The nomination itself was extraordinary, and then to reach the list of finalists and

Women in Industry nominee, Diane Mather.

subsequently win the award was a personal and career defining highlight,” Ashfield said.

Award winners will be announced at the Women in Industry Awards Gala Dinner in Melbourne on 19 August.

Bookings to attend the Awards can be made at: www.womeninindustry.com.au

Safety and Assurance

A new era for level crossings Landmark milestone for ALCAM, RISSB and the rest of the rail sector.

Recently, the owner of ALCAM (the National Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model Committee) and RISSB executed contracts to transfer support of ALCAM and the level crossing management system (LXM System) from VicTrack, over to RISSB – a transition which has been some months in the planning.

We want to thank VicTrack for showing great industry leadership in assisting the National ALCAM Committee during the development of the LXM System and its support over the past nine years. During this time the ALCAM model and LXM System has helped industry to address level crossing risks and supported us all in our efforts to make improvements. RISSB would also like to thank VicTrack for all their efforts in making the transition to RISSB as seamless as possible.

With ALCAM’s arrival at RISSB it is now supported centrally by a cross-industry body, a logical step in ALCAM’s evolution. At RISSB, ALCAM will join RISSB’s own ARRM (the Australian Rail Risk Model) and the Culture

Hub Survey to create a powerful suite of information systems on offer for the benefit of the railway.

From a user’s perspective, very little will change in the immediate future; you will still interact with ALCAM and the LXM System the same way, and you will still access ALCAM information in the same way i.e. via www. alcam.com.au. ALCAM and the LXM System will still be overseen by its cross-industry committee and its technical subcommittee the changes will be largely behind the scenes.

Behind the scenes, we will be working hard to leverage RISSB’s extensive expertise and experience collaborating with industry to allow significant growth and improvement of ALCAM and the LXM system.

Work is already underway to validate and enhance the road model, but more to come on that at a later date.

RISSB is delighted to host ALCAM, and we were especially delighted to mark the occasion with a COVID responsible ribbon cutting ceremony with the following representatives from each of the aforementioned parties.

NATIONAL ALCAM COMMITTEE • Dora Ugalde - level crossing safety manager, Department of Transport Victoria & ALCAM Committee Chair • Evan Lutey - level crossing safety & policy coordinator, Main Roads WA & ALCAM treasurer • Greg Suthers – General manager SEQ safety, risk and assurance & Qld jurisdictional representative • William McDonald – ARTC operations standards engineer & ALCAM transition project manager • VicTrack - Alex McGrath - program director rail systems / innovation tech, VicTrack • Nick Goodey - Manager technical services VicTrack RISSB • Deb Spring – executive chair and CEO RISSB • Jesse Baker – GM safety and innovation, RISSB • Risharda Robertson – Safety and risk systems manager RISSB If you’re interested in knowing more, please contact info@alcam.com.au.

ALCAM is to join RISSB’s Australian Rail Risk Model to create a powerful suite of information systems.

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Industry Associations

Light rail networks are playing their part in effective functioning of communities.

Report confirms light rail delivers real community benefits Light rail is experiencing a resurgence as governments recognise its value in managing population growth.

Our Light Rail Conference in June united industry and government stakeholders over a two-day event focused on new research and ground-breaking projects.

Australia and New Zealand are experiencing a resurgence in light rail as governments recognise its invaluable contribution to managing population growth in our cities.

Light rail connects communities, regenerates CBDs and invites investment in a way that is quite unique when compared with other transport modes.

The Renaissance of Light Rail - a new report released by the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and authored by the RPS Group - detailed the transformational impact light rail has on our communities.

Light rail serves populations in 400 cities around the world, safely connecting communities to the public transport network.

It has a long and successful track record

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in Australia where it has proven to be particularly effective at revitalising regions, creating opportunities for urban renewal and land value uplift.

In Canberra, house prices along the light rail corridor achieved record growth, increasing in value by up to 39 per cent, more than twice the state average during the same period (17 per cent). On the Gold Coast, underlying property values around proposed station locations rose by 30 per cent. In Melbourne, where the network operated by Yarra Trams is an iconic part of the city, the network contributes between $730 and $870 million annually to the city’s social fabric.

These tangible benefits cannot be underestimated as they support the sustainable development of our cities and help create inclusive places to live, work and play. As the Melbourne experience has shown us, the mode’s ability to enhance a city’s

reputation by adding colour to city streets and deepening the connection between urban areas, tourists and residents is a clear benefit of light rail.

It is also an environmentally-friendly way to travel. Light rail can move 95 per cent more people per hour than cars, resulting in a substantial reduction in traffic congestion and fuel emissions.

It is a key reason why light rail was found to be well suited to areas that required the movement of large numbers of people, while facilitating frequent stops. Though it is clear light rail isn’t the solution to every transport issue, it can be a flexible option as part of the wider transport network.

With more than two thirds of Australians living in capital cities and the population looking to double by 2075, there is an urgent need to ramp up our public transport networks. Light rail offers a good solution in

areas where communities need sustainable, long-term transport connections, particularly in areas where urban renewal is desired.

A great example of this is Newcastle, which opened its light rail operations in 2019 as part of an integrated public transport network supporting the region. Here, light rail activated the CBD, removing previous divides in the city centre and encouraging healthier lifestyles through more active transport options.

Just as Newcastle saw strong support for light rail, passengers generally rate the mode of transport highly, with the report finding customer satisfaction rates were substantially higher for light rail than other forms of transport like the bus.

Passengers typically report rides are smoother and routes are easier to navigate.

Light rail is accessible and flexible, allowing passengers to turn-up-and-go without having to consult maps and timetables.

TRACKLESS TRAM CONCERNS The report warned, however against a move to untested and unproven trackless trams technologies. Several trackless tram

networks in Europe and the U.S. are being decommissioned or retired early following reliability and comfort issues, along with damage to road surfaces.

While the technology may offer lower costs in the beginning, the experience so far suggests it is not yet a viable option for Australia.

As more light rail projects get underway in the year ahead, the report confirms the importance of making the most of this new wave of light rail investment.

The report called for a coordinated approach that included engagement with local government stakeholders when planning light rail projects and recommended improved risk sharing approaches be established during planning and procurement.

This recognised the importance of strong engagement between government and industry to achieve the best outcomes for passengers and the community and is consistent with the ARA’s best practice principles for rail construction procurement.

With new stages of light rail projects planned in Canberra, the Gold Coast and

ARA CEO Caroline Wilkie.

Parramatta, the renaissance of this popular mode of transport looks set to continue.

That is good news for local people as these key projects provide new opportunities for sustainable development and improved community amenity.

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Industry Associations

Establishing fairness in freight An inefficient and unproductive national supply chain can result in lost export income, reduced employment and higher consumer prices.

Freight affects every Australian, every day, everywhere. Common goods purchased by Australians such as food, clothing, household appliances and medicine all need to be transported by freight operators. Similarly, the freight supply chain provides the materials to build and operate critical community infrastructure – roads, hospitals and schools – which are fundamental to our society.

An inefficient and unproductive national supply chain can ultimately result in lost export income, reduced employment, higher consumer prices and Australia becoming less competitive in the global market.

ALC believes road pricing processes should fairly capture all the relevant cost components of roads, without distorting the choice of transport unfairly, particularly from rail to road.

This is the second inquiry that has been recently conducted into road tolling by the NSW Legislative Council. A specific issue was that heavy vehicles will have a toll imposed that is three times higher than car tolls.

However, the economic rationale behind the three-time multiplier has never been explained.

Heavy vehicles currently pay road user charges for using Australia’s roads, through a pay-as-you-go model (colloquially known as PAYGO).

In a nutshell, PAYGO is designed to recover from heavy vehicles the allocated proportion of the amount jurisdictions spent on the construction and maintenance of roads over the previous five years.

New pricing mechanisms Australian governments are now considering a new pricing mechanism being developed under a project called Heavy Vehicle Road Reform (HVRR) to replace PAYGO. Put simply, the HVRR concept road owners will put forward for the consideration of governments road construction and maintenance proposals, with costs calculated on a forward-looking basis using the building block method of developing charges used in the water, rail and electricity sectors. However, both methods only require heavy vehicles fund the additional maintenance costs incurred as a result of the road infrastructure carrying a heavy vehicle.

Australia needs to get its freight transport systems working effectively.

IT DOESN’T ESTABLISH A PROFIT CENTRE FOR ROAD OWNERS It has been reported that trucks are avoiding using, for example, NorthConnex as a result of the costs imposed on using the infrastructure, clearly imposing freight chain inefficiencies as well as adding to the road congestion that access to infrastructure of a motorway standard was meant to avoid.

However, the toll road pricing regime should support other government policies designed to ensure the efficient movement of freight, particularly within the Sydney Metropolitan area such as port rail mode share targets.

As the NSW government has stated: A Strategic Target of the NSW Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023 is to increase the share of rail freight at Port Botany to 28% or 930,000 TEU by 2021 (against a 2016 baseline of 17 per cent or 388,552).

Transporting freight on the rail network significantly improves efficiency, congestion

and sustainability, especially around major trade gateways. This is important as the volume of freight moved through NSW ports will grow in the future.

This target has not been met.

ALC insists to the government that the rationale behind the principle of requiring heavy vehicles to pay three times the toll of light vehicles for access to toll roads be investigated.

Perhaps most crucially, the government road pricing principles need to also consider the objectives of other relevant polices such as the NSW Freight and Ports Plan and the NSW Ports Masterplan to increase the level of the movement of freight by rail.

Australia’s freight needs to be planned and considered as a total connected endto-end supply chain solution. Only when supply chains are planned and utilised from an end-to-end solutions perspective, are all modes of freight able to benefit and maximise productivity and efficiency gains.

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Contracts in brief

Keep up to date with the latest contracts, EOIs, and tenders announced this month NEW ZEALAND Immediate start to CRL work at closed intersection Construction has started on the next phase of City Rail Link’s Aotea Station in central Auckland after the recent overnight closure of the intersection at Victoria Street/Albert Street.

Work began on the next phase of construction progress for City Rail Link’s Aotea Station in central Auckland after the recent overnight closure of the Victoria Street/Albert Street intersection.

The first priority is to survey and cut open the intersection’s surface to find the many utilities essential to keep the city running buried there and then relocate them away from the station’s footprint. Fence lines erected to keep the work site safe include wayfinding and business signage and artwork to support the neighbouring community.

“The quicker we start and finish is a benefit for everyone,” said Matt Sinclair, Aotea project manager for CRL contractor, the Link Alliance.

“We have a challenging task and it may include a surprise or two. During our earlier closure of the Albert Street/Wellesley Street intersection a block away we discovered that not everything underground was where we expected it to be.”

Underground utilities that need to be relocated include a steel gas pipe that feeds most of the city centre as well as a network of pipes and cables that carry power, fresh water and storm water, and telecommunication services. When services have been relocated

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work will start on construction of what will become New Zealand’s busiest railway station serving a revitalised city centre. The Victoria Street/Albert Street intersection is closed only to through traffic and remains open to people on foot to access cafes and restaurants, and other businesses in the area. Alongside work at the intersection, the Link Alliance is delivering a comprehensive programme to support the project’s small business neighbours.

NATIONAL Calls for consultation on new critical infrastructure rules Further consultation is required with industry to define what is critical infrastructure, according to the Australian Logistics Council.

The ALC has called on the federal government to provide additional time to allow the proper identification of which additional freight and logistics assets are to be made subject to Australia’s critical infrastructure legislation.

The Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill before Parliament allows the government to make rules imposing reporting obligations on (amongst others) operators of intermodals as well as critical freight services assets including Toll Group, Aurizon, DHL Global Forwarding and Linfox.

According to the ALC, the rules proposed by the government will impose reporting obligations on national logistics providers with an annual revenue threshold of over $150 million as well as the operators of 49

identified intermodal models.

“Imposing reporting obligations on companies on the basis of revenue alone is lazy as many companies provide services or do things not directly related to movement of critical freight,” said the ALC’s acting CEO Rachel Smith.

NSW Sydney Metro West enters the next planning stage In the Sydney Metro West project, the planning process has started for the construction of nine new metro stations between Westmead and Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD – as well as the precincts around them.

The project is to double rail capacity between Greater Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, with a travel time between the two centres of about 20 minutes.

A Scoping Report, lodged with the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, is seeking approval for major building works including fit-out of the twin railway tunnels; construction of the new stations and service facilities; building the station precincts; and operating the new underground metro line.

The report provides information on proposed works and outlines the next steps in preparing a detailed Environmental Impact Statement, which is to be open for community feedback in early 2022.

In 2020, work started on this city-shaping project at The Bays to allow tunnel boring machines to be in the ground in 2022; in March 2021, the project received its first major planning approval for the project Concept between Westmead and the Sydney CBD and station excavation and tunnelling between Westmead and The Bays.

Sydney Metro is to continue to engage with stakeholders and the community throughout the process and we are making Sydney Metro West project information as easy to access as possible.

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