I S S U E 9 | O C T O B E R 2020
W W W. R A I L E X P R E S S . C O M . A U
75 years of innovation As MATISA celebrates a milestone, it is continuing to meet the future needs of rail track maintenance. - SEE PAGE 30 Inquiry targets value capture to fund rail pipeline
A one-stop-shop for hi-rail training and certification
Bombardier set up for NGR fleet success
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Contents Issue 09 - October 2020
34
4
From the Editor
6
News up front
M A J O R P ROJ E CT S
26
Value capture could unlock rail spending
P LA N T, M A C H I N E R Y & E Q U I P M E N T
30 MATISA marks 75 years of maintenance innovation 36
40
34 Manco’s new training yard is an all-in-one facility 36 The equipment investment supporting Martinus 38
RKR Engineering turns to machinery
40
The in-house engineering behind Aries Rail
42 Speno’s Australian-made grinding machinery 45 A purpose-built road-rail excavator from CAT 46 Melvelle Equipment’s electric rail tools 48 KH1 solving a challenging project with new thinking 60
O P E R AT I O N S & M A I N T E N A N C E
50 Autech connects rail to the cloud 52
Bombardier’s maintenance facility at Wulkuraka
WO M E N I N I N D U S T RY
55 I S S U E 9 | O C T O B E R 2020
W W W. R A I L E X P R E S S . C O M . A U
S A F E TY & A S S U R A N C E
COVER STORY
75 years of innovation As MATISA celebrates a milestone, it is continuing to meet the future needs of rail track maintenance. - SEE PAGE 30 Inquiry targets value capture to fund rail pipeline
A one-stop-shop for hi-rail training and certification
Bombardier set up for NGR fleet success
PAGE 26
PAGE 34
PAGE 52
SUPPORTED BY:
The winners of this year’s awards
Reaching an important anniversary, MATISA is celebrating by continuing to innovate when it comes to the manufacture of rail maintenance machinery. See page 30.
59
RISSB more used than ever
I N D U S T R Y A S S O C I AT I O N S
60
The freight playing field needs levelling: ARA
62 Opportunities to increase freight efficiency with the stroke of a pen: ALC WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 3
From the Editor Issue 09 - October 2020 Published by:
Connor Pearce 11-15 Buckhurst St South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: 03 9690 8766 www.primecreativemedia.com.au
Publisher Christine Clancy E: christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au Chief Operating Officer Zelda Tupicoff E: zelda.tupicoff@primecreative.com.au Group Managing Editor (Northern) Syed Shah E: syed.shah@primecreative.com.au Assistant Editor Connor Pearce E: connor.pearce@primecreative.com.au Business Development Manager Oliver Probert T: 0435 946 869 E: oliver.probert@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 Front Cover Credit: MATISA
www.RailExpress.com.au The Publisher reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. © Copyright – No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the Publisher.
4 | ISSUE 9 - OCTOBER 2020 | RAIL EXPRESS
Assistant Editor - Rail Express
Getting bang for the rail buck
T
HIS OCTOBER IS BUDGET MONTH. Delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal budget will be handed down in October, and is expected to give some shape to how Australia will begin to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis. State budgets have been similarly delayed, with Western Australia also releasing a budget in October. The rail industry will be hoping that these budgets or economic updates will provide the certainty needed by the industry to lead local and national economies out of their economic doldrums. In New Zealand, the government’s midyear budget did just that, providing an extra NZ$1.2 billion ($1.1bn) in rail investment, bringing the total investment pipeline to NZ$4.6bn. This is giving the industry the signals that it needs to put resources behind moving freight onto rail and expanding passenger services. Australia’s rail pipeline should continue to grow this year, as developments such as the Murray Basin Rail Project and the Melbourne Airport Rail Link await federal approval. Although the funding is large, in the order of billions of dollars, there is also the need for governments to get smarter about how they fund these initiatives. In this edition of Rail Express we look at how methods of value capture could enable the rail pipeline to continue to grow, without cash-strapped governments needing to tip in more taxpayer funds. Already in use around the globe to fund major urban and intercity rail projects, value capture is not new, yet Australia has been reluctant to adopt similar methods here. With proposals for fast rail connections between state capitals and their satellite cities currently being prepared and proposed by both the public and private sector, making
the most of this opportunity would allow for more rail projects to get underway, and≈less impact on budgets. Urban areas have already seen what happens when rail projects are delivered. Massive increases in property values have come as a windfall to those who happened to own land close to a station. These≈increases in land values – ultimately generated by taxpayer investment – were snaffled up by private individuals. Current taxation schemes such as stamp duty are a drop in the ocean when it comes to properties values increasing by tens if not hundreds of times over, as seen in the Badgery’s Creek property bought for $3.5m and sold for $500m. And, if it’s the family home, there is no capital gains tax. The examples from overseas give a taste of what’s possible. In Hong Kong, the MTR’s rail plus property model allows the rail authority to operate at a $2.5bn profit. In London, the extension of the Northern Line to Battersea was funded entirely by a levy on development and a growth in business rate revenue. Rather than just throwing more money at the problem, we need to be smarter about how we invest, and realise that value capture mechanisms can be a win-win situation for all: the property owner retains a significant increase in value, the taxpayer makes a return on investment, and the community is afforded a safe, sustainable, and affordable means of transportation. It is not often that opportunities such as these arise, therefore making the right decisions now will be critical to maximising the rail investment boom and transforming the way we move. connor.pearce@primecreative.com.au
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News
National
CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
Code commits states and territories to keep freight flowing
The code specifies measures outlined in an earlier protocol.
State, territory and federal infrastructure and transport ministers have released an enforceable code for the border control of freight movements; however, differences remain. The code follows the previously released protocol and specifies the measures that states and territories will enforce to ensure freight can keep moving during COVID-19 while ensuring the virus does not spread. The code aligns previously disparate measures that individual states and territories had adopted, particularly after the outbreak of a second wave of COVID-19 in Victoria, said Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz. “Aligning state and territory measures through this Code will help reduce delays in the supply chain, ensuring our freight operators can keep moving safely and efficiently.” Under the code, states and territories will not require freight workers, including rail crew, to self-isolate when travelling across a border, although workers are advised to keep contacts to a practical minimum. Other common measures include the requirement for a valid border permit and record keeping by the driver and operator of a freight train of recent contacts.
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Australian Logistics Council CEO Kirk Coningham said that the alignment of requirements across borders was welcome. “The confirmation that workers will not need to go into quarantine or formal selfisolation in any jurisdiction is also especially important in minimising disruptions to freight movement. ALC also welcomes the Code’s commitment to the mutual recognition of COVIDSafe workplans between jurisdictions,” said Coningham. Testing requirements remained an area of difference. While Queensland has mandated tests on a seven-day rolling basis for those coming from hotspots, Victoria will not provide testing for asymptomatic freight workers. In WA, tests are mandated on a seven-day rolling basis for those crossing the border and in NSW tests are encouraged. Upon arrival into a state, testing requirements also differ, with testing mandated within 24 hours in South Australia and within 48 hours after entering WA. Conginham said that the federal government may be required to step in to assist testing in Victoria. “With the extraordinary pressures on Victoria’s testing capacity at present, it may be appropriate for the federal government to provide the state with some additional support to help make this happen, in the
interests of national supply chain efficiency,” he said. “ALC remains deeply concerned that not providing testing for asymptomatic drivers in Victoria will make it extraordinarily difficult for freight workers to meet border requirements imposed by other states and could lead to supply chain disruptions.” Chair of the Freight on Rail Group (FORG) Dean Dalla Valle also welcomed the protocol and code and the efforts of governments to enable freight to continue moving on rail. “The only additional measure our sector would strongly recommend in the coming days and weeks is for extra resources to be thrown at more widespread and rapid COVID testing; albeit we appreciate testing regimes in states like Victoria have understandably been stretched to the limit,” he said. “It was therefore very pleasing to see the new national protocol includes states and territories providing pop up testing facilities at rail freight terminals/depots where they can be accommodated.” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the crisis had shown how Australia relied upon the efficient movement of freight. “The work our freight operators do keeps our shelves stocked and our local economies running,” he said. “Streamlining the process for crossing borders will make life easier for our freight operators.” Dalla Valle said that government had to be brought up to speed on the requirements of rail freight. “For instance, in any given day, numerous train crews and support staff must cross state borders in light vehicles to meet interstate services or return to home base after a shift,” said Dalla Valle. “For example, a train crew based in Broken Hill will regularly cross in South Australia by car to relieve another crew on the TransAustralian Railway, and vice-versa. Similarly train crews in south western NSW often cross into northern Victoria by car to meet bulk grain services on the Murray Basin Rail network.” These realities have led train crews to keep themselves isolated and follow strict hygiene practices. This has enabled rail to continue to move freight across borders and minimise the spread of COVID-19.
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News
National
KTK Australia denies forced labour allegations KTK components are in use in a number of rollingstock projects. CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU/BOMBARDIER
Allegations that components used in Australian train fleets were manufactured with slave labour have been denied by KTK Australia. In a statement, KTK Australia said that such allegations “are based on no official documents, interviews or testimony”. The allegations stem from a US Department of Commerce blacklist that included KTK Australia’s parent company, KTK Group. The US Department of Commerce said that KTK Group was implicated in human rights violations such as the forced labour of Muslim minority groups from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. KTK Australia disputed the allegations. “KTK Group has never employed workers who are members of the Uyghur ethnic minority,” said KTK Australia. KTK Australia’s website lists its components as in use on a number of Australian rollingstock fleets. These include the Sydney Metro, the X’Trapolis and High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT) in Victoria, and Queensland’s New Generation Rollingstock (NGR). Bombardier, which manufactures the NGR fleet, said it was looking into the allegations. “Bombardier Transportation is aware of the recent action by the United States Commerce Department in relation to KTK Group Co. We are actively monitoring this new dynamic – impacting the transportation industry – and any effect this could have on our own supply chain, projects and products,” said a Bombardier Transportation spokesman. In Bombardier’s Supplier Code of Conduct, which all suppliers must agree to, forced labour, modern slavery, and human trafficking
are explicitly prohibited. The code outlines: Bombardier will not engage in the use of forced or enslaved labour or human trafficking, nor will it tolerate their use at any level in its supply chains. Suppliers must not demand any work or service from any person under the menace of any penalty. Alstom, which manufactures the Sydney Metro and X’Trapolis fleet, also prohibits forced labour in its supply chain. Its Ethics and Sustainable Development Charter requires that suppliers commit to the “elimination of all forms of illegal, forced or compulsory labour”. A Victorian Department of Transport spokesperson said that it was assured that there is no evidence of forced labour in the supply chains of its rollingstock. “We have asked our manufacturers to take additional steps to ensure the integrity of their supply chains, and we continue to monitor
the situation and will consider further steps based on the outcomes of ongoing supply chain investigations.” A Transport for NSW spokesperson said that suppliers must comply with Australian laws. “Transport for NSW also has rights to access and audit the supplier’s records and the materials, goods, workmanship or work methodology employed at any place where the supplier’s activities are being carried out.” In a report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), which is in part funded by the US State Department, KTK Group is named as one company that was involved in the transfer of Uyghurs out of Xinjiang. The report cites online news articles. “KTK Group confirms that in 2018-19 it did employ a small number of workers from Xinjiang, who were not ethnically Uyghurs,” the KTK Australia statement read.
ACCC clears Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier Alstom’s acquisition of Bombardier can proceed in Australia, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) not opposing the sale. After Alstom formally announced it intended to acquire Bombardier, the ACCC launched an investigation, considering the effects of the acquisition on the market for light rail rollingstock, mainline rolling stock, and the supply of communications-based train control (CBTC) signalling systems. The ACCC concluded that there was enough competition in the rail market. “We decided not to oppose this acquisition as we found bids from other
current and potential suppliers with strong global presence will continue to provide competitive tension for tenders for future rail projects. Sophisticated customers, including state governments, control these tender processes, and can structure tenders to foster competition,” said chair Rod Sims. A similar investigation occurred in Europe, with the European Commission also clearing the deal, subject to conditions offered by Alstom. These included the sale of Alstom’s Coradia Polyvalent range and production facilities, Bombardier’s Talent 3 trains and stake in the Zefiro V300 high-speed trains. In its investigation, the ACCC considered
local content policies in Victoria and Western Australia. Both Bombardier and Alstom manufacture rollingstock in Victoria, while Alstom was awarded the contract to manufacture and service WA’s new fleet of rollingstock. The ACCC looked at how the acquisition would effect projects including Victoria’s Next Generation Trams program. “Where customers have requirements or preferences for local industry involvement, suppliers without an existing presence have options to satisfy these criteria, including by partnering with local businesses,” said Sims. The acquisition is expected to be finalised in the first half of 2021.
WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 9
News
National
Inland Rail investment requires route confirmation
Industry is prepared to invest in facilities to support Inland Rail such as intermodal terminals, however requires certainty of the route.
the Inland Rail project when it is up and running,” said Wilkie. “Further investment – and all the benefits that come with it – will only follow when business and industry finally have certainty about the future of the project.” Also speaking at the inquiry was Inland Rail CEO Richard Wankmuller who noted that Inland Rail has been cited as a catalyst for the growth of regional cities such as Wagga Wagga, Parkes, and Moree, the so-called bushtropolises. Already, on the Parkes to Narromine project, Inland Rail construction has created 833 CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
A senate committee has heard that for Inland Rail to unlock investment in regional Australia industry requires certainty about the future of the project. Speaking to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport and References Committee Inquiry on the management of the Inland Rail project, Australasian Railway Association (ARA) CEO Caroline Wilkie said that the rail industry was ready to invest. “There has already been significant investment in terminals and other infrastructure at regional hubs to serve
sustainable jobs of employment for six weeks or more, and $100 million has been spent in the regional community around Parkes. Questioning from senators looked at the uncertainty of the route, particularly through Queensland. Such speculation on the route is limiting the ability of the rail sector to make investments off the back of Inland Rail, said Wilkie. “ARA has members that need certainty regarding the commencement of construction and ongoing operation of Inland Rail. Continued public speculation about the route is destabilising for companies and causing stress and unnecessary hardship for those both on the government’s existing route and communities such as Cecil Plains and other communities not on the current alignment.” Senators also raised the competitive pressure rail freight is facing from other modes of transport. With rail taking a declining share of freight between Sydney and Melbourne and Sydney and Brisbane, reducing transit times to under 24 hours would enable the rail freight to be more competitive. Ensuring that the Inland Rail route allows for a transit time of under 24 hours between Melbourne and Brisbane will be critical, said Philip Laird, an academic at the University of Wollongong.
In a mid-year update to the 2020 Infrastructure Priority List, Infrastructure Australia has added four rail projects to the list of nationally significant infrastructure. The mid-year update provides governments with a snapshot of the projects that will drive Australia’s economy. The infrastructure pipeline is now worth over $64 billion, and Infrastructure Australia CEO Romilly Madew said that infrastructure investment should be spent wisely. “This is the first time we have formally released the Priority List mid-year, by doing so, we want to highlight the most recent priority proposals at a time when our infrastructure investment needs to progress quickly, without jeopardising the quality of those investments,” she said. Rail will play a key role in stimulating the
10 | ISSUE 9 - OCTOBER 2020 | RAIL EXPRESS
Australian economy as the country recovers. Rail projects added to the list include Stage 2 of the More Trains, More Services project in NSW, the Port Botany Rail Line Duplication & Cabramatta Passing Loop, and two Metronet projects, the Morley–Ellenbrook Line project and the high capacity signalling project. All were deemed “priority projects”. Rail line and station improvements on the Gold Coast line from Kuraby to Beenleigh has also been updated to reflect the latest information on infrastructure constraints on the Gold Coast line. The addition of these projects highlights that well-planned rail infrastructure will be key to Australia’s post-COVID-19 recovery. Infrastructure Australia is now seeking submissions for its 2021 report, to be released in February.
CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
Update to IA Priority List identifies rail projects as key for growth
The Port Botany Rail line duplication project was added to the priority list.
News
New South Wales
CREDIT: SYDNEY METRO
Contractors shortlisted for Sydney Metro West The stabling facility in Rouse Hill is being expanded.
Three joint ventures have been shortlisted for the two tunnelling contracts which make up the bulk of construction for Sydney Metro West. The new line will connect the Sydney CBD to Parramatta and Westmead, via the Inner West. The three shortlisted joint ventures are: John Holland, CPB Contractors and Ghella Australia joint venture (JHCPBG JV), Gamuda and Laing O’Rouke Australia joint venture (GALC JV), and Acciona Australia and Ferrovial Australia joint venture (AF JV). The contractors will participate in a first route, which will award the Central Tunnelling Package. This will involve 11 kilometres of twin tunnels from The Bays to Sydney Olympic Park. The two unsuccessful contractors will then be invited to bid for the Western Tunnelling Package, which covers nine kilometres of twin tunnels from Westmead to Sydney Olympic Park. According to Transport for NSW this bid structure will increase competition in the delivery of tunnelling infrastructure in Australia. Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said that the project is moving forward. “The three shortlisted consortia have a wealth of Australian and international experience in delivering high quality infrastructure projects. We expect to be in a position to award the first contract by the middle of next year.” The project is expected to create 10,000 direct jobs and 70,000 indirect jobs during the course of construction. Once complete, Sydney Metro West aims to
12 | ISSUE 9 - OCTOBER 2020 | RAIL EXPRESS
connect the Sydney and Parramatta CBDs in about 20 minutes. This will double rail capacity along the east-west spine of the city. The project is currently in the planning stages, with community feedback garnered through the Environmental Impact Statement process being assessed by Sydney Metro. Once the project clears planning approvals, work is expected to begin in The Bays before the end of 2020, with tunnel boring machines in the ground before the end of 2022. WORKS PROGRESSING TO PREPARE FOR NEXT STAGE Civil works are underway and stabling facilities are being constructed to connect the existing Sydney Metro line with its extension to the City and Southwest. In Rouse Hill, the current stabling yards are being expanded with a new test track, stabling roads, and overhead wiring. The enlarged depot will provide space for the extra 37 trains which will run on the expanded Sydney Metro line when it continues from Chatswood, via the Sydney CBD and onto Bankstown. Systems Connect, a partnership between CPB Contractors and UGL Engineering is delivering the works, of which over 3.1 kilometres of track and 6,500 sleepers have been installed. Twelve thousand tonnes of ballast has also been delivered. The facility will be operational by the end of 2021 and all works will be complete by 2022, ahead of the new line opening in 2024. A Sydney Metro spokesperson said this
lead time would allow for bedding in the new rollingstock. “The expanded depot will be used for testing and stabling of the new metro trains as they progressively arrive. “New metro trains will arrive well in advance of the opening date for the necessary testing – there will be further updates closer to that time.” At Chatswood, foundations are being laid to connect the existing Metro North West line to the tunnel which will take trains under Sydney Harbour before emerging in Sydenham. Work has had to be delivered in a 48-hour shutdown of the current suburban rail services, to reduce disruption. 130 workers have been on the project, including moving 330 tonnes of soil, using piling rigs to drill 34 holes up to eight metres deep. Future works will involve excavating 7,500 tonnes of material and repositioning the existing suburban rail line. Limiting resources and using recycled materials has been a key focus of the project, both in the first stages of Sydney Metro and current upgrade works. At the new stabling facility in Rouse Hill, crushed recycled glass used to bed down pipes, instead of sand, using 1,000 tonnes of recycled glass. Recycled road base made of old crumbled concrete is used to make the hardstands for laydown areas and a car park for staff. Water saving measures include using recycled water, such as rainwater and runoff. Dust block is used to bind fine dust, instead of water.
Botany duplication and Cabramatta loop approved The NSW government has given planning approval for the Botany Rail Duplication and the Cabramatta Passing Loop. Both projects will be delivered by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) with shortlisted contractor expected to be invited to tender shortly, Peter Winder, group executive Interstate Network at ARTC. “These two landmark projects will encourage a shift in freight share from road to rail, to help rail carry more of Sydney’s freight growth and associated traffic congestion and support growth in the containerised freight task and port-shuttle rail services between Port Botany and intermodal terminals such as at Enfield, Moorebank, Minto and Chullora.” The project will allow for freight trains up to 1,300 metres in length to pass between Cabramatta and Warwick Farm and enable Port Botany to handle increasing freight
loads by rail, said Minister for Transport and Roads Andrew Constance. “As the state’s largest container port, the efficient operation of Port Botany is critical. Forecasts predict a whopping 77 per cent increase in the amount of freight it handles from 14.4 million tonnes in 2016 to 25.5 million tonnes by 2036.” The dual projects were one of a number of NSW rail projects that received fast-tracked planning approvals. According to Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole the projects will allow more freight to be carried by rail. “These projects are crucial because more freight is moved on rail lines and congestion is busted with fewer trucks on our roads,” he said. “This project will not only provide new rail infrastructure but will inject around $400 million into the economy and create around
500 local jobs during construction.” The Cabramatta Loop will be completed by mid-2023 and the Botany Rail Duplication will be completed by late 2024. Australian Logistics Council CEO Kirk Coningham welcomed the announcement. “Duplicating the remaining 2.9-kilometre single track section of the Botany Line between Mascot and Botany and constructing a new passing loop on the Southern Sydney Freight Line at Cabramatta will inject greater efficiency and capacity into the freight network and help to meet NSW’s growing freight demands,” he said. “The delivery of these projects by the Australian Rail Track Corporation will further encourage freight owners to transport more containers by rail and will build on significant investments NSW Ports has already made to increase port-side rail capacity.”
The NSW government is seeking community feedback on a redesigned Circular Quay, including a new train station. Community input is being sought as part of the Circular Quay renewal project, which is currently in the design and planning phase. Transport for NSW (TfNSW) is leading the project and has shortlisted two consortia to develop the early design ideas. CQC Partners is led by Lendlease and its public private partnership arm Capella Capital. Plenary Group has tipped John Holland as its construction contractor. A TfNSW spokesperson said that the redevelopment of Circular Quay will amount to a wholescale renewal. “There will be a reimagining of its public spaces, new ferry wharves and an upgraded train station which will see this area become a place that all Sydneysiders can be proud of.” In addition to public input, TfNSW is also current in early stages of consultation with local stakeholders. Six principles have been identified to guide the redevelopment, including the area’s flow, effectiveness and vitality.
The redesign of the precinct may involve a new station.
Future demand for daily transport and the capacity to handle major events will be part of the precinct’s design. The interchange is expected to handle a 40 per cent increase in visits by 2041. “Circular Quay needs generous spaces for the 15 million visitors and 64 million public and active transport trips; not to mention the enormous crowds that flock to events like Vivid and the New Year’s Eve fireworks each year,” said the TfNSW spokesperson. Plans for the $200 million upgrade of
CREDIT: BERM_TEERAWAT / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Feedback sought on new train station at Circular Quay
the area have been underway since 2015 and was originally planned to have begun construction in 2019. The project is now expected to break ground in 2023. The elevated rail line at Circular Quay and the Bradfield Expressway, which sits above it, has long been a target for renewal. Proposals to lower the rail line or turn the expressway into a high-line style park have been raised in the past. In the current renewal plan major changes to the road and rail corridor are not expected.
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News
Victoria
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Stage 4 lockdown restricts public transport, rail construction in Melbourne
Public transport services have been reduced during the stage 4 lockdown.
As Victoria enters stage 4 restrictions due to the spread of COVID-19, metropolitan rail services and construction on major rail projects in Melbourne are being cut back. While public transport is able to continue running, with Melbourne under a curfew from 8pm to 5am, Metro Trains services have been significantly reduced with trains running infrequently. Yarra Trams have stated that some services will run at up to 40-minute frequency. Public Transport Victoria stated that changes to services will be different each night. All Night Network services, which covers services that run after midnight on Friday and Saturday nights, will be suspended while stage 4 restrictions are in place. The current restrictions only allow people to leave their homes between 8pm and 5am for work, medical care, and caregiving. According to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews some staff will be redeployed. “The Night Network will be suspended, and public transport services will be reduced during curfew hours. This will also allow us to redeploy more of our PSOs into our enforcement efforts.” Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) spokesperson Daniel Bowen said that better communication of changes was needed. “On Monday night details of drastic evening service cuts for trams and trains were only published as they took effect, giving travellers no time to plan ahead,” he said.
The PTUA recommended running trains to a Saturday timetable would be a better outcome, with less demand during the peaks. “While the capacity will probably be sufficient to maintain physical distancing given the curfew and the shutdown of most workplaces, the big problem is the wait times. Imagine finishing your shift at 11pm and having to wait 90 minutes for your train home,” said Bowen. Rail construction projects are also limited under the stage 4 restrictions. Major construction sites are limited to the minimum amount of people required for safety, and no more than 25 per cent of the normal workforce. Small scale construction is limited to a maximum of five people on site. Andrews said the government was reviewing major public projects. “To date, we’ve almost halved the number of people onsite on some of our biggest government projects. Now we’re going to go through project by project, line by line to make sure they are reduced to the practical minimum number of workers.” A Major Transport Infrastructure Authority (MTIA) spokesperson said that work would continue under the new restrictions. “The MTIA is continuing to look at ways to further reduce the number of staff while allowing essential works to continue safely.” On-site, MTIA staff are required to wear a mask, practice physical distancing and follow
hygiene procedures and staggered shifts. A 70-person strong COVID Safety Team have been ensuring that all worksites comply, with multiple checks each day on every project. Other rail businesses and organisations will largely be able to continue in line with their COVIDsafe plans. This includes passenger and freight operations, including rail yards, and transport support services. Australasian Railway Association (ARA) CEO Caroline Wilkie said she welcomed the government’s recognition of rail’s essential role and noted that the restrictions struck the right balance between keeping businesses operating and addressing the spread of COVID-19. “The rail industry has been working hard to keep essential services safely operating throughout 2020,” she said. “From the train drivers on passenger and freight services to those working in stations, workshops and in the office, rail workers have made sure essential services are there for people who need them no matter what.” Rail manufacturing businesses will also be able to remain operating, due to their role in supporting an essential service. Manufacturing businesses that support critical infrastructure public works are able to operate as per their COVIDsafe plan. “Now more than ever we need the rail network to be as reliable and efficient as possible and these businesses are crucial to that effort,” said Wilkie.
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Victoria
V/Line replaces CEO V/Line has appointed Gary Liddle as acting CEO of V/Line. Liddle will take over from Nick Foa, who stepped into the role after former CEO James Pinder was sacked. Pinder was removed by Victorian Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll after Carroll was advised that the Independent Broadbased Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) had launched an investigation. “On the basis of that advice, I directed the V/ Line Board to immediately suspend Mr Pinder, while IBAC carries out its investigation,” said Carroll in a statement. Melbourne rail operator Metro Trains has stood down rollingstock manager Peter Bollas
due to the same investigation. Separately, V/Line has been taken to court by a cleaning contractor for alleged lack of payment between 2015 and 2018. Statements of claim have been lodged in the Victorian Supreme Court. V/Line said that it had received non-compliant invoices which led to the withholding of payment. Liddle returns to V/Line having been enterprise professor of transport at the University of Melbourne. Before this role, Liddle was interim CEO of V/Line in 2016 and has also been CEO of VicRoads, and Public Transport Victoria. V/Line board chair Gabrielle Bell said that Liddle will be a stabilising force within the
regional passenger rail operator. “Liddle returns to our organisation with extensive knowledge of our business, our customers, our challenges, and our opportunities. He will provide the leadership and support V/Line needs at this time.” Liddle was brought in to V/Line in 2016 as the CEO at another troubled period for the operator. A safety incident in January 2016 saw a V/Line train failing to trigger a boom gate at a level crossing in Dandenong. This led to some services being prohibited from running on the Melbourne suburban network. Foa will return to his role as head of transport services at the Victorian Department of Transport.
Major works continuing across Victoria’s transport infrastructure program Works to remove level crossings on three lines through Melbourne will step up during spring, as work continues on transport infrastructure projects around Melbourne. Fifteen level crossing projects took their next step in September. On the Upfield line, removals of four level crossings are underway along with the construction of two new stations. On the Cranbourne line, duplication works will see buses replace trains from September 8-13. Four level crossings on that line are also set to go, getting it closer to being the first level crossing free line in Melbourne. Sunbury line works are scheduled for November to enable the line to carry newer trains once the Metro Tunnel opens. These works involve track, power, and platform upgrades and will require a shutdown on the line from November 7-22 and on the Bendigo line from 7 to 21. For the trains themselves, safety and performance testing of the new High Capacity Metro Trains will be conducted on the Werribee Line from late August On the Metro Tunnel project, all four tunnel boring machines are in action and the twin tunnels are getting closer to completion. The tram network will also benefit from maintenance works. Upgrades will be carried out in Malvern, South Melbourne, Parkville, and Pascoe Vale South. Tram stabling in East Melbourne will also be improved, to allow for more trams during special events.
Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan said the works will have a wider benefit. “These critical projects are building a better transport system, while supporting local jobs and Victoria’s economy,” she said. Across all projects, tight hygiene controls are in place under Melbourne’s stage four restrictions. “The safety of our workforce and the community is our priority – we are taking strict precautions to ensure our critical transport infrastructure projects can safely continue under coronavirus restrictions,” said Allan. ONLINE MAJOR PROJECTS PORTAL LAUNCHED Victoria has launched an online portal to give suppliers a comprehensive overview of major projects in the state. The Victorian Major Projects Pipeline went live on July 24, and covers projects worth over $100 million. These include major rail projects including the Suburban Rail Loop, Metro Tunnel Project, Melbourne Airport Rail, the Level Crossing Removal program and others. The projects range from those in the business case/planning phrase, to procurement, and delivery. Each project is categorised by region, sector, and procurement agency, with indication of cost, procurement start and delivery start. Links to contact details and specific project information is available through the portal.
15 level crossing projects are underway in September.
Allan said that she hopes that industry would use the portal to plan ahead. “This portal will be an invaluable tool for industry going forward as we plan and prepare to deliver Victoria’s biggest ever infrastructure agenda.” The portal will be updated quarterly with new project announcements and budgets. Developed by the Office of Projects Victoria (OPV), the portal is in addition to other public information available on Victoria’s Big Build Website. OPV CEO Kevin Doherty said the project was a collaborative effort. “OPV has worked closely with key delivery agencies and the construction industry to develop this portal which will literally help build a bigger and better Victoria.”
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News
Queensland
Mount Isa Line upgrades begin as more resources moved via rail Work has begun on an upgrade of the Mount Isa rail line, which was significantly damaged in flooding caused by monsoons in 2019. The $6 million upgrade will improve 320km of the line, beginning near Hughenden and finishing near Cloncurry. Works include bridge abutment and scour repairs in nearby drains and creek, stonework to improve embankments, and drainage and cleaning work as required. The works to improve the line’s resilience are in addition to repairs that were undertaken in 2019 to get the line working again after heavy rains. The Mount Isa rail line is used by the resource industry to export minerals from northern Queensland to ports along the coast. The Queensland government has been incentivising the use of freight to transport these commodities through an $80m incentive scheme, of which $20mhas been accessed so far, said Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey. “Since we introduced the scheme, more than four billion gross tonne kilometres of eligible freight has moved along line to the Port of Townsville,” he said. “This is an increase of more than one million in tonnage from the year prior to the scheme being introduced.” Resources figures including Glencore’s Queensland Metals COO Matt O’Neill welcomed the scheme. “The distance to transport products in North Queensland is significant and
transportation makes up a large portion of the cost of delivery to our customers, both in the domestic and export markets,” he said. “We are pleased to see this scheme encouraging a shift towards rail as a real alternative to road transport along the Mount Isa rail corridor.” A focus of the project will be ensuring that the benefits of the upgrade are felt locally, said Member for Townsville Scott Stewart. “About two thirds of the workers will stay in Julia Creek, while the rest will be accommodated in Richmond, and all the materials for the project will be sourced locally – providing a much needed injection for the community.” STUDY TO ASSESS DOUBLE - STACKED FREIGHT The Queensland government will complete a business case into the potential to run double-stacked freight trains from Mount Isa to Stuart and the Port of Townsville. Bailey announced the business case, which will be completed by the end of 2020, along with flood resilience upgrade works. To improve the line, which was washed out in heavy flooding in 2019, ageing rail equipment such as sleepers and ballast will be renewed. Queensland Rail will conduct geotechnical and survey work this month, which will enable new bridges to be installed and culverts to be replaced with spans and new piers. “Those works will significantly increase
capacity on waterway openings and provide protection to embankments to better withstand flood events,” said Member for Townsville Scott Stewart. Port of Townsville CEO Ranee Crosby said enabling double-stacked freight trains to run on the line would mean more freight coming into the port on rail. “Townsville Port is Australia’s largest exporter of zinc, copper, lead and fertiliser, with significant growth opportunities from the North West Minerals Province, one of the world’s richest mineral-producing regions,” she said. “These investments into the Mount Isa to Townsville Rail Line, such as enabling double-stacking of containers on rail, will offer customers greater flexibility in transporting freight to the Port, improving efficiency and helping drive down supply chain costs.” Queensland Rail, which owns and manages the Mount Isa line, will carry out the business case, and CEO Nick Easy said improving the rail line will unlock further investment. “The Mount Isa line is a critical connector for communities in North West Queensland and one of the state’s key freight paths, and Queensland Rail is committed to ensuring it meets the needs of communities and freight operators,” he said. “These investments will help existing mining operators export their resources and encourage new investment in the state’s north west.
The Queensland government is pushing for more minerals to be exported from Mount Isa via rail.
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Queensland
Sunshine Coast Council pushing for mass transit solution The Sunshine Coast Council has called on the Queensland state government to back its vision for a public transport system. The council is currently in the process of evaluating options for a mass transit corridor that would form the spine of the region’s public transport network. One option under consideration is the construction of a light rail line from Maroochydore to Caloundra, with stage one connecting Maroochydore to the Sunshine Coast University hospital. Sunshine Coast Council mayor Mark Jamieson said that the rapidly growing region needed to shift from a transport system focused on private vehicles. “All that this will do is increase congestion and pollution, create bitumen eye-sores on our landscape and inhibit our current and future residents in being able to reach the places they need to get to or love to visit, like the beach, shopping centres, health
facilities or where they work,” he said. “Is this really the future that our residents want to see on our Sunshine Coast? I don’t think so.” Planning for a mass transit system has been underway since 2012, with consultants preparing a preliminary business case. A final business case is expected to be completed by 2021 jointly funded with the Queensland state government. In an interim report, the option for a light rail network was ranked highest, above improvements to the bus network or the creation of a bus rapid transit corridor. The report found that “only the LRT option [is] considered to have significant benefits”. Buses were not found to be able to achieve the urban renewal benefits that the project sought. The population of the Sunshine Coast is expected to rise to over half a million by 2041. The Queensland government is
currently upgrading the heavy rail line from Beerburrum to Nambour and investigations are currently underway for a spur line to Maroochydore. Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said in May 2019 that governments would look to an integrated transport solution. “Now is the time for us to work together to map out what is needed and when, so that these major infrastructure projects have the best chance possible of securing the funding that will be needed to build them.” Jamison said that it was essential the community came together to support the mass transit plan. “Our council needs to keep working on the development of the business case for a mass transit solution – because if we don’t, our Sunshine Coast will get nothing from the other tiers of government and our residents’ lifestyles will be forever compromised.”
Business case for Gold Coast Light Rail stage four secures funding
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spine linking key employment, transport, health and education nodes, with an opportunity to also connect with the growing northern New South Wales economic region,” he said. As part of the business case, options for future spur lines on east-west corridors will be investigated, and whether these should be served by light rail or feeder buses. Currently, the Gold Coast light rail ends at Broadbeach. Stage 3A, which would extend the line from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads, is awaiting the final announcement of the chosen contractor to build the link. In February, three contractors were shortlisted, John Holland, a joint venture between Fulton Hogan and UGL,
The business case would investigate options to extend the line to the Gold Coast Airport.
and a joint venture between CPB Contractors and Seymour Whyte Constructions. Construction is expected to begin in 2021. Tate said that he hopes construction of stage four would begin once stage three is complete. “Ideally, we will finish Stage 3 and immediately break ground on Stage 4.” Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said that the community preferred an alignment which travelled down the Gold Coast Highway. Other options suggested taking the light rail line west and using the existing heavy rail corridor, however 87 per cent of local respondents wanted to retain the option of future heavy rail to the airport.
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The Queensland and Gold Coast governments will jointly fund the business case for stage four of the Gold Coast Light Rail line. Stage four, previously known as stage 3B, would see the light rail line extended for 13 kilometres from Burleigh to the Gold Coast Airport at Tugun, The $7 million business case would be funded in a 50/50 split between the state and local governments, said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. “This business case will support the next critical steps needed to push major transport investments on the Gold Coast forward which is vital for Queensland’s economic recovery,” Palaszczuk said. “This is about building a pipeline of projects that can continue to support and create jobs, boost our economy and improve transport for locals, particularly those living on the southern end of the Gold Coast.” City of Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said that the connection would provide the public transport backbone for the region. “It will result in a 40km public transport
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Western Australia
Fremantle port shuttle to move more freight via rail
Rail will handle more freight into Fremantle Port.
A new port shuttle rail service between Fremantle Port and the Perth Freight Terminal in Kewdale could take over 20,000 return truck trips off roads in Fremantle and Perth each year. Pacific National began the port shuttle rail service last month and is looking to ramp up volumes on the route in September. Up to five port shuttle services are on offer each week, with each train having the capacity to haul 100 shipping containers from the North Quay Rail Terminal at Fremantle Port to Kewdale. Pacific National CEO Dean Dalla Valle said
that there is the potential to move up to 26,000 shipping containers from trucks and onto rail each year with the service. “Daily train shuttle services between Fremantle Port and Perth Freight Terminal are by far the safest, most efficient and environmentally-friendly way to haul large volumes of freight,” said Dalla Valle. Getting more freight from Fremantle Port to Kewdale will be essential to avoid Perth’s roads being clogged with large trucks. Container volumes at Fremantle Port are expected to increase to over 1.2 million TEUs
by 2031, near double 2016 figures, according to the Perth Freight Transport Network Plan. Significant increases are also expected in iron and steel imports, agricultural and other machinery, and motor vehicles. Demand for rail freight is expected to increase by 50 per cent over the next two decades. The Western Australian government hopes to move more freight via rail through upgrades to infrastructure, such as track duplication, and improved efficiencies on the existing network. The need for effective and efficient freight networks with rail as the backbone has only come to more prominence since the COVID-19 pandemic. “For the first time in a long time, people have started to understand and appreciate the finely tuned nature and criticality of our nation’s freight supply chains. They are the arteries supplying our economic lifeblood,” said Dalla Valle. “Shifting haulage of large volumes of containerised freight from road to rail benefits the broader WA community. It results in fewer road accidents and fatalities, reduced traffic congestion and vehicle emissions, and less wear and tear on local and state roads.”
WA funds local manufacturing and maintenance of railcars The Western Australian government will ensure more rollingstock maintenance and manufacturing happens in WA, with a $40 million investment and a new focus on building iron ore cars in the state. $40m will go towards the maintenance of Western Australia’s new Australind fleet with the construction of an expanded Metronet Railcar Manufacturing and Assembly facility in Bellevue. WA Premier Mark McGowan and Minister for Transport Rita Saffioti announced that the Bellevue site will be grow to include the maintenance of the new diesel multiple units (DMUs), manufactured by Alstom, which will replace the current Australind fleet. The Bellevue facility will also service the Prospector and AvonLink railcars, WA’s infrastructure diagnostic vehicle, and track maintenance and rail shunting locomotives. WA had previously brought railcar manufacturing back to the state with the
announcement that 246 C-series railcars will be built with 50 per cent local content, said McGowan. “One of my Government’s key election commitments was to return railcar manufacturing back to the Midland area,” he said. “We’re delivering on this and now we’re doing what we can to ensure we’re removing interruptions in supply chains and allowing local businesses to take advantage of the great manufacturing opportunities in our state.” Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the scale of the project will provide opportunities for local workers and suppliers. “Around 250 railcars will be produced at Bellevue over the next decade, while it will also serve as a permanent maintenance facility for the expanded METRONET fleet,” she said. “This new $40m diesel maintenance facility will be a new key element to the services
provided at Bellevue and will provide local job and training opportunities for local Western Australians.” In a joint statement, McGowan and Saffioti said that an “action group” will be created to investigate the viability of manufacturing and maintaining iron ore railcar wagons that service the iron ore rail network in the Pilbara. This manufacturing could occur in the Pilbara or other parts of WA. Currently, manufacture of iron ore wagons often happens in China. The study will look at how initiatives can support the steel fabrication industry in WA, and maintenance opportunities for new and existing ore wagons. A contract for the construction of the diesel maintenance facility will be awarded next year. Construction of the main manufacturing site is underway and is expected to be completed later in 2020. Local manufacturers are now able to register to supply components to the railcars.
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Western Australia
Tracklaying in progress on Perth’s future Airport Line With tunnelling complete on the Metronet Forrestfield-Airport Link project, tracklaying has now begun along the 8-kilometrelong tunnels. Martinus Rail will install the 40 kilometres of rail needed to form the track in each tunnel, along with tie-ins at Bayswater and stowage at High Wycombe. The first kilometre of track has already been laid, and Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said that this was a significant milestone on the project. “Tracklaying is one of the final major events on the construction of a rail line – it’s an exciting milestone for this $1.86 billion project, with more than 2,400 tonnes of Australianmade steel being prepared.” WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said that the project was coming together. “We’re at an exciting time for this major infrastructure project – the tunnel-boring machines have finished creating our tunnels, our three new stations are taking shape and tracklaying is now underway.” The 27.5m long pieces of steel are flash-butt welded into 220-metre strings. The Martinus teams have been working simultaneously to weld the rail, transport it and lay it along with the sleepers to form the skeleton track, before concrete is poured to complete the slab track.
Tracklaying is one of the final major steps in the construction of the Forrestfield-Airport Link.
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Other work is also underway to install the overhead line equipment and the communications and signalling systems. Roughly 100 jobs are supported by the tracklaying and rail infrastructure stages of the project. Once complete, the Airport Line will link the Perth CBD with the airport and the eastern suburbs, including Redcliffe and High Wycombe. Thousands of commuters expected to use the rail link each day when trains begin running in late 2021. CONTRACT AWARDED FOR TRACKLAYING AT CLAREMONT STATION The Western Australian government has announced the successful tenderer for the $36 million contract for tracklaying at Claremont station. John Holland is the successful contractor and will complete the works at the station, part of the Metronet project. Scheduled for completion in late 2021, with rail infrastructure operational by mid 2021, the work involves installing turnbacks west of Claremont Station on the Fremantle line. The turnbacks will allow trains to travel back towards the city after stopping at Claremont. This will allow greater frequency services on the Fremantle and Forrestfield-
Airport Link lines. Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said that local and city-wide works required the new infrastructure. “We know significant development is taking place around Claremont Station – which is currently the third-busiest on the Fremantle Line – and we expect patronage of this station to increase significantly, which is why this upgrade is so important,” she said. “Claremont Station is located halfway along the Fremantle Line, so is ideally positioned to host turnbacks – it’s a vital part of ensuring our rail network is well-placed to deal with future demand particularly when the ForrestfieldAirport Link comes online in late 2021.” During normal peak periods turnback one will be used every ten minutes. Turnback two will be used during peak periods and special events as required, or when there are planned or unplanned service disruptions. In addition to the new track, Claremont station will be upgraded to meet accessibility standards and a new underpass will be constructed. Bus facilities and pedestrian connections are also part of the project. Saffioti said that works would support the local economy. “This $36m contract will help support 300 local jobs in the community, an excellent outcome for the project.”
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Major Projects
Captured by value To make fast and high speed rail possible in Australia, governments are looking for new methods of funding.
Private property owners close to major transport infrastructure have seen property values increase substantially.
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purchased back by the federal government has now been bought by property developers and the expected windfall for the brothers is rumoured to be half a billion dollars. For an investment on $3.5m, the brothers have made a return of over 140 times. Their last name? Medich. Federal parliamentarian and chair of the Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities, John Alexander has been using this example into a recent parliamentary inquiry entitled Options for Financing Faster Rail. What frustrates him about this is that we’ve seen it all before, particularly with the construction of the North West Rail Link, now Sydney Metro North West. “What we saw at Castle Hill where people sold their houses for 40 and 50 times their value that will be nothing compared to what will happen when previously rural lands are made into high rise development or urban development.” Badgery’s Creek is where history is repeating itself. With not only the airport, but also the rail corridors confirmed, the NSW and federal
governments are investing billions of dollars into infrastructure for the Aerotropolis and private landowners are reaping the benefits. “With the last announcement of the government, which was surprising, $11.5bn going into bringing the Metro rail forward to St Mary’s and seven train stations, those landowners around those train stations will have the ultimate uplift and we have failed on our investment of our taxpayers money to get a fair share of that,” said Alexander. There is no suggestion of anyone, landowner, developer or government, having committed any crimes. What Alexander and the committee have set out to do, is find out what is the fair return for the increase in land value brought about by rail infrastructure. “If you try to search what is fair when the taxpayer puts in $11.5bn into one project and someone puts in $3.5m and walks away with half a billion, of that $500m uplift what should have the taxpayer got as their fair share of that? That’s the question that we need to be answering.”
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In the mid 1990s, the CSIRO was looking to sell its defunct McMaster Farm. The Commonwealth research agency no longer needed the animal research field station located on the outskirts of south-western Sydney. The federal government put the 350-hectare property on the market, and two brothers banded together to purchase the site, paying $3.5 million, about $10,000 per hectare. While reports at the time indicated the price was lower than the going price for agricultural land, the location’s heritage was continued and the site was used for farming. Only two years later, the federal government came back to the site at Badgery’s Creek. This time buying a portion of the farm back off the brothers for $175m, 50 times the price per hectare. What had changed? Head out to the former farm today and the fields, cross-crossed with creeks have been changed. Major pieces of equipment and machinery are turning over soil to build the foundations for the new Western Sydney Airport. The brothers bought the land next door. The rest of the land that wasn’t
A TRILOGY OF INQUIRIES The current inquiry is the third of a series of inquiries into how the federal government can get a better return for the investment it makes in infrastructure. To do so, a method of value capture is needed, in order to tax the windfalls that private property owners gain from public infrastructure investment. This would then support the funding of infrastructure and communities. “The prime goal is to provide a sustainable, affordable supply of housing for generations to come and to do that you’ve got to have a plan of infrastructure that facilitates that settlement,” said Alexander. The committee’s first report, Harnessing value, delivering infrastructure found that all governments had not adequately planned for the future. “Harnessing value, delivering infrastructure explored what needed to be done that had been absent, that had been overlooked by both sides of governments at all levels. There had been an absence of planning and an absence of capitalising when governments have invested taxpayers monies,” said Alexander. Other observers have noted examples of this lack of planning not just in NSW. Cameron Murray is a Queensland-based economist who quantified the value returned to private landowners near the Gold Coast Light Rail line. “I wanted to demonstrate that this occurs in general and put a number to it, because it’s very hard to get a good idea of the value to everybody in aggregate. You might think if we put a train station here and that shopping centre owner got some value, but everybody in the area gets a benefit and so looking at all these property sales data allowed me to add that all up.” Murray found that the increase in property sales prices, as an indicator of change in land value, showed that the construction of the light rail line increased property values by $300m in the 1,324 plots of land within 400 metres of a light rail station. If this increase was captured, it would be equivalent to 25 per cent of the capital cost of the light rail line. Taking these results and applying them to new rail lines, particularly faster and high speed rail, Alexander sees a way forward for debates over high speed rail in Australia. “It’s a golden age for rail, faster rail and high-speed rail, and most people who discount high-speed rail and say it shouldn’t happen simply don’t know what the purpose of it is. It’s a simple equation, once you can say that the uplift in the value of the lands that will be created by high-speed rail can fund the additional cost that it takes to go from regular
Western Sydney Airport and its rail connections are expected to be another catalyst for large increases in property values.
rail to high speed rail then it is a deal. It’s making money, you do it.” Using the value uplift in land as the key commercial indicator, rather than the commercial operation of the service can make high speed rail a much more attractive proposition. “If you’re just going to charge the ticket retrieve the cost of the construction and operation from the traveller, that will not stack up commercially. If you look at what is the purpose of high-speed rail, other than moving people from A to B, from Sydney to Melbourne, but a position of creating megacities and having areas that would have been outside of a commutable time, when delivered by high speed rail, you bring places like Gosford and the Southern Highlands to within 15 minutes of the CBD of Sydney, Goulburn and Newcastle within 30 minutes, it is an absolute game changer. “When you look at Melbourne the opportunities are even more vast. There’s five fast and high-speed rail lines going out of Melbourne that will create an incredible megatropolis and reduce road traffic into the city but produce a number of satellite cities that would be linked by faster and high speed rail and commutes of less than half an hour.” In addition to the federal inquiry, the NSW Productivity Commission is also conducting an inquiry into infrastructure contributions. In response to questions, the Productivity Commission said that as it was in the phase of listening to stakeholders it would be premature to offer a position. The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) has prepared a submission to the inquiry, and CEO Caroline Wilkie said that good planning processes can make the most of infrastructure investment and save governments billions of dollars. “Australia’s increasing infrastructure needs will mean governments alone will not be able
to deliver every project that is required to meet future demand. We support value capture mechanisms that allow governments to share in the benefits of significant land value increases that result from their investment in infrastructure. As with all things, it is important cost recovery is applied equally,” she said. A POTENTIAL SOLUTION? Murray has proposed two ways of implementing value capture, the first being a land tax. “A land value tax that you revalue every year, that automatically raises money from every capital investment made by the government or raises more money when there’s a boom and less money when there’s a bust.” Both NSW and Victoria have mooted switching from stamp duty to a broad land tax and have raised these ideas with the federal government. Another method, Murray suggests is to allow property owners to buy denser zonings. “If you have a new rail station, and you say, ‘We’re going to densify this corridor.’ What you do is you charge landowners for the additional air rights to take advantage of that new zoning and density that you’ve facilitated.” Alexander is instead proposing a form of capital gains tax on land that is impacted by infrastructure and rezoning. The tax would be triggered by a change in zoning. This would overcome the ad hoc nature of current developer contributions, raise a more significant amount than stamp duty, and create a fairer outcome. “It shouldn’t be the developer that pays the outrageous price for the land, and then has to pay the developers contribution to develop it, it’s the person who makes the windfall through no effort of their own, simply by owning land that is now going to be rezoned and going to be the beneficiary of taxpayers funding.”
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Major Projects
Levying taxes on increases in density around rail stations has funded high speed and metro projects globally.
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Chris Allen, managing director, transport and industry, responded to a LinkedIn message noting that “as there is not a consistent view on value capture and its implementation across the Commonwealth, we do not think that it’s appropriate for IPFA to provide its views or comments outside of government at this time”. In its joint submission to the Options for Financing Faster Rail inquiry, the National Faster Rail Agency and IPFA wrote that “examples where value capture made major contributions to funding cost are defined by unique characteristics, such as significantly higher population densities than regional Australia”. The submission noted the case of transcontinental railroads in the United States in the late 19th century, and Hong Kong rail operator MTR’s Rail plus Property model. In London, the extension of the Northern Line, a £2.5bn ($4.56bn) project, was entirely funded through a levy on development in the Nine Elms district and business rates revenue. Alexander also points to the Korean method of funding high-speed rail. There, the government owned corporation that constructs and operates the line provides half of the funding for the line. It can then take 100 per cent of the value uplift inside a determined development precinct next to the proposed stations. The national government, which provides 50 per cent of the funding, takes 50 per cent of the value uplift of land adjacent to the development precinct. “I think it’s a structure that’s not far off the mark,” said Alexander.
There is another model, however, that is closer to home. In the ACT, where all land is owned by the government, 75 per cent of the increase in the value of leasehold land is captured by the territory government. “Imagine if you got 75 per cent of the uplift of that $500m,” said Alexander. “That would’ve left $375m that would have gone towards the cost of the infrastructure, and the investor, for only putting in $3.5m, would have made $125m. Not doing too badly at all.” Murray has done the sums on how much more money governments around Australia would raise if they followed the ACT example. “If you scale that to the relative prices and quantities of new dwellings that are built in NSW, Victoria, and Queensland you get roughly $19bn per year in revenue, if they had the ACT system.” With a number of faster rail projects at the business case stage and future projects in the pipeline, there is a need for governments to come up with a solution. “Before the project is announced, before the zoning is announced, you’ve got to have your value capture legislation through Parliament,” said Alexander. “We talk about, ‘We’re all in it together.’ That means everybody who is the beneficiary pays and it’s to the benefit of the taxpayer because you can then literally look at all infrastructure being funded in this way, relieving our general revenues, simplifying our taxes, simplifying the role of developers, and making our growth sustainable and creating affordable housing for all.”
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The tax would be collected by the federal government, which would create the master plans with state governments. State government would provide the infrastructure and local councils would determine local-level land use. “The federal government collects the uplift, quarantines it and then hypothecates it to the state for distribution for the infrastructure.” Currently, the National Faster Rail Agency (NFRA), which is developing business cases for fast rail to Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney with state governments and the private sector. As part of these business cases, the NFRA considers funding and financing options, such as private sector contributions and value capture opportunities. “Matters such as funding and financing and opportunities for value capture from sources such as land value uplift to supplement project funding are considered in line with this framework,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. The spokesperson however directed detailed questions regarding value capture mechanisms to the Infrastructure Project Financing Agency (IPFA). Formed in 2017, IPFA “supports the Australian government in making commercially astute decisions on nationally significant infrastructure projects and programs through the provision of independent, whole-of-government commercial and financial advisory services”. After email inquiries to the publicly available email contact went unanswered,
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
Meeting every requirement As MATISA celebrates its 75th anniversary, the Swiss manufacturer is looking at how it can continue to provide the rail maintenance and renewal machines of the future. At the end of WWII, the railway lines that had crisscrossed Europe were in terrible shape. By some estimates, over 70 per cent of all track and bridges were destroyed in France. To rebuild the continent, a new way of constructing and maintaining track was needed so that people and goods could easily be transported, and connections could be created between nations that were previously at war. Prior to the 1940s, most track construction and maintenance was conducted manually, requiring large gangs of workers to complete the heavy tasks. To meet the scale of what was required in 1945, a new way of working needed to be found. In Switzerland, a contractor by the name of Auguste Scheuchzer saw this need and developed the prototypes of three machines that would overcome these challenges.
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These were a weeder, which could scrape the surface of the ballast; a combined excavating and screening machine that would clean the ballast; and a tamping machine, which could compact the ballast under the sleepers. A newly formed Swiss company bought Scheuchzer’s designs, and these became the foundation of modern track renewal and maintenance as it is known today. That company, Matériel Industriel S.A., commonly known as MATISA, is now celebrating its 75th anniversary and has continued to build on this history of product innovation and unique solutions designed for the rail environment. Having begun to produce and manufacture machines that were based on Scheuchzer’s original designs, current CEO Franz Messerli tells Rail Express that MATISA
saw a need for these machines to better fit the needs of rail operators. “The tamping machines in the early days were machines similar to those used for civil engineering jobs. MATISA turned them into railway vehicles that can also be incorporated into trains and this was quite a job from a mentality point of view – to make these early machines more like a locomotive than just a working machine.” With the renewal and maintenance of ballast now able to be mechanised, the next step was to come up with a solution for the rails and sleepers. Again, MATISA took the visionary ideas of Valditerra, an Italian contractor, and turned them into a solution for the rail industry. “He had this brilliant idea of how you can change the rails and sleepers in one continuous go,” said Messerli. “MATISA also
By responding to customer requirements, MATISA can make machines that survive in harsh conditions.
MATISA has 75 years of heritage when it comes to designing and manufacturing rail maintenance equipment.
bought this licence from him and then from them moved this technology quite a bit further.” From these beginnings, MATISA is now known as one of the leaders in the manufacture of track renewal machines. Other innovations that the company has produced include the introduction of high-frequency elliptical tamping, continuous action tampers, the NEMO light-based guiding system and turnout installation wagons. Being able to produce machines that meet the varied requirements of rail operators around the world has led to MATISA becoming the manufacturer of choice for challenging tasks, said Messerli. “We produced some large machines for the French market that work around Paris where they have very little access to the track. These machines can not only do track renewal but also ballast cleaning, compacting and tamping the track, all within one machine. Combining these
functions makes it very important that all systems are working properly because if somewhere in the whole production line fails, then the whole machine is stopped.”
means we have to conform to the Narrow Non-Electric envelope. Then there’s narrow gauge networks in Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.”
MATISA IN AUSTRALASIA Some of these MATISA machines have made their way to Australia over the years, However, in 2018, the company returned to the Australia and New Zealand market with the creation of a local subsidiary. MATISA’s ability overseas to meet varied requirements sets up the company well for the Australian environment, said Steven Johnson, managing director of MATISA Australia. “From MATISA’s perspective we have three different railways in Australia. We have a heavy haul environment, which is similar to UIC/European standards from the perspective of vehicle size. While the interstate ARTC network is similar to the UIC standard as well, there’s constraints on the network around Sydney and Melbourne which, when taken collectively,
These constraints mean that even when equipment is gauge convertible, machines such as tampers, ballast regulators and track laying machines in Australia must fit within one of the three envelopes. With the increasing demand for track construction and renewal, the supply of equipment is becoming a bottleneck. “I do think there is the potential for a constraint in equipment. Now that the government is talking about stimulus and how that is going to roll out. It’s going to coincide with Inland Rail as well as current construction projects in the Pilbara,” said Johnson. With ageing plant fleets currently in service, there may be a need for contractors to upgrade their machinery. “Tampers and regulators, they start to age.
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
These machines have a limited life; 25 years, and 30-40 years if it’s looked after really well. While some operators are refurbishing equipment to a high standard, there’s lots of that older equipment but that has a limited remaining lifespan,” said Johnson. Unlike other manufacturers of track construction and renewal equipment, MATISA does not expect to produce a high volume of machinery. Rather, as the company has done in the UK, MATISA will work with a local partner to provide the specialised and reliable equipment that is needed in rail environments. “Historically, MATISA has grown through working with specialist service providers and providing them with tools and equipment to deliver high quality services to their customer,” said Johnson. MATISA has been a long-term partner with the Rhomberg Sersa Group, who have used MATISA’s equipment. In urban rail environments, where systems are becoming more complex with the introduction of new signalling systems and dense networks of lines, MATISA has developed equipment that confronts these challenges. “The B 66 UC is a continuous action machine for plain track but also contains workheads designed for tamping turnouts.
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It has the flexibility to avoid obstacles, which especially in Sydney, there are lots of,” said Johnson. The B 66 UC can tamp sleeper by sleeper in turnouts and includes a third arm for lifting the diverging track. On plain track, the machine achieves the high performance standards expected of modern tamping machines using high-frequency, elliptical tamping technology to ensure accuracy and compaction quality. As urban networks adopt European Train Control System (ETCS) and CommunicationsBased Train Control (CBTC) technology with the associated balises and axle counters that sit between tracks, having a tamping machine that will not damage these pieces of technology is crucial. “There are joints with cabling everywhere, lots of other equipment in and around the track and there’s going to be more. It starts to become more and more hazardous and you need flexibility with where you’re positioning the tamping tools, so having the universal machine or a combination machine, which is really good on plain track but also really good at turnouts, is important,” said Johnson. The alternative is to miss critical sections of track. “So they’re tamping and they miss two sleepers, right where the joint is, right where
the train stop is, so the joint is going to get worn out quicker, the train stop is going to get damaged quicker. The point of failure has become an even greater point of failure, and that’s the consequence of just using plain line high-production machines in a congested environment,” said Johnson. Being able to produce the machines that meet these technical demands is partly down to MATISA retaining its manufacturing base in Switzerland, said Messerli. “We have good access to qualified personnel. I worked for a couple of years in the UK and you find engineers easily in the UK but an engineer that is also prepared to put an overall on and go alongside the machines and get their hands dirty, that’s more difficult to find. In Switzerland, we have a dual training system which is an apprenticeship scheme that normally goes for four years that also includes a theoretical component.” Combining practical and theoretical knowledge means that those who work in the production side of MATISA can problem solve and find creative solutions to customer’s requirements. “If we made hundreds and hundreds of identical machines then we would already have left Switzerland many years ago, but having the technical specialists next to the
“Historically, MATISA has grown through working with specialist service providers and providing them with tools and equipment to deliver high quality services to their customer.” Steven Johnson, MATISA Australia, managing director
MATISA has had a collaborative relationship with companies such as Rhomberg-Sersa.
place where you produce and assemble the machine is kind of a key for these machines that you often tailor around customer needs,” said Messerli. THE NEXT 75 YEARS As MATISA reaches its 75th year it is continuing to innovate in its tradition of providing customer-focused solutions for rail track and maintenance. Although Switzerland has largely deindustrialised,
MATISA is investing in predictive analytics that can improve track maintenance.
Messerli sees a future for MATISA in the country in providing high-quality, reliable machinery. “We look back with pride on the last 75 years. We have established a reputation of being a reliable supplier that takes care of the special needs of difficult railways around the world,” said Messerli. Avoiding dwelling on the past, however, is what will ensure MATISA survives. Messerli is keenly focused on upcoming challenges within the rail industry, and how MATISA will meet new requirements. One area the company is investigating is the digitalisation of track construction and renewal. “Digitalisation is part of our agenda, but we have to do it in a clever way,” said Messerli. “We have to find a system that is helping to make our machines more reliable and to help in preventative maintenance. The worst thing that can happen to a yellow machine is if it breaks down on a major line, so implementing predictive maintenance technologies to make sure that this machine will not break down is very important.” MATISA is also looking to develop machines with lower energy consumption. This includes investigating ways of using the braking energy from a discontinuous tamper to accelerate the machine to the next sleeper. What could be the greatest shift, however, is the implementation of artificial intelligence. With autonomous trains already running in many regions, similar forces are at work in the field of track maintenance. Johnson sees three key reasons why automation will become the norm in trackwork. “Firstly, people don’t want to work nights, in the rain, or in the heat, and the machines are getting more and more complex, so finding people that can fault find and do repairs and maintenance is getting harder,”
said Johnson. “Secondly, customers are sick of the machines hitting equipment and these machines do hit stuff, regularly. So if we can find solutions that reduces the incidence of equipment getting hit then that makes everybody’s life simpler. “The third reason is productivity. There is a real opportunity for industry to maximise the output from each of these pieces of equipment, be more consistent but also increase speed. If the machine knows what’s going on, where it is, and what it’s doing then it will be able to take over, preparing itself for the next function. Then, during the advance of the machine, all the tools are ready for the next insertion. That will deliver huge benefits in time and speed of tamping turnouts and plain track. A consequential benefit of all of that will be less wear and tear on the machine, fewer repairs to track equipment because it’s not getting hit, the guys that are operating aren’t as tired, and they’re not making mistakes.” MATISA has developed its Human Assistance Track Intelligence (HATI) platform that can be used on multiple machine types. The sensor system is being developed to learn the track, identify where obstacles are located, and integrate this data with the control of the tamping tools and lifting clamp. The real-time, machine learning of HATI is an example of MATISA looking at the issues its customers and the rail industry are facing and developing a solution to meet this need. “We have to continue listening to our customers,” said Messerli. “But we also have to talk to the railway administrations because they look at the needs of five, 10, even 20 years in the future.” Having a history of being at the forefront of rail machinery, MATISA is prepared to provide the rail industry with solutions for the next 75 years.
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
A partner in rail Manco Rail are investing in their customers’ performance with a new training facility. In the industrial heartland of Western Sydney, the team from Manco Rail have been spending the last few months transforming a former storage yard into a new concept for the hi-rail supplier. The team have created a purpose-built hi-rail training and inspection facility to allow rail contractors and operators to quickly and flexibly get their staff up to scratch on the operation of hi-rail vehicles while providing inspection and maintenance services. The roughly 4,000 sqm site includes 100 metres of track for the demonstration of hi-rail vehicles and the simulation of their operation. An on-tracking or level crossing area is also simulated to enable vehicles to get on and off the rails.
The training yard has the ability for the testing of hi-rail vehicles and the training of staff.
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“The benefits of having the track here is that we can do track testing so that the customer can maximise their time in possession of the rail corridor.” Jaclyn Vanderent, Manco Rail, office manager Alongside the rail, Manco has constructed a contained viewing and workshop area, as well as storage, parking areas, and sheltered workspaces. Washdowns and servicing can also be done on site. All in all, the site is a “one-stop shop”, according to office manager Jaclyn Vanderent. “We can do all the servicing and washing of the vehicles. Customers’ fleets can come in for servicing every three or six months carried out by our on-site technicians.”
At the site itself, Manco’s team of engineers and maintenance staff can review any Manco vehicle for local testing and servicing. This ensures that vehicles are maintained to the highest specification in a convenient and accessible manner. “Because they’re our products, we know them inside and out, right from our manufacturing through to the processes for training. We know exactly what’s going on,” said Vanderent. In addition to servicing capabilities, what
Servicing of vehicles can be carried out locally.
A purpose-built, 100-metre long section of track simulates a rail environvment.
makes the site particularly distinct is the ability for training in a contained setting. The track has been specifically designed to simulate a rail environment, so that operators and technicians can get hands on with the machinery before beginning work on a project or maintenance task. “The benefits of having the track here is that we can do track testing so that the customer can maximise their time in possession of the rail corridor,” said Vanderent. At one end of the track is a purpose-built and self-contained viewing area. From here, trainees can watch the operation of a hi-rail vehicle from a safe distance and in a controlled environment. “Customers can have the whole track for the learning experience,” said Vanderent. “They can do it here without any interruptions and of course they’ve got our technicians by their side so any questions that they have can be answered directly.” Manco staff are on hand to assist with the training and operation of the vehicles. Training can be delivered on a wide range of road-rail vehicles and track machinery. The training facility is an extension of Manco’s customer-driven philosophy when it comes to the manufacture and supply of
hi-rail vehicles and specialist equipment for rail construction and maintenance. With space at a premium in the urban rail environment, hi-rail vehicles can be brought to the Manco facility for standard or hot steam cleaning washes, subsequent servicing, re-certification, and storage, to be ready to go on the next project. The Western Sydney site also expands Manco’s local footprint in Australia. The company has recently invested in a transporter to enable it to quickly
deliver hi-rail vehicles to site, or to collect and return vehicles. As Vanderent describes, the company has delivered a “whole business solution”. “Rather than going there for this, and there for that, the customer can just get Manco to sort it out, whether that be servicing, training, or even utilising our cleaning vehicle” More than just a supplier of equipment and machinery, Manco is a partner for rail construction and maintenance.
Manco has invested in a transporter to get equipment to where it needs to be, fast.
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
A new look at rail construction Martinus’ in-house approach is de-risking rail construction. Having stepped up from a product supply business into a rail construction outfit, the young upstart of the Australian rail construction industry decided three years ago to head out on its own with the purchase of major multi-million-dollar pieces of machinery. “The business has only been delivering construction projects for around eight years,” said Martinus chief operating officer Ryan Baden. “For the first part of five years, we would be relying on other people’s plant and equipment to do the final piece, mainly tampers, regulators, and flash butt welders. We had grown to a position where it was only the large, tier one contractors that had these pieces of equipment and we were now competing with them.” To de-risk projects it was working on, Martinus made the decision to purchase the plant, machinery, and equipment and recruit their own team to overhaul and maintain the growing fleet. “It’s essentially about de-risking project delivery and overall business risk ,” said Baden. “We control all the pieces of the puzzle; we recruit all of our own labourers, engineers, and supervisors, plus our strong financial position and current project pipeline means we can significantly invest in our own plant and machinery. “Our next goal was to purchase our own ballast trains - that has really changed everything for us, it solidified our end vision
Martinus has purchased six mobile flash butt welding machines.
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of having the largest fleet of specialised rail equipment in Australia, all the while ensuring we were well equipped to deliver upcoming projects and maintain full control of logistics and maintenance.” For any major rail project, having a few pieces of bright yellow kit is not enough by itself, there needs to be a level of logistical and rail safety knowhow to ensure that the kit is fully operational, at the right place, and at the right time. “In the past, particularly for the product supply side of the business, we were using freight forwarders and received good service, but the plan for some time has been to bring it all inhouse.” As the fleet grew, so did the team. Martinus hired logistics manager Jason Gibson who has previously worked for a large mining company. The vertical integration of Martinus’ supply chain has worked before and is now even more enhanced by their inhouse experts. The value of these investments was realised straightaway, said David Van Hoos, national plant and asset manager for Martinus. “The first tamper we secured was mobilised as part of the Gold Coast light rail project Stage 2. We were able to quickly bring it up to site specification and employ our own operators and fitters, we gained flexibility to adapt to program changes and minimise any potential interruptions or delays that may have occurred relying on external suppliers.”
With the successful implementation of the first piece of major plant and several largescale projects in the pipeline, it made good business sense to create a standalone plant department dedicated to servicing their own rail projects. This has also increased Martinus’ capacity and capability to become a consistent and reliable interface on major rail and civil construction projects. “What we’ve found is clients are looking to de-risk themselves around interfaces on sites,” said Baden. “In the past, clients would bring us in to deliver the track, someone else to complete the overhead wiring, and another contractor for signalling – that’s three different interfaces for them to manage. With extensive rail knowledge and strong project management skills, the next step to further add value for our clients was bringing in subject matter experts to handle the overhead wiring, signalling and comms as part of the Martinus team”. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RAIL-DEDICATED PLANT DEPARTMENT Having established the plant department, the team under Van Hoos’ leadership has grown to include a maintenance team of 15 fitters, project managers, engineers and support staff. “Our fitters are key to the success of the plant department, we’ve selected them based on their industry experience, but to build on that experience we’ve also recruited electrical and mechanical apprentices to build a diverse and well-rounded team for the future,” said Van Hoos. “It’s great to be able to invest in the younger generation and teach them everything we know about rail.” Rather than swelling in size for each individual project, the team at Martinus are employed full-time to ensure that the business can deliver on any of the major projects it is engaged on. Being solely focused on rail has contributed to the energy and enthusiasm in the workshop, said Van Hoos. Supplementing the skilled tradespeople are local suppliers, when needed. Currently, Martinus is constructing the Carmichael Rail Network (CRN), in Central Queensland, and has just engaged a local Mackay business in a $1 million contract to fabricate the metal framework for the supply consist behind Martinus’ tracklaying machine. Staying in touch with locals has also come in handy as border restrictions have limited the movement
Not only has Martinus invested in machinery, but also the people needed to operate and maintain it.
of people across Australia and New Zealand. Martinus have engaged Harso to build two continuous track lifters (CTL), who are local to Martinus’ main plant department in Brisbane. The CTLs are being fabricated and manufactured locally. “The border restrictions have also forced us to look outside of the rail industry to build our team,” said Van Hoos. “We have employed members from the military, electricians from the automotive industry, and fitters from the mining sector all led by experienced industry leaders – this diverse mix adds another level of knowledge and bring a unique set of skills to our team.” “With travel restrictions in place, it’s been a great advantage to have Harsco close by as we’ve been able to have regular progress visits and factory acceptance testing at Harsco’s workshop. Any issues can be resolved very quickly, and seeing the production in the workshop first-hand has also been a bonus.” MULTIGAUGE AS STANDARD While the CRN and another project that Martinus is currently working on, the Forrestfield Airport Link are narrow gauge, the team are mindful that having dedicated narrow gauge plant and equipment will limit where it can work in Australia, New Zealand, and internationally. “We operate an international rail business that works across three different gauges and
probably about 20 different railway networks. Van Hoos and the in-house rollingstock engineers work closely to ensure that our build specification enable us to move the machinery around safely, quickly and efficiently,” said Baden. In terms of the equipment that Martinus has purchased, which in addition to ballast wagons and the continuous track lifting machine also includes a sleeper laying machine, a track laying machine, four tampers and four ballast regulators, six flash butt welders among other pieces of plant, all are designed to be used across multiple projects. “When purchasing plant, be it new or second-hand, we have been focused on gauge convertible plant which ensures the flexibility
from one project to the next ” said Van Hoos. Being able to move between standard and narrow also allows Martinus to work on shorter jobs on metropolitan networks. “Soon, we will be taking delivery of 40 ballast wagons, two continuous track, six flash butt welders on hi-rail trucks - all brand new, gauge convertible equipment ready to go,” said Van Hoos. This fleet is complimented with six locomotives that Martinus purchased from KiwiRail. “It was perfect timing for Martinus that KiwiRail were renewing their current locomotive fleet. The gauge and specifications of the locos were aligned to our requirements for CRN” said Van Hoos. “These locomotives will be used for construction only to haul our ballast and sleeper wagons.” While the fleet sets Martinus up for any number of projects around Australia and New Zealand, as the past year has shown, there are any number of unpredictable events that could occur in the meantime and require new thinking to ensure projects get over the line. In New Zealand, where Martinus has a contract to provide flash butt welding services to its Woburn depot and around the network. Of course, getting people there has not been possible so Van Hoos has come up with a unique fix. “We’ve come up with a solution to train a local operator via video link under the supervision of our project team in New Zealand. One of our Australian based operator/fitters has been providing nonstop online training for carefully selected Martinus fitters and operators in New Zealand. This initiative has allowed us to continue on despite travel restrictions and resulted in minimal delays to KiwiRail’s re-railing projects.” Martinus is ready to look at rail construction in a different way.
The continuous track laying machine has been built locally.
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
Extended capabilities RKR Engineering is bringing a specialist’s eye for rail construction to equipment. RKR Engineering started in a garage at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains, but before long had outgrown its humble beginnings. After winning a few tenders for larger works, the company quickly developed a reputation for being able to complete complex projects. In 1991, the company won its first contract in the rail industry, a footbridge refurbishment tender for Homebush Station in Sydney. “The new bridge had to look similar to the riveted lattice construction of the bridge it replaced,” said RKR Engineering founder Russel Ricketts. “After that, the business just got bigger and bigger. Ten years ago, we did a business review, at that time, we were prominently completing steel fabrication and projects. We thought we needed to have our own equipment and we wanted to design and build a product. We looked at what we needed for our projects,
RKR has developed its own specialised machinery, including the Trackhaul vehicle.
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and we couldn’t find the equipment at a competitive price, so we thought we would design it and manufacture it ourselves.” The RKR team worked for five years to set up the equipment side of the business. In 2012, the company built its first machine, a prototype of the current Trackhaul machine. A multipurpose piece of equipment and material carrier, Trackhaul can travel on rail or road. The modular approach to design and construction allows for optional equipment to be added or removed from the deck space. With Trackhaul, RKR solved the issue of how to easily transport equipment and materials on road and rail, a challenge borne from its work in designing structures for rail projects. This approach of building specialised equipment based on knowledge of the rail construction environment has continued. “With the Trackhaul complete, then we said
we need a big crane that can get into tight areas,” said Ricketts. “We developed our own crane using a Hiab crane, put it on a railway carriage and then powered it.” The finished design, now known as Tracklift, has been in use in Australian rail networks to pick up and carry material, without interfering with overhead wires or train movements on adjacent tracks. RKR has also developed its own mobile platform attachments that can be fixed to Trackhaul or on their hi rail trucks. Another product that has directly responded to the needs of the rail construction environment is the RotoQuip. “A lot of our work is with existing infrastructure – strengthening, repairing, and refurbishing it – so we had a huge need for being able to put heavy beams up underneath bridges to strengthen them, and there was no equipment,” said Ricketts.
RKR has applied its in-house expertise to the manufacturing of equipment, such as mobile platforms.
This led to the development of a threeaxis crane boom attachment for positioning equipment and steelwork in environments that traditional cranes cannot work in. The RotoQuip can lift steel beams for bridge and overpass repairs in tunnels, under bridges, and in confined spaces. In March 2020, long-time partner Rhomberg Rail Australia purchased RKR Engineering to bring together RKR Engineering’s expertise in equipment, design, fabrication, and installation of steelwork with Rhomberg’s suite of capabilities. So far, according to Bart Kelly, manager at RKR Engineering, it has been a natural fit. “A lot of the work goes hand in hand. The Rhomberg track and bridge crew are doing all the transom works and the RKR team are doing all the stringers and work underneath, so it’s all intertwined.”
perspective, there is a single point of contact that knows the process inside out. “We do the design, fabrication, installation, and the commissioning,” said Ricketts. “The control of the project is in house, so if there’s an issue with something we can send somebody back to the workshop and make changes and get equipment.” These capabilities were recently put to the test on a project to design, fabricate, and install a temporary enclosure to allow for the removal and replacement of lead paint on the Cockle Creek Rail Bridge near Newcastle. The two-span bridge, built in 1957, needed to be encapsulated
to allow for the blasting of the bridge without the lead paint polluting the river below. The structure also needed to support the load of people doing the repainting, all while allowing trains to continue running. “We were given 36 hours to build this tunnel and the only way of doing that was to build it in modules next to the track, lower the overhead wires, and drive it in on a special delivery vehicle in six large sections,” said Ricketts. “It took us eight hours, so when people left at 6pm on Saturday night all these modules were sitting on the ground waiting for the wind to drop. By 8pm we started to install the first one, and by six o’clock the next morning when everyone returned, it was all in.” The RKR Engineering team used its specialised equipment to drive in the modules and used the Tracklift to raise the pieces of the structure to go around the bridge. Kelly, who had left the site on Saturday evening, returned on Sunday morning to see the finished project. “I came back at 5am on the Sunday morning and I couldn’t believe it. The bridge stands out even more now because its wrapped in white plastic. You can probably see it from the moon.” With blasting now complete on the first span on the bridge the team is waiting until the next possession in 2021 to move the entire structure to the bridge’s second span. Once again, the specialised knowledge and equipment that RKR Engineering have developed over the past 30 years will be essential.
The need for equipment such as the RotoQuip came from projects that RKR had worked on.
GETTING THE JOB DONE With the fleet of specialised rail equipment now on hand, RKR are prepared to take on complex maintenance and renewal jobs around Australia. Completing these jobs in the short possession periods allotted comes down to careful planning. “No job is the same,” said Ricketts. “You start off with a good methodology, which goes to a good design and then you look at the construction procedure and that takes a lot of discussion and planning among ourselves. From tradesmen to supervisors, we all get together and we discuss how a job can be done in the time that we have it.” Having these multiple levels of expertise in house means that from a customer’s
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
Exceeding the standard Aries Rail have made a name for themselves by providing the Australian market with unique solutions, backed up by engineering expertise.
Aries Rail designs and manufactures hi-rail systems for rail operators around Australia.
The professionalisation of railway engineering has come a long way in the past two decades. What was once a disparate and unregulated area with apocryphal stories of bushmechanics has become a national field with clear standards and precise guidelines. Ewan McAllister, managing director of Aries Rail, has seen the sector move forward in leaps and bounds. “When we first started out in this industry, there was basically no rules or regulations for hi-rail vehicles. You could just come up with a concept in your head and go and make it and put it on track,” he said. This first began to change when contractors and customers began requiring sign off from certified engineering. “There began to be requests for engineering,” said Ewan. “That would just involve a consulting engineer giving you a one-page report saying that he looked at something and liked it and that it was ok to go to work.” Seeing where the industry was headed, and looking to lead when it came to higher standards for hi-rail vehicles, Aries Rail were one of the first companies to employ a mechanical engineer. “Not long after that, we employed our
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second mechanical engineer and we haven’t looked back since, in terms of what we do. Once we started engineering things properly, it significantly improved the quality of work.” The formalisation of these trends occurred in 2016, with the release of AS 7502, the Australian Standard for Road Rail Vehicles. Ewan was part of the team that developed the standard over three years, which has since been adopted by rail infrastructure managers (RIMs) around the country. Today, on top of the requirements of AS 7502, RIMs are adding their own, stringent requirements, something that Aries Rail are only too happy to meet, due to their in-house engineering expertise, said Nathan Bender, director at Aries Rail. “Every project we work on goes through a controlled engineering design process before releasing into manufacture and then again through various ITP, certification, compliance, and accreditation processes.” One area that Aries Rail have specialised is in the conversion of heavy trucks for working on rail. “Large trucks have been a specialty of ours,” said Nathan. “8x4s are large trucks with heavy payloads. As with everything in the design of railways, everything has become
bigger and heavier, so the trucks have moved to reflect that.” To ensure that these larger vehicles were fit for purpose when working in a rail environment, Aries Rail have designed and manufactured their own coil springs to match the spring rate of the parent vehicle, which enable the vehicles to reach a higher load share percentage without overloading. Another specialty has been the development of air-bagged hi-rail suspensions which is the only safe way to convert an air-bagged truck, something not widely understood in the industry. Ewan explained that the benefit of designing and manufacturing these kinds of specialist equipment in house means that Aries Rail vehicles can provide a superior and more efficient service. “Without doing that,” added Nathan, “large trucks on rail payload was severely restricted.” Meeting this requirement has enabled Aries Rail to supply vehicles that can carry greater loads, maximising their productivity and making large trucks a viable plant and equipment tool. In addition to the larger vehicles, Aries Rail is also a supplier of light hi-rail vehicles,
such as its system for Toyota LandCruisers, has been independently certified for use with driver and passenger airbags. CERTIFICATION AND SERVICING EXPERTS In addition to their base in Perth, Aries Rail recently expanded its footprint to Melbourne, to be able to provide 24-hour response to the east coast market. “We made a strategic decision to base ourselves in Melbourne and move up from there,” said Nathan. “It gives us that direct after sales support and the comfort that brings for customers making the choice to choose Aries as their fleet provider. Even if it’s Sydney, we can be there with the service truck and a set of tools within 24 hours if need be.” Having first-hand knowledge of their own equipment allows Aries Rail to know exactly the issues facing any piece of kit. “Particularly for our own equipment, we’re the designer, the engineer, and the certifier, so we do understand it better than somebody else who may not know the intricacies,” said Nathan. In addition, with their experience in the design and certification process, Aries Rail can provide ongoing certification services for equipment to be used on every network. “With our strong engineering background, we’re able to offer that certification process for every network. Then with our eastern states presence and a mobile service truck and a workshop we’re able to offer a recertification and a structured planned service program,” said Nathan.
In-house engineering expertise is utilised on every Aries Rail system.
In addition to engineering, Aries have invested in technical and trade knowledge. “We have our own team of mechanical engineers, we recently employed our own compliance engineer, we have a full time PLC programmer, and we have a full-time welding supervisor so that we comply with AS1554 Structural steel welding, which is required under AS7502,” said Ewan. “All of our weld designs are tested and our staff are coded against them, to certify we fully conform to industry standards.” Looking to where the industry is moving
in the future, Aries Rail have partnered with Holland Co, the largest mobile flashbutt welding service provider in the world to bring the same dedicated, specialist flash-butt welding service model to Australia. Providing these unique solutions is how Aries will continue to service the Australasian rail industry, said Ewan. “We’ll continue to evolve and deliver the solutions that the market looks for. It’s hard to see what 15 years ahead will be, but we’ve looked to add complimentary products from around the world to what we can offer the Australian market.”
The company has specialised in the conversion of large vehicles.
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
Built to last Through accuracy and local expertise, Speno Rail Maintenance Australia is delivering the rail profile that’s right for the job. Australia has one of the widest range of railways of any single country around the globe. From the heavy haul railways which carry some of the highest axle loadings in the world, to densely packed urban light rail lines. Each network has its own distinct conditions which are reflected in the standards that are applied by network operators and managers. Speno Rail Maintenance Australia has been helping rail infrastructure managers in Australia and New Zealand meet their own unique rail profile standards for the past half a century. General manager Mark Green knows these networks well. “Although similar, the majority of the standards and conditions are different. That’s because they are designed to suit the network they are operating upon.” Many urban rail networks are looking to reduce wheel squeal, something that can be done through a targeted grinding program. “Having a poor rail profile and poor surface condition will induce a lot of noise that creates a disturbance factor for the public,” said Green. “The tolerance factors within the metro networks are extremely rigorous to ensure they are providing not only the best level of service for their passengers but also for the neighbouring communities that are around the network.” At the other end of the spectrum, Australia’s freight rail networks are looking to prevent the rapid escalation of a defect, which can be hastened by the heavy loads passing over the rails. “If you leave a poor profile or poor surface condition, you will naturally induce defects on the head of the rail and in a heavy haul environment with 40-tonne axle loads, that induced defect escalates very quickly,” said Green. For all rail networks, however, limiting the amount of maintenance that has to occur by preserving a good rail profile is another benefit. “The more maintenance you have to do, the more delays that appears on the rail network, so by grinding to the correct tolerances and profile and therefore reducing the rail wear means it reduces the amount of maintenance that has to be performed on a network, ensuring longevity for the public and the taxpayer or the owner,” said Green. Not only does accurate grinding protect
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Each network has its own ideal rail profile and getting to that profile ensures efficiency and safety.
the infrastructure but it increases the lifespan of rollingstock. By ensuring the wheel is in contact with the rail at the correct point, there is less stress on the wheel and supporting bearings and axles. Getting rail networks to their optimum condition based on local conditions and requirements is the goal of Speno. To do this, the company has locally designed and built rail grinding machines that are above all, accurate. “Our machines need to be able to produce the accuracy, repeatability, and compliance for each client each time we return to their network,” said Green. While in the past, measurements of the rail profile were and often still are conducted with manual measuring tools such as a bar gauge, the increasing accuracy demanded by rail infrastructure managers is leading to new ways to get a more comprehensive picture of the rail asset. This is performed by Speno through onboard electronic measurement, which allows the rail grinder to accurately align with the current condition of the rail and the desired rail profile. “When you’re measuring immediately before and after as you’re grinding, your skilled operators are able to manage the grind professionally and accurately then and there,
without any preconceived ideas of what’s going to be applied. They are able to understand that this is the condition right now, this is the condition it needs to be returned to and they know exactly how to return it,” said Green. Using on-board electronic measurement also makes for a safer grinding process. “By having an electronic measurement system that’s measuring as we are grinding and producing that live data feed, we’re reducing the rollingstock-person interface and therefore increasing the safety of our people,” said Green. Having had experience on all types of rail around Australia and New Zealand, Speno
know that the rail grinding process needs to be individualised for the respective needs of each client. “By using electronic on board measuring and vision systems, our highly skilled and experienced operators and rail network experts are able to look at the profile, look at the condition of the rail, and actually provide evidence or advice on what changes are needed to potentially eliminate and/or reduce the premature failure of the network,” said Green. “By reviewing and understanding the standards and the machines and how best to achieve it, we can actually improve the rail profile dramatically and reduce the premature wear on the network, wheels, and increase the life span of the rail and wheels.” Combining data with local knowledge and expertise and the ability to carry out grinding to specification means that Speno are providing the client with solutions. “When you operate between different operators the grinding machines need to be able to quickly,
efficiently, and easily adapt to suit their requirements and that’s what our machines are set up to do. They’ve all got the capability and versatility in the programming and the measuring systems as such that we can produce the profile required by the client.” said Green. Recently, this approach won an important note of feedback. “We ground a section of rail in Perth six months ago and it was around a tight curve that was passing through a suburb. We recently received a letter from a local resident who noticed that the noise of the trains passing had substantially reduced since we had performed our last grind,” said Green. “That to me gives us an immense degree of satisfaction that we’re not only supporting our clients but we’re also supporting the community around the rail network.” MORE THAN JUST A MACHINE The rail grinding equipment that Speno supplies to Australia and New Zealand has been designed and manufactured in Australia. While local content policies in states such as Victoria and Western Australia specify a percentage of local involvement in rollingstock manufacturing, Speno is ensuring that there is local involvement in the manufacture of maintenance equipment as well. Throughout Australia, Speno has a network of over 150
suppliers who are not just involved in the fabrication of the machines, by the supply of parts and materials that are used in the process of grinding while on the job. As an Australian company and using Australian suppliers Speno supports the wider Australian economy. “When working in Sydney, we’ll use Sydney hydraulics and pneumatics, boiler makers, whatever we need, to source locally,” said Green. In addition to the materials required, Speno is investing in local skills and training. “You can’t buy a rail grinder operator off the street, there’s no course out there, so we employ for the right behaviours, attitudes, and team fit based on required trades and skill set overall,” said Green. “Then we spend an immense amount of time internally training and mentoring our people through on the job skills and practical training to operate and maintain the machines effectively and safely and ensure maximum production and benefits to our client.” This philosophy has meant that Speno is building and designing Australian equipment for Australian conditions and leading the world. Ultimately, however, for rail maintainers and operators, the focus is not the grinding machine, but the product it leaves behind. With more pressures on rail systems as demand increases and possession time is limited, a focus on quality and results is essential. “Today’s rail network operators require a highly efficient machine on the rail network. Grinding efficiently and effectively doesn’t mean a bigger machine, at the end of the day,” said Green. “The reality is it’s not the machine, it’s the product that we leave, a very good profile and surface roughness and that’s absolutely our focus right now – providing that level of quality that you’d expect from an Australian-based manufacturer and service provider.”
Speno’s rail grinding equipment are designed and built in Australia.
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D E C E M B E R SPECIAL FEATURE
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RAIL EXPRESS AUSRAIL EDITION This year will be an AusRAIL like no other. Announced in August, the 2020 edition of AusRAIL will be delivered virtually through an online platform. As always, Rail Express will be there for the event, publishing the news and views from the conference as the rail industry looks towards what 2021 will bring. In keeping with the virtual format, the December edition of Rail Express we be delivered digitally to attendees throughout the event. In partnership with the Australasian Railway Association and event organisers, Rail Express will be an official media partner of the event.
CONTACT OLIVER PROBERT
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, RAIL EXPRESS 02 9439 7227 | 0435 946 869 OLIVER.PROBERT @ PRIMECREATIVE.COM.AU
Standing out in a crowded online media environment, in the lead-up to the event, over the three days of AusRAIL and throughout December Rail Express will be working with its partners to provide a distinctive digital platform. To have your voice heard and shape the online AusRAIL conversation, get in touch with our team today.
A U S T RA L IA’ S L E A D IN G B U S I NESS TO B U SINESS RAIL PU B LICAT ION
Plant, Machinery & Equipment
CAT purpose-built M323F RR now in Australia Caterpillar’s purpose-built M323F road-rail (RR) excavators are now at work in Australia, providing access to the first true AS7502 Type 1: Self-powered rail wheeled excavator designed specifically for on-rail work in Australasia while delivering a new level of safety and performance for the industry. Four dedicated two-speed drive motors provide drive directly to the rail wheels, eliminating wear and tear on the machine’s road powertrain, axles, and tyres while providing unmatched on rail performance including operator adjustable hydrostatic deceleration. Dynamic braking performance is easily adjusted by the operator based on total load, speed, grade, or traction conditions and is complimented by large external dry disc caliper brakes on each rail wheel and inboard wet disc parking/emergency brakes. By braking the actual rail wheel any rocking motion induced by friction drive systems is eliminated providing a more stable, comfortable working platform for the operator. While the selfpowered rail wheel system is more expensive, its performance is second to none, both in terms of drive torque and braking performance. Such performance cannot be replicated with friction systems traditionally used in Australia Independently controlled, each dedicated rail axle is housed in a custom high strength cast cradle, incorporating oscillation suspension to absorb energy during travel and ensuring maximum rail contact even when experiencing rail cant. Each axle features a full width derail bar and guide and has been approved for both broad and standard track gauges in Australia, with a simple spacer kit to switch between gauges in the field. Performance also comes from the custombuilt upper structure. This is not simply a modified wheel excavator frame, although it does benefit from component commonality with the Cat M316F Wheel Excavator. At first glance, the full height compact radius counterweight confirms that this machine is designed for purpose, maximising lifting performance while maintaining a tight swing radius to avoid the many hazards that exist within the rail corridor. A purpose-built factory secondary cab provides certified protection for a spotter or signal person and opens up to also allow full access to the centre and upper service
The M323F excavator is designed for local conditions.
access points of the machine. With open access to the main cabin, this is a perfect environment for a trainer to work with new operators live and on rail. Safety is a priority and features throughout the M323F RR with double redundancy Rated Capacity Indicator (RCI) and Rated Capacity Limiter (RCL) systems using a proprietary, integrated Cat SMART control system. No more aftermarket, third party systems or suppliers, the M323F RR is truly purpose built from the ground up. A 360° LED beacon system ensures visibility at four metres from any angle and incorporates a unique blue LED lamp to indicate to bystanders and site supervisors when the operator has the RCI/RCL active. Factory side and rear cameras integrated into the single 12-inch SMART screen along with an extensive LED lighting kit ensure visibility from the spacious full-size operators cabin during the day or night. Intuitive systems
ensure the same pedals and controls used when roading the machine are used when on rail and no compromises are made in terms of operator comfort to accommodate the additional functionality of the rail excavator. Recently independently certified to AS7502 for use on V/Line assets, the M323F features regionalised customisation by Cat dealer William Adams. “It is very rewarding to see the culmination of several year’s work behind the scenes to take such an impressive purpose-built Caterpillar product now certified for use on rail here in Victoria. It will certainly complement the Elphinstone Railmax track excavator products and the traditional range of Caterpillar construction equipment we offer today, along with our industry leading product support footprint and capabilities,” concluded Glen Slocombe – product manager, William Adams.
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment Melvelle Equipment’s batterypowered tools meet safety, environmental and efficiency targets.
Packing it in As a local specialist manufacturer of rail tools, Melvelle Equipment leverages in-house ingenuity to meet emerging demands. Two years ago, Andrew Melvelle travelled to New York to demonstrate his Newcastlebased company’s latest equipment for rail maintenance and renewal. There, speaking with representatives from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Melvelle understood that there had to be another way to run small tools besides diesel- and petrolpowered engines. “What they would like to have was battery powered equipment doing the traditional jobs that were done by diesel- or petrol-powered small tools and that led us into coming up with the design to replace our diesel and petrol powerpacks with battery-style unit.” In New York the reason behind the switch was clear. Confined environments made the fumes from diesel-powered equipment a hazard and being close to residents on elevated sections of track also posed an issue. “In the underground networks in particular you’ve got an asphyxiation hazard but also when you’re on the elevated track, they do a lot of their maintenance at night, so if you can
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take away the engine noise you’re pretty much halving the noise output from the work heads. Therefore the environmental impact just in noise is a massive improvement to operator comfort as well as the residents that are near these elevated tracks,” said Melvelle. Bringing these ideas back home, Melvelle and his team at Melvelle Equipment designed an early version of what would become the company’s battery-powered Track Packs. Demonstrating the tool to a local operator, the safety benefits of the new technology became even more apparent. “I did a demonstration with one of our work heads in a viaduct and it was amazing the impact of not having the engine noise has on the environment. You can hear the safety officer above all else because he’s the loudest person there, as he’s not competing with an engine. Hearing protection, depending on the operation, is not necessary anymore.” With traditional diesel engines producing roughly 100 decibels of noise, roughly equivalent to the volume of a noisy motorcycle
engine, cutting this out of maintenance tasks can make a dramatic improvement in safety, particularly in a live rail environment. “You can hear the whistles and you can hear the workers around you calling out, so it’s very much an improvement to the environmental working conditions for the operator,” said Melvelle. In addition to these operational benefits, moving from diesel or petrol to electric power can contribute to the broader shift towards sustainability in rail. “It’s the future of technology to try and help the environment and become a little bit more sustainable.” A COMMITMENT TO INNOVATION IN RAIL Having seen the benefits that electrically powered track equipment can have, Melvelle Equipment took the design prototypes and turned them into a manufacturable unit. During this process, conducted by Melvelle Equipment’s in-house industrial design and engineering team, further efficiencies were found.
“We have made it modular which brings most modules down into a one-man lift. This is a massive advantage compared to what we have to do with a petrol-powered or a diesel-powered power pack, because once you’ve got it bolted together that’s it, and it’s a significant lift.” Melvelle designed the Power Pack to be adaptable to the equipment that Melvelle has supplied for decades to the Australian and international rail industry. The system can drive a number of different hydraulic workheads and is built to power each in the most efficient manner. “There are very few battery powered hydraulic units in the marketplace so what we’ve developed is very bespoke to the operation of small tools. The system will identify which work-head is being used and therefore change the program internally to suit the application,” said Melvelle. “It was a matter really of looking at what we’ve got and the output or the final performance needed to be and then sizing everything or matching everything to those parameters.” Having multiple decades of experience in designing and manufacturing hydraulic workheads for the rail industry, Melvelle could calibrate the electric power to be more efficient than a diesel option. “We know the flows and pressures that are needed and when the flow of pressure is required to be at its peak performance to do the job. Then we matched the performance curves of the electric motors to match the peak performance of the hydraulics we needed. That’s done through staging of pumps and flows and different pressures to make sure that
Melvelle have designed equipment such as portable trolleys in house.
we don’t overcook the batteries or the motor.” With the design work that went into the Power Packs, the hydraulic heads could also be improved. “In doing that design it’s allowed us to redesign the boom connections, all of the different workheads, as well as making the hydraulics smarter so that we draw less power from the batteries,” said Melvelle. As a designer and fabricator of rail maintenance equipment and machinery based in Newcastle with just over two dozen staff, Melvelle Equipment can use its size to its advantage. In addition to its work designing electrically powered hydraulic tools, Melvelle has also manufactured battery powered inspection and emergency response trolleys, as a direct response to the requirements of rail operators and construction authorities. “Quite often, innovation is driven by customer need,” said Melvelle. “The electric inspection trolley and the emergency response trolley was driven through inquiries from two customers. Both agencies had a similar need or requirement but with different twists. Sydney Trains was looking for a track inspection trolley so that track workers don’t have to walk along the track, they simply put the trolley on track, and they drive.” In addition to the base requirement, the trolley had to have a 20-kilometre range, be set up by a minimum of two people in three minutes or less and be able to get on and off track in three minutes. For the other customer, Melbourne Metro, the trolley was needed to be a safety vehicle that would allow workers to easily access elevated sections of track. Overseas buyers have also expressed interest in the technology, and once Melvelle can get on a plane again the technology will be showcased to rail operators around the globe. Being a small company has enabled Melvelle Equipment to be nimble in response to these and other customer inquiries. “Most of our competitors are very large companies that are very reluctant to change from a core product, whereas there’s only 26 of us with a dedicated design team and a depth of knowledge of the rail industry,” said Melvelle. “If a customer is looking for something special, we’re quite open to developing that for them within the realms of our ability. We’re able to modify something specifically for a customer at the drop of a hat because we do the designs and then manufacture inhouse, we’re not reliant on other people.”
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Plant, Machinery & Equipment
Rethinking rail machinery The complexity of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project requires a new approach when it comes to the delivery of materials and equipment. KH1 solved that with the Zagro Unimog.
The Zagro Unimog, supplied by KH1, has been used with a five trailer consist.
In mid-July 2018, then-Victorian Minister for Public Transport Jacinta Allan announced the successful consortium that would build the critical link between the underground sections of Melbourne’s new Metro Tunnel and the existing rail network. This announcement kicked off a package of works that would include both tunnel entrances at South Yarra and Kensington, as well as improvements to the adjoining Sunbury lines. Working within and beside the operating rail corridor in the inner suburbs of Melbourne meant that the project had an extra layer of complexity, meaning that every effort had to be made to ensure the project ran smoothly and efficiently. The successful consortium, Rail Infrastructure Alliance (RIA), which comprised John Holland, CPB Contractors, and AECOM, looked to local rail suppliers who were innovating in the delivery of similarly complex projects. They found one in the case of Campbellfieldbased KH1. Daniel Mociak, managing director of KH1, could see that the project required smart thinking when it came to getting materials in and out of the worksites. “RIA had a lot of restraints around getting materials, plant, people, and equipment in and out of their locations. This is really innercity Melbourne and once they get into the shutdown, they have a lot of workgroups that can’t get out until the shutdown is over. They can’t constantly move equipment in and out so
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they have to get a lot of equipment in one lot and then be very flexible about how they can move around.” Mociak and KH1 were brought in by RIA to look at how the project team could move a variety of pieces of machinery into the worksite. The solution that they came up with was the Zagro Unimog. “The main benefit is the shunting capacity,” said Mociak. “That machine itself can pull up to 600 tonnes and other Unimogs that we could deliver are able to pull up to 1,000 tonnes with an increased wagon brake system.” The Zagro Unimog road-rail vehicle can provide shunting and project logistics tasks. The relatively compact vehicle has the capacity to tow rail trailers weighing up to 125 tonnes at speeds of up to 30km/h. The removeable wagon brake system enables the Unimog to shunt up to 600 tonnes. Since being delivered in 2020, the system has already been put to good use. “RIA needed to bring in plant, equipment, and excavators,” said Mociak. “They have a series of trailers that they were going to attach to the back of the Unimog to bring in all sorts of construction equipment and materials.” The Unimog could then return to the access points, taking with it unneeded materials, spoil and other rubbish. RIA rail systems delivery manager Rimmy Chahal, pointed out the benefits of using the Unimog as it has reduced the number of single plant movements. “The Unimog has largely been used to
transport plant, equipment and materials in access-constrained rail corridors. This is in contrast to conventional transport methods of rubber tyred plant on railway tracks or a series of rail-bound plant to undertake this task. With the Unimog, we are able to transport large volumes in a single move from the access point to the work location along the corridor in a safe and controlled manner.” The Unimog is used along with a five trailer consist to transport concrete, steel gantry structures, pits, conduits, quarry material, spoil disposal bins, cable, rail, sleepers and turnout components, among other materials. Being able to tow a lengthy consist also has benefits when it comes to safety. “The 5-trailer combination also provides an additional benefit of safely and securely transporting long and bulky items such as turnout switch blade assemblies, which would normally overhang on conventional transport trolleys. Other uses have also included the deployment of site amenities and lighting towers to constrained areas improving safety and work environment conditions for our workforce,” said Chahal. Another challenging requirement was the need to transport concrete along the rail corridor where access was restricted. Traditional methods of carrying in concrete on rail-bound excavators would require numerous movements to complete a single gantry foundation and had a greater risk of quality and safety issues. With RIA needing to deliver over 550 foundations for overhead and signal structures, a different solution was required. “RIA and KH1 worked together to configure a skid-based concrete transport solution that can be mounted on rail bound plant. For example – on a trailer towed by Unimog to transport large volumes of concrete from access point to work location. This solution enables the complete pouring of a gantry foundation in one movement rather than numerous movements as required using conventional means,” said Chahal. This solution involved the BlendMX8, a mobile concrete agitator first designed for the Monte Ceneri base tunnel in Switzerland. “The BlendMX8 connects on to rail trailers and rail wagons via container lock and is then able to transport concrete in and out of the rail
corridor without having to drive concrete trucks on top of wagons,” said Mociak. “It gives RIA flexibility in having the concrete on demand whenever they want it and then able to deliver the concrete via a conveyor belt and chute which can place the concrete up to five metres away from the rail.” With the equipment expected to be used soon, Chahal is looking forward to seeing it in action. “This unit is currently undergoing commissioning and RIA is very excited to put it into use over the coming months.” A NEW APPROACH The approach required for a project as complex as the Melbourne Metro Tunnel has driven innovation in the delivery of plant and equipment. Mociak noted that previous approaches of using wagons and locomotives would not only be prohibitive from a cost basis but limit any flexibility. The ability of machines such as the Unimog to move between road and rail while providing the required shunting capacity is one example of this new thinking. “In the last couple of years, KH1 has put a lot of emphasis in developing technology and innovation for project logistics,” said Mociak. The constrained environment of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project meant that new ideas had to be sought out, said Chahal. “With urbanisation of the areas around railway lines, the ease of access to rail corridors to conduct maintenance, upgrades, renewals and project works is becoming increasingly restricted and challenging. We can no longer rely on driving along the rail corridor to get to the work location. Accordingly, we now undertake careful and detailed planning to manage the site logistics and work sequence to overcome access constraints and challenges,” he said. With complex tunnelling projects underway around Australia and New Zealand, the planning and logistics behind the project needs to be increasingly sophisticated. “The major metropolitan based projects that have come to the front in the last couple of years is a big change in the rail industry, so to support these megaprojects, we’re looking at how we can add value of benefit to the project through innovative movement of materials, plant, equipment, and people,” said Mociak. In these cases, the solution is not so much about the individual pieces of equipment that are involved, but the careful planning and logistics that supports their operation. With targets being set ever higher, new methods are being implemented, said Chahal. “Construction contractors are being set
ambitious KPIs to minimise the impact of construction on community, stakeholders and rail services. These performance targets drive a strong industry focus on continuous improvement and innovation in how we deliver our works whilst minimising associated disruption. RIA’s use of the Unimog is a perfect example of innovation in action.” Knowing how the machinery, whether it be the Unimog or concrete agitator, can be best utilised can make a world of difference. “Because they’re highly complex projects with large numbers of work groups, the logistics of getting materials in and out is one of the hardest parts of the project and they’re also the thing that can really hurt the project if you get it wrong. Getting it right can have some significant benefits,” said Mociak. For groups working in rain on underground tunnelling projects, all materials have to be brought in at the beginning of a shift, if anything is forgotten it stays at the surface. With each work group depending on the one in front of it, any issues can be passed down, limiting productivity and efficiencies Back in Melbourne, it has been the partnership approach between KH1, its partner suppliers and John Holland that is making the project successful. “The equipment was delivered over a 10-month period and representatives from John Holland travelled to Germany to be there for the factory acceptance testing,” said Mociak. “We had a lot of input from all parties during the
design period and a lot of collaboration from KH1, John Holland and Zagro.” To prepare the Unimog for use by the RIA consortium, KH1 ensured that it was provided to specification and the requirements of the project. Documentation ran to hundreds of pages in length to enable the machine to be used in the most productive manner. “We bring knowledge of the local Australian requirements, standards, compliance, certification, and commissioning process to the table while understanding the product that we have available to us and then being able to adapt it to those requirements,” said Mociak. Putting in 15 years of experience in the Australian rail industry into the delivery of the machinery for RIA has enabled the Unimog to be used for a wide range of purposes, perhaps more than what was even envisaged before the machine arrived on site. KH1 is also bringing this approach to the maintenance of railway networks. The company is working with German rail equipment manufacturer Robel to deliver new ways of working to the Australian rail maintenance market. Machines such as the Mobile Maintenance Train can provide a significant step change in the way we work in the rail corridor with full coverage for workers on the rail track in addition to all equipment needed for the job. Ultimately, said Mociak, this is about delivering three core outcomes. “It’s about innovation, safety, and efficiency.”
The Unimog enables new ways of working in a confined rail environment.
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Operations & Maintenance
Data-driven maintenance Lifting data from the digital grave and into the cloud has opened up possibilities for rail maintenance. Autech explains how. Twenty years ago, Swiss rail maintenance machine manufacturer Autech began providing its customers with an innovative way to measure their tracks. Using electronic measurement data collected by maintenance and measurement machines, rail infrastructure owners and operators could see the cross-sections of their rails, enabling an understanding of the wear and tear of this critical infrastructure. Despite having this data on hand, CTO of Autech, Peter Merz found that it was not being put to use. “What we saw is then they piled up the data, they printed it out and put it in the archive, and basically this data was lost.” While some aggregated data was put into enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, the fine-grain measurements that could provide a maintenance engineer with insights were unavailable. “The individual measurements were deleted or put in a storage system and were
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buried in the digital grave,” said Merz. Having had this experience, Merz and the team at Autech began working on creating a solution that would enable rail engineers to easily make use of the data they were collecting. The software system they developed has been named RailCloud.
RailXS can be installed underneath regular rollingstock.
“RailCloud really plots the view of the maintenance field engineers, so they can see their track, the overall condition of the track, but also the data on the individual section, even a single cross-section measurement,” said Merz. RailCloud takes measurements collected
RailCloud maps maintenance data to the location of an asset and predicts the asset’s lifetime.
work on a daily basis with it, collecting measurement data, network, topology, workflows. Then you get data driven maintenance.”
Rail operators such as the Zürich public transport operator are using Autech’s RailCloud to extend the life of their assets.
in the field and combines them in a single, analysable database that is presented based on the geography of the rail track. The software’s base layer is a map of the system, and asset data is overlaid on that map. “It starts with the topography, the mapping, so the field engineer can go to this crossing, this intersection and so on. This is connected to the measurement systems, so the measurement systems automatically upload data, located by GPS,” said Merz. “You can connect your measurement equipment to your network environment, so the data is automatically sorted, assigned, and allocated.” The cloud-based software can then assign work orders and maintenance tasks based on thresholds set by the operator. In addition, having the data collected together, operators can now begin to predict rates of wear and trends, enabling predictive maintenance regimes. “Of course, it’s a continuous thing – every year you make the measurements, every year you plan your maintenance. But with RailCloud we kept it quite light weight to make it simple and smart. You really can
DATA FROM THE SOURCE To collect data on track condition and wear rates, Autech have recently developed RailXS, bringing together 30 years of rail measurement knowledge. “The big advantage is it is very lightweight, it’s about 60-70kg and it can be mounted on any suitable rollingstock equipment,” said Merz. “This can be a dedicated equipment, it can be a small trolley, it can be an existing maintenance rollingstock, but it also can be a regular rollingstock.” By mounting on regular rollingstock, measurement does not have to wait for track maintenance periods or shutdowns and can be done many times in one day. The data is collected through laser optical sensors, which can record track parameters and the rail profile. Data is then automatically uploaded to RailCloud either via WiFi or a mobile internet connection. If this is not available, the data is stored and then uploaded once the vehicle returns to the depot or an area of internet connectivity. Before uploading, the measurement data is tagged with a location, either through GPS locating or RFID readers. Having these automatic systems means the data is ready to be utilised by the rail maintenance engineer, rather than having to be sorted or allocated. “By transferring the data into the RailCloud it’s automatically allocated, you don’t have to work again. You can introduce filters to smoothen, aggregate, or transfer the data, or to do additional calculations, but the real key is to automatically map the data to your network and then there is no manual interaction needed again,” said Merz.
THE KEY TO PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE During the development process, the focus for RailCloud was to keep the software as lightweight as the measurement systems that supported it. This has enabled the software to be adopted by smaller operators, without the need for expensive experts and consultants to set up the system. Already, the system is in use on the tram networks of Zürich and Amsterdam where it has driven smarter maintenance practices. “In Zürich, one of the departments wanted to do a replacement and the maintenance department said no we don’t need this replacement yet,” said Merz. “Using the RailCloud data they could prove that instead of a replacement being due every 5 years, it’s only in 12 years. RailCloud is driving factbased decisions.” Due to its flexibility, and the lack of a need for scheduled measurements by specialised vehicles, RailCloud can help operators take the next step to predictive maintenance. “The big advantage is that you don’t measure every five years or every three years, you can regularly measure four times a year or even once a month,” said Merz. “You can set your intervals according to your needs, but in fact if you measure five times a year or 12 times a year, you have much better prognosis points of your wear rates.” As wear rates are not linear, having more data points can enable a clearer picture of the wear curve to appear than what would be possible if measurements are only conducted every few years, said Merz. “If you measure once a month you really see the trend or the curve, of your wear rate, and you see also deviation or if it changes in behaviour. That’s a big advantage, not just to know the state the track is in but what will happen. “It’s the key to go into predictive maintenance.”
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Operations & Maintenance
Maintenance for a new generation With all of the New Generation Rollingstock now in passenger service, Bombardier is now ensuring the fleet’s service, safety, and reliability. With the purchase of the New Generation Rollingstock (NGR), Queensland made the largest ever single investment in public transport in the state’s history. Not only did this introduce new rollingstock, but brought rail in Queensland back to where it all began, in Ipswich. The QTECTIC consortium – of which Bombardier Transportation (BT) is a member – is delivering the NGR program and has constructed a purpose-built maintenance facility at Wulkuraka, west of Ipswich. For decades, Ipswich was the centre of rail construction, maintenance and technology in Queensland. Over 150 years ago, the very first train to run in Queensland steamed through Wulkuraka on its way from North Ipswich to Grandchester, just west of Ipswich. Fast forward to December 2015 and the Wulkuraka Maintenance Centre was handed over to Bombardier to receive the first NGR train in February 2016 for early testing. The depot completion then occurred in June 2016, a major milestone for the project. The first three trains were accepted in October-November 2017. By December the first three trains were in passenger service. At the end of 2019, the final train in the 75-strong fleet had arrived and was accepted into passenger service. This marked a key turning point for the facility, as
Bombardier is committed to the local community, safety and sustainability across all fronts.
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“We are here for the long haul in Queensland, so our goal is to always keep our people safe and delight our customers and the commuting public.” Ben Wagener, site general manager at Wulkuraka Maintenance Facility and outstations it now became solely focused on ensuring the modern trains meet and exceed the ongoing performance to ensure the travelling public enjoy safe, reliable and clean trains all while providing passenger comfort. To meet this challenge, Bombardier Transportation recently brought on Ben Wagener, an experienced rail manager with a safety-first mindset in alignment with Bombardier’s ethos, as general manager on the QNGR program. Having most recently managed maintenance in NSW for Aurizon, Wagener saw the opportunity for a new challenge. “Bombardier Transportation is a global leader in rail and rollingstock and I was very keen to be a part of a place where safety of all personnel is a key part of the maintenance philosophy. I also wanted to leverage the
latest vehicle technology at the purpose built Wulkuraka facility to assist in delivering infrastructure critical to the people of Queensland,” said Wagener. “Being part of a public-private partnership (PPP) creates a new dynamic for me and a project like this brings challenges and opportunities. There are multiple stakeholders such as delivery consortium QTECTIC, the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, our union partners at the RTBU and AMWU, and of course our subcontractors. I also have previous relationships within Queensland Rail which I was keen to reignite. So, this is a really interesting place to be as there is a diversity of equally valuable views around the table,” said Wagener. “The opportunity opens new pathways into
The purpose-built Wulkuraka facility is focused on maintaining the NGR fleet to the highest standards.
executive management and, having studied my MBA, it was simply an offer I could not refuse.” Getting performance levels to meet goals is a key outcome of any maintenance contract, and with Bombardier contracted to deliver maintenance to 2045, having an innovative rail maintenance centre sets the team up for success. “Everything is safety focused. All of the kit and facility is new, there are less hazards and legacy infrastructure to deal with, and the movement of vehicles is easy due to the size of the facility. This should also eliminate many depot capacity constraints,” said Wagener. “Ultimately, if you have the right tools and right equipment in the right location, you will have a quality outcome. We are here for the long haul in Queensland, so our goal is to always keep our people safe and delight our customers and the commuting public.” Of course, early teething issues have had to be overcome, but the opportunity to work on advanced pieces of rollingstock that are critical for the state’s growth has motivated Wagener’s team. “The team is working on world class technology. It’s exciting to be involved in this, using enhanced metrics and computerised processes,” said Wagener. “I’m focused on building this sense of camaraderie among the team around our shared purpose for the
people of Queensland. Having a place that people are proud to work at drives efficiency in our processes.” The access to the latest fleet performance data generated by the locally designed trains has informed maintenance practices so far. “There is an opportunity to align asset management standard 55001, sustainability, and the maintenance required on some of the new technology,” said Wagener. While the maintenance of the NGR fleet presents new opportunities, it is supported by Bombardier’s knowledge and experience when it comes to the maintenance and servicing of rollingstock. Wagener’s team in Queensland share relationships with key Bombardier suppliers and systems that are deployed on other Bombardier fleets around Australia and internationally. “We very much work as a team and we draw insights and processes from other locations that can help us at a new facility like we have at Wulkuraka and outstations,” said Wagener. “Further to this, we have a baseline of standard processes and procedures across the services business and support from multiple projects not only around the nation, but the globe.” These common systems and processes provide the backbone for Bombardier’s ongoing commitment to Queensland’s transport and mobility.
Ben Wagener is site general manager at Wulkuraka Maintenance Facility and outstations.
“We are here for the long haul and the safe performance of these vehicles is a key priority. We are growing industry capacity through our work with the Rail Manufacturing CRC and have apprentices on site and we always want more. Building the next generation of rail workers for Queensland is important for our site and also BT more generally,” said Wagener. This support of the industry also extends to contracts with local suppliers and subcontractors. The community is also invited to be involved with the project over the next 25 years as it becomes enmeshed in the Wulkuraka environment. “We want to be sustainable centre of excellence and support this community and our people,” said Wagener. As the population of Queensland grows and is concentrated in the south east region, the increase in rail network capacity engendered by the NGR will be reliant upon the continuation of a heritage of expertise at the Wulkuraka maintenance site.
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Driving positive change The Women in Industry Awards celebrated the achievements from a number of industries, and Nadine Youssef’s work keeping Sydney Trains safe won particular recognition. On August 24, the winners of the 2020 Women in Industry Awards were announced. The annual awards, co-presented by Rail Express, recognise excellence across heavy industry in Australia, including manufacturing, resources, waste and resource recovery, and transportation. This year saw a record number of nominees, and judges who were drawn from across the Australian industrial landscape commented on the calibre of nominations received. Christine Gibbs-Stewart, CEO of Austmine and member of the judging panel, noted that nominees came from all stages of their careers. “As I judge it was great to read each applicant’s inspirational story. From young women driving change to those more experienced who are running large businesses, the nominees this year should all be congratulated for their outstanding achievements,” she said. One of the most nominated categories was the rising star of the year award. As such a competitive field, the number of nominations demonstrated the depth of talent that is coming into industry, said judge Hayley Rohrlach, AECOM senior civil engineer and national chair of the Women in Engineering Committee for Engineers Australia.
“The Rising Star of the Year award nominees were very impressive, and the industry as a whole has a lot to be excited for if that’s the level of young engineers, miners and scientists that are coming through the ranks.” Winning this award was Alicia Heskett, of Shell Australia (QGC). The other finalists were Helen Vu – BOC, Kate Robertson – Geological Survey of SA, Kate Stanbury – Stantec Australia, Keren Reynolds – BAE Systems Australia, Louise Azzopardi – WesTrac, Nima Sherpa – BHP, Rose Lindner – MMG, and Vera Milutinovic – Inenco. “I hope they can continue their advocacy and sharing their enjoyment for engineering and STEM as a whole into the community to continue to bring (or retain) female engineers into the profession,” said Rohrlach. As rail continues to grow the participation and representation of women in the industry, judges commented that awards such as these serve as a way to encourage more women into traditionally male dominated industries, while also celebrating the successes of those who have made this their career. Melissa Donald, National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO) board member, noted the importance of the awards. “By highlighting the achievements of the finalists and winners I hope we can inspire
more women and men to pursue careers in operations and continue to drive better gender balance across all industries.” Institute of Quarrying Australia chief executive Kylie Fahey shared these sentiments. “The awards promote the contribution of women and support the broader agenda of diversity and inclusion. By highlighting and celebrating the contribution of women to the industry, we can encourage more women into careers, help increase representation in leadership roles and support change,” she said. “Awards are an important way for industries to acknowledge and celebrate innovation, ideas and change that are fostered through the involvement of individuals at all levels and through the diversity in teams. The applications demonstrate this and hopefully encourage other women to put their ideas forward and continue to strive for positive change.” “THE WORK WE DO MATTERS” Every day, Nadine Youssef plays a vital part in ensuring that over 1.3 million people who use the Sydney Trains network daily get to their destination safely. Her work in this field was this year recognised with receiving the Safety Advocacy Award. Youssef highlighted that working for a large
The Women in Industry awards were delivered online and in print in 2020. WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 55
Women in Industry
Nadine Youssef’s work within Sydney Trains was highlighted when she won the Safety Advocacy Award.
and varied organisation such as Sydney Trains has allowed her to grow her career. “It promotes a culture of quality customer service while expecting the highest standards of ethical behaviour from all its employees. It strives for a culture of integrity and professionalism and innovative thinking. With customer service and safety always at the heart of what we do, there is an enormous variety of interesting, challenging and rewarding opportunities across a range of professions,” Youssef said. Since 2018, as the associate director of the Electrical Distribution Unit, Youssef has
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been the custodian of the Electrical Network Management Plan and the Electrical Network Safety Rules (ENSR). Youssef began and led the redesign of the ENSR to meet industry best practice standards and promote organisational continuous improvement. Significant infrastructure upgrades such as the introduction of Sydney Metro increased the demand for electrical work and resources, in addition, Sydney Trains’ management of substation access permits limited efficiency. Parallel with redesigning the ENSR, Youssef was an integral member in implementing a pop-up electrical learning centre to overcome
the shortage of accredited electrical personnel and provide a safe location to train staff away from the hazards of the live environment. Receiving the award, Youssef noted that the recognition extends to a support network of colleagues, family and friends. “This recognition is motivating and humbling and a reminder that the work we do everyday matters. However, I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for my incredible mentors, colleagues, family and friends, so this nomination is equally extended to them.” The importance of a supportive work environment is one that Youssef noted. “In my office and in my field, I am surrounded daily by intelligent, strong and talented people and following this experience I will continue to lean in and lift up those around me and am inspired to find ways to pay back and recognise the work of others.” While the finalists and winners of the Women in Industry awards were not able to meet at the usual awards ceremony, a virtual network has sprung up, and has encouraged Youssef to share her experience with others. “I am glad to have a new network of women who I can collaborate with as I continue on my professional journey. Being named a finalist and winner of such an award is a professional and personal achievement that carries with it great responsibility. This experience compels me to continue to share my story and knowledge with even more women looking to grow in my industry.” As Youssef looks to promote a cohesive approach to public planning and integrated services, she is encouraging others within industry to think about where they want their career to take them. “It is important to establish a strong, productive working relationship with your colleagues and peers and to take responsibility for your own career path. Don’t be afraid to try your hand at different things in your organisation and then only you will be able to decide your future career path. Lastly, never stop learning and developing yourself regardless of your age. In this ever-changing world it is becoming more and more important to be able to change and adapt with it.” For Youssef herself, who has progressed to an executive role within Sydney Trains, she is only just getting started. “I truly feel that my biggest achievement is yet to come. I am proud of my career to date and the impact that I have been fortunate to make, but I am always looking to achieve more tomorrow than I did today and am constantly striving to improve myself and the organisation I work for.”
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75 years of innovation As MATISA celebrates a milestone, it is continuing to meet the future needs of rail track maintenance. - SEE PAGE 30 Inquiry targets value capture to fund rail pipeline
A one-stop-shop for hi-rail training and certification
Bombardier set up for NGR fleet success
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Safety & Assurance
RISSB releases take-up survey results Over 90 per cent of the rail industry is making use of RISSB products and services. RISSB released its take-up survey results in July showing that more than 90 per cent of respondents use RISSB publications. Comprising an online survey and face-toface interviews, this independent survey was undertaken between May and July 2020. A total of 44 rail organisations (including 19 companies/organisations who are currently not RISSB members) completed an online survey and eight one-on-one interviews were held with senior executives from the rail industry. The results also show that In broad terms, RISSB’s external stakeholders believe that RISSB has improved in the past 12 months, that its credibility has continued to increase, and that RISSB publications are extremely influential in the rail industry with more than 93 per cent of survey respondents stating that their organisation has been influenced in some way by a RISSB publication. For the first time ever, the survey also asked respondents to not only comment on the use of RISSB publications in their organisation, but also consider the use of RISSB services
(conferences, forums, programs and events) by employees. All organisations surveyed indicated that their organisation utilised RISSB services and more than 90 per cent of respondents indicated that RISSB services influence their company or organisation’s internal documents, systems, practices or procedures. SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS ARE: • There is an extremely high level of take-up of RISSB products in the rail industry with over 90 per cent indicating they use RISSB products in some way. • There is a growing trend in government procurement processes for RISSB standards to be used by the successful bidder. • The Australian National Rules and Procedures and the National Rules Framework are two of RISSB’s more valuable and influential publications. • 100 per cent of those surveyed indicated their companies/organisations utilise RISSB services.
• The stand-out service provided by RISSB is its safety conference and it is an important industry learning and networking event. • Over 93 per cent of industry is aware of RISSB’s training programs and they are well used across industry with around 80 per cent of organisations surveyed indicating they had attended a RISSB training program. • The specialist forums offered by RISSB are well regarded with over 100 per cent awareness and 95 per cent responding that the forums benefitted their organisation. • The Horizons Program is actively promoting the next generation of rail industry leaders and has a wide of level of support within the industry. • RISSB’s The Whistle Board weekly newsletter is widely read within the industry and is easy to read. A survey summary report is available to download from RISSB’s website from this www.rissb.com.au/publications/ page.
RISSB standards are widely adopted in the rail industry.
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Industry Associations
Get the freight basics right and benefits will follow To make the most of infrastructure investments, the playing field for rail freight needs to be evened out, writes Caroline Wilkie, CEO of the ARA. The confirmation of funding for the Port of Melbourne direct rail line to South Dandenong in August was welcome news for business, industry, and residents in the region. The direct rail connection to the port forms part of the wider Port Rail Shuttle Network and will make it easier and more cost effective for businesses to access port facilities. The Federal and Victorian government funding will deliver tangible benefits to businesses in Dandenong’s manufacturing sector and improve the efficiency of port operations. Ultimately, the project will also take 100,000 trucks off the road, helping give local residents their city back in the process. In the same month, the NSW government fast tracked approvals for the Botany Rail Duplication and the Cabramatta Rail Loop, putting its support behind greater use of rail within its freight network. The projects will not only deliver this critical new infrastructure to meet the state’s freight needs but will take 54 trucks off busy city roads with every additional freight train travelling on the Botany line. That will make a crucial difference as the
Rail freight will be needed to meet future freight demand.
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Port of Botany’s freight task increases by 77 per cent in the 20 years to 2036. As Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Paul Toole observed when announcing the approvals, these new connections are so important because the more freight is moved on rail, the less congestion there is with fewer trucks on the roads. These projects are great examples of the difference rail freight can make, and why continued investment is essential to the continued liveability of our cities and towns. But while the benefits of projects like these are obvious, more needs to be done to ensure the rail sector can meet our increasing freight needs. While Australia’s freight task is growing – and will continue to grow – the role rail freight plays in meeting this demand has actually declined. Recent years have seen the rail industry’s share of the freight task eroded by policy settings that favour other modes of transport and frustrate investment
in the sector. As a result, less than one per cent of freight travelling between Sydney and Melbourne is moved by rail – a far cry from the 40 per cent share the rail network maintained in the 1970s. While the vast expanses of the country have seen eastwest connections hold up better, rail freight’s
Australia’s iron ore trains are world leading – and show the potential of rail freight.
modal share has started to slip there too, with rail now carrying just 54 per cent of the freight task across the Nullarbor. It is hard to reconcile the declining role of rail freight at a time where the sector needs more capacity than ever before. Part of the problem is how we price rail freight when compared to road. While getting trucks off the roads remains a focus in these busy and often congested urban areas, heavy vehicle road reform has simply not progressed. So, while rail freight access charges are based on maintaining and operating the infrastructure it requires, the road freight industry is not expected to fully cover the cost of maintaining and operating the roads it uses. As we hear more about the importance of easing congestion, the sustainability benefits of using more rail services and the value of creating city precincts that make it easier for residents to get around, favourable pricing models for road freight is increasingly difficult to reconcile. We must have a level playing field for all to ensure rail freight can grow to support the increasing demand for freight across the country.
These projects are great examples of the difference rail freight can make, and why continued investment is essential to the continued liveability of our cities and towns. This, together with harmonisation of standards across the country, could enliven the rail freight sector again and ensure it is ready to support the growth of our economy over time. After all, the industry has shown how much can be achieved under the right settings. Australia was the first country to move to fully autonomous freight trains when the mining sector adopted the technology to service iron ore mines in the Pilbara. This capability has become a hallmark of mining in the region and the significant benefits the industry delivers to the broader economy.
Use of rail freight for bulk commodities has increased, bucking the trend of the broader sector. With a level playing field and certainty of standards across the country, there is no telling what additional benefits further innovation in the sector could deliver. But first, we need to get the basics right so that rail freight can compete equally and fairly. After all, we cannot allow new investment in rail infrastructure that busts road congestion in our cities to be eroded by a policy environment that only encourages business and industry back to the roads in the end.
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Industry Associations
The federal government can unlock significant freight efficiencies without spending a cent.
Budget must have a freight focus CEO of the ALC Kirk Coningham writes that significant efficiencies can be found without massive spending. Among the many disruptions wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic was the need to defer the 2020-21 Commonwealth budget, which will now be handed down some five months later than originally scheduled. As always, ALC made a submission to the federal government ahead of the originally planned date. This was well before the full effects of the pandemic reached Australian shores and our industry faced the challenge of keeping essential supplies moving, despite unprecedented restrictions on movement and the effect of state and territory border closures. All of us – governments, industry and the wider community – have learned lessons as a result of the COVID-19 experience. Perhaps more than ever before, communities now understand the very real and immediate impact that supply chain disruption can have on their daily life. As consumers witnessed empty supermarket shelves as a result of unprecedented demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a clear need to ensure that logistics operators are given the
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flexibility to they need to meet increased and changing demand. This is equally true right across the supply chain - from deliveries into supermarket loading docks through to the movement of freight trains across state borders. Perhaps the single most effective government action taken during the pandemic to address supply chain disruption did not involve massive expenditure, but simply the removal of operational curfews through nonlegislative ministerial action. Industry has called for the removal of such operational restrictions over many years. With many of them suspended for the duration of the pandemic, both government and the community have been able to see the benefits. As the Prime Minister himself noted in June this year: “Trucks were allowed to resupply along roads and during hours where they were previously banned. And the sun came up the next day. It was extraordinary.” This goes to the heart of the key point ALC has made to the federal government ahead of this year’s Budget. With the pandemic having placed the
nation’s finances in a challenging position, this is the time to focus on regulatory reform that may not cost big money – but can nevertheless have a profound impact on supply chain efficiency. The need for such regulatory reform was a key focus of ALC’s pre-budget submission in January – and the urgency of that task has been underscored in the supplementary submission provided to the federal government in August. In the rail space, this includes supporting the development of a National Rail Plan that will finally establish a single set of consistent national laws to regulate the movement of freight by rail in Australia that address environmental regulation, workplace health and safety, workers’ compensation and drug and alcohol testing. The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated border closures have put a spotlight on the disruption that can be caused by inconsistent regulatory approaches between jurisdictions. The upcoming federal budget is the place to start work that will finally make the changes needed to overcome such disruptions.
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