I S S U E 10 | N O V E M B E R 2020
W W W. R A I L E X P R E S S . C O M . A U
Visions for Australia’s rail future A Q&A with Michael McCormack and Catherine King as Australia begins its infrastructure-led recovery. - SEE PAGE 24 A modular information system putting the customer at the centre
How diversity is building the rail industry
Combining labour and training for a workforce solution
PAGE 28
PAGE 32
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Contents Issue 10 - November 2020
24
4
From the Editor
6
News up front
M A J O R P ROJ E CT S
24
The competing federal plans for rail
P R O D U C T S & T E C H N O LO G Y
28 A new approach to customer information and displays 28
W O R K F O R C E , C E R T I F I C AT I O N & T R A I N I N G
32
Why diversity & inclusion is key for Bombardier
36
anaging workforce demands on the day of M operations
38 Deutsche Bahn delivering training from the perspective of a rail operator 40 A combined workforce and training solution from CERT to meet labour demands
36
42 Thales delivering digital skills for the local rail industry 44
Graduates part of Omada’s signalling push
46
A standards focused training program from RISSB
48 Trapeze’s hands-on knowledge in planning and scheduling S A F E TY & A S S U R A N C E
I S S U E 10 | N O V E M B E R 2020
51
W W W. R A I L E X P R E S S . C O M . A U
COVER STORY Visions for Australia’s rail future A Q&A with Michael McCormack and Catherine King as Australia begins its infrastructure-led recovery. - SEE PAGE 24 A modular information system putting the customer at the centre
How diversity is building the rail industry
Combining labour and training for a workforce solution
PAGE 28
PAGE 32
PAGE 40
SUPPORTED BY:
Rail Express speaks with the Infrastructure Minister and his shadow to see what the future holds for rail around Australia. See page 24.
RISSB’s Horizons program looking for nominees
I N D U S T R Y A S S O C I AT I O N S
52
New approach to procurement needed: ARA
CO N T RACT S
54 Sydney Metro, Digital Systems, Adelaide operations and more. WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 3
From the Editor Issue 10 - November 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 General Manager (Sydney) Terry Wogan E: terry.wogan@primecreative.com.au Group Managing Editor (Northern) Syed Shah E: syed.shah@primecreative.com.au 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
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 10 - NOVEMBER 2020 | RAIL EXPRESS
Editor - Rail Express
Going from announcement to delivery
T
HERE’S NOTHING GOVERNMENTS
like more than an announcement. Getting politicians in high-visibility jackets and vests in front of cameras is a gaurenteed way to make it into the nightly news bulletins. When announcing a major new rail line these images can even make it to the front page of metropolitan newspapers the next day. But once the journalists leave and the cameras turn to the next mega project, what happens after the announcement can get lost. For the industry that will be delivering these projects this is the critical period. When design specifications are developed, contracts drawn up, and project parameters are defined. This month, we are launching a new section to enable the rail industry to keep track of how projects are moving from announcement to construction beginning, with an eye to when the all-important signature is affixed to the contract. Page 54 of this edition is devoted to providing just the facts on the latest contract announcements. Each month, we will enable our readers to keep tabs on where the major projects in capital cities and the regions are up to. Providing this tool for industry comes at a time where many major announcements are not always followed up with contracts
ready for delivery. Despite the calls for infrastructure spending as a way to boost long-term productivity and inject short term cash to deal with COVID-19 recession, many projects have stalled in 2020, and those that have been announced are yet to materialise. Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, which publishes the Infrastructure Pipeline, highlighted that in the first eight months of 2020, only $6.7 billion in contracts have been awarded. This is a sharp drop from the 2019 total, which stood at $27.1bn. While it is understandable that governments have been preoccupied with dealing with the immediate impacts of the pandemic, talk of an “infrastructure-led recovery” has been around since March. Additionally, when governments have picked up the shovel, they have often turned to road projects. Contracts for roads projects to the value of $2.1bn were signed in 2020, while less than $1bn was spent in rail. While these projects are important in getting people back into work in the short term, in the long term, governments will need to think about how to address existing challenges such as congestion and transportation emissions, neither of which will be solved by building more roads. connor.pearce@primecreative.com.au
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News
National
First section of Inland Rail complete The first section of Inland Rail, linking Parkes and Narromine in the NSW Central West, has been completed. A ceremonial opening of the line was held today, September 15, at Peak Hill, where the first shipment of steel was delivered to begin the project in January 2018. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said that today marked a historic point in the project. “Inland Rail is nation-building and today recognises a great milestone in this transformational infrastructure,” he said. “Inland Rail is an investment in Australia – in our economy, in our regions and in the capacity of our future freight network.” Industry welcomed the breakthrough on this stage of the project, which when complete will link Melbourne and Brisbane by rail in under 24 hours. Chair of the Freight on Rail Group Dean Dalla Valle said this would improve the competitiveness of rail. “In the past, trucks would do the ‘first and last mile’ between rail terminals and ports, warehouses, distribution centres and manufacturing plants. Today on some key
The first section from Parkes to Narromine was opened in September.
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transport corridors – notably between Sydney and Melbourne – trucks are doing every mile,” he said. “A typical 1,500-metre interstate freight train can haul up to 220 shipping containers – equivalent to approximately 180 B-double return truck trips.” CEO of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) Caroline Wilkie said that with this section complete, the rest of the project should soon follow. “The promise of Inland Rail has already generated significant activity in the Parkes region as the community readies itself for the opportunities better rail freight connections will bring,” she said. “It is now critical that the project’s swift progress across the rest of the route is supported so even more communities and businesses can benefit in this way.” Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the 1,700km freight rail link would improve Australia’s entire freight network. Long-haul rail is cheaper, safer and more reliable than road, that’s why the Australian Government is enhancing the national freight rail network through our investment in Inland
Rail,” Cormann said. “The shift from road to rail builds resilience in our freight network – not only will Inland Rail deliver a long-term freight solution for Australia to meet the needs of our growing population – it is also a critical investment supporting an efficient Australian economy.” A focus for the Parkes to Narromine section has been the involvement of locals, with 760 contributing to the project and $110 million spent with local businesses. Work on the project included a rebuild of almost 100km of existing rail track and a new 5.3km connection between Inland Rail and the Broken Hill line. Steel for the project came from South Australia, concrete sleepers were sourced from Mittagong and culverts came from Tamworth. The final ‘golden clip’ which McCormack hammered into place to signify the completion of the project was one of 365,000 sourced from a supplier in Blacktown, Sydney. Construction is expected to commence on the Narrabri to North Star leg before the end of 2020 with a contractor to be confirmed soon.
The Australian Owned Contractors (AOC) group has announced that Martinus Rail has joined the collection of mid-tier contractors. Martinus is the first company to join AOC that is solely focused on rail infrastructure projects. CEO and managing director Treavan Martinus said that it was more important than ever that investment in infrastructure flowed to local contractors. “With the Australian government expected to inject more than $100 billion to deliver various infrastructure projects across Australia, there should be more pressure for them to delivered by Australian companies to keep profits here, rather than offshore.” AOC, led by CEO Brent Crockford, advocates for major infrastructure projects to be delivered by companies that are majority Australian-owned.
“All AOC members are united in the fight to push change to procurement processes for our largest taxpayer-funded projects.” AOC has called for large infrastructure projects to be broken up into smaller packages to allow a greater number of firms to bid for projects and for industry sustainability criteria to be applied to public infrastructure projects. “If we are to have any hope of growing domestic skills and allowing Mid-Tier Australian-owned businesses to grow and evolve into our new leading Tier One players, then we need practical action to reform procurement on major projects to encourage more work and less barriers for our Mid-Tier contractors,” said Crockford. Martinus said being a owned contractor meant that more money stayed in Australia. “One hundred per cent of our profits are reinvested into the Australian economy and
The company is the first rail-specialist contractor to join the mid-tier grouping.
IMAGE CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
First rail dedicated contractor joins Australian Owned Contractors
being Australian owned, we continue to invest in our growth – both in terms of capability and capacity – to deliver Australia’s largest infrastructure projects,” he said. “We are looking forward to working with the AOC to advocate for change and in turn safeguard the Australian economy for future generations.”
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News
New South Wales
A call for registrations of interest has kicked off the tender process for the construction of Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport. Prospective tenderers are invited to put forward their interest in delivering 10 kilometres of twin metro railway tunnels. The tunnels will stretch from St Marys to Orchard Hills and between the Airport and Aerotropolis. The tunnels will form part of the new rail line which will connect Western Sydney Airport with the city’s rail network at St Mary’s, via Orchard Hills and Luddenham. NSW Minister for Transport Andrew Constance said construction is close to starting. “Construction starts later this year on a project that will become the transport spine for the Western Parkland City,” Constance said. “The new railway will link residential areas with jobs hubs and connect travellers from the new airport with the rest of Sydney’s public transport network.” The project has also confirmed the station locations at St Marys, Orchard Hills, Luddenham and the two airport stations. A stabling and maintenance facility is planned for an area adjacent to the alignment south of Orchard Hills. Two services facilities will be built within the alignment, one at Claremont Meadows and another at Bringelly. With locations confirmed for the stations, the nature of the line is beginning to shape. At St Marys, the new station underneath the existing Sydney Trains station will enable interchanges between the Sydney Metro line and the existing rail network. The stations at Orchard Hills and Luddenham would support future residential and commercial development. Two stations will be at the airport itself, with one at the Airport Business Park and one at the Airport terminal. A final station will be built at the Aerotropolis, which would be the commercial heart of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Sunday the station would be the core of a new city. “Where we are standing today will become a major new transport interchange, right in the heart of the future central business district for the Western Parkland City.” The automated metro line will be controlled from a facility at Orchard Hills where train stabling and maintenance will occur. Federal Minister for Population, Cities and
IMAGE CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
Tender process begins for Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport
As more lines are planned throughout southeast Sydney, the tender processes are moving forward on two other Metro projects.
Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said with construction beginning before the end of 2020, the project will soon be delivering benefits. “This city-shaping investment is being fast-tracked to help our economy recover from COVID-19 and deliver a major stimulus right in the heart of Western Sydney,” said Tudge. “Western Sydney residents will reap the benefits of this investment well before the first train leaves the station.” The future line will not only include tunnels but elevated viaducts and at-grade rail. The station locations come as the NSW Planning Minster, Rob Stokes rezones 6,500 hectares of land around the future airport to allow for the development of the Aerotropolis. The rezoning includes the Aerotropolis Core, which will be rezoned for mixed use, as well as the Northern Gateway, which covers mixed use around the Luddenham train station site and enterprise zoning surrounding that. Planning documents indicate future rail links between the Aerotropolis Core and Leppington and further south towards Macarthur. “Today’s approval lays the foundations for the transformation of 6,500 hectares of land into a thriving metropolis with new homes, jobs and public spaces supported by a new, world-class Metro line,” said Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres. CONTRACTORS SHORTLISTED FOR SYDNEY METRO WEST 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. 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 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. Read more on the latest contracts announcements on page 54.
WWW.RAILEXPRESS.COM.AU | 9
News
New South Wales
Berejiklian criticised for NSW train manufacturing comments and make it harder for local operators to compete,” said Wilkie. “Better coordination with their counterparts in other states and territories would see more trains manufactured locally and improve efficiencies and cost profiles across the life of the asset.” Wilkie noted that only looking at the upfront cost of purchasing rollingstock ignored the cost of lifecycle support, and a whole of life cost approach should be taken. In 2019, the Western Australia government signed an agreement with Alstom to manufacture 246 railcars in Bellevue, in eastern Perth. The contract will see at least 50 per cent of the railcars built locally and 30 years of maintenance. Announced in December 2019, the contract was $347 million under the $1.6 billion budget. Wilkie said that with overseas trade and travel limited due to COVID-19, the value of local manufacturing was greater than ever. “A nationally consistent procurement process would benefit both state government purchasers and the rail manufacturing industry itself,” she said. “The NSW government says it is open to working with other state governments and industry to strengthen and standardise procurement processes – it’s now time for them to act.” BUILD TRAINS LOCALLY AND CREATE THOUSANDS OF JOBS: WELD AUSTRALIA There is the potential for thousands of jobs to be created in Australia and to support the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19 if more trains were built locally, according to CEO of Weld Australia, Geoff Crittenden. “State government rail procurement IMAGE CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been criticised for comments that local train manufacturers are not up to scratch. On Wednesday, August 26, Berejiklian said at a media conference, “Australia and New South Wales are not good at building trains, that’s why we have to purchase them.” The comments drew immediate push back from the NSW Labor party, with deputy leader Yasmin Catley saying that NSW should be investing more in locally manufactured public transport vehicles. “Instead of running down our local industries at press conferences, Gladys Berejiklian should be giving them the opportunity to build our new ferries and trains.” Minister for Transport Andrew Constance backed his leader’s comments, reportedly estimating the cost difference at 25 per cent more for locally manufactured trains, due to higher energy, labour, and raw material costs. “I think most people know the car industry, the train industry, in terms of manufacturing here in Australia; we don’t have it, and there’s a reason for it,” said Constance. The dispute has come as NSW puts the first of its second order of Chinese-manufactured Waratah Series 2 trains into service. The Korean-made New Intercity Fleet, which are replacing the Western Sydney-made V-Set and allowing the Newcastle-made H-Set to enter suburban service, are also in the early testing stage. CEO of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) Caroline Wilkie said a national procurement process would enable locallybuilt trains to become more competitive with their overseas counterparts. “The NSW Government’s procurement choices have eroded the manufacturing sector
Criticism of Gladys Berejiklian’s comments has highlighted NSW’s heritage of building rollingstock such as the Tangara train sets.
10 | ISSUE 10 - NOVEMBER 2020 | RAIL EXPRESS
practices that support local welders and fabricators would create thousands of jobs, supporting local families and local economies in a post COVID-19 world. It would facilitate technology transfer and drive some of the world’s most innovative research and development.” While Crittenden highlighted that Australia and NSW has a heritage of building technically advanced train fleets, he also pointed to the potential for future improvements. “With a long-term procurement commitment from the state governments, rail industry manufacturers would have the confidence to reinvest in their own capabilities, strengthening the industry from within. This type of business innovation strengthens businesses and creates new and better jobs, which together support a move to higher living standards. It would make Australia home to a world-leading rail industry, with the capability to build and export superior quality trains.” Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing Louise Pratt said that Commonwealth funding should be directed towards local manufacturing, including rail. “As COVID-19 has highlighted how sensitive we are to global supply chains and as unemployment is rising, particularly in regional areas, now more than ever we need a plan for manufacturing which includes rail.” With an extensive local maintenance and repair industry, the cost of whole of life support means that it makes sense to build more trains locally, according to Crittenden. “If our state governments adopted a nationally consistent procurement process that considered whole of life costs and prioritised local content, not only would it create thousands of jobs, it would deliver better quality public transport. Cheap imports from overseas often cost more in the long run.” Having more consistent procurement standards between different states would improve the competitiveness of Australiabased manufacturers, highlighted Wilkie. “We have long been calling for a national procurement process for rail manufacturing to give the industry greater scale, promote efficiency and create more local jobs which are supported by advanced manufacturing techniques from industry.” In a tendering framework released in May, the ARA said that greater harmonisation of specifications was one area that would reduce the cost of tendering in Australia.
News
New South Wales
Minister leaves door open for reinstatement of Cowra lines NSW Minister for Regional Transport Paul Toole has indicated that the reinstatement of the Cowra rail lines could still go ahead, despite a feasibility study finding now option achieved a positive cost-benefit ratio. Toole is pushing for further work to be done to see whether reopening the lines, particularly the 179km Blayney to Demondrille line, can be economically viable. “The Cowra Lines has the potential to be economically viable when freight capacity on the Main West is constrained in the future,” said Toole. “That’s why I have asked for this study to be taken to the next stage – to complete a high level design and some investigation works to determine a closer project delivery cost.”
In a feasibility study published by Transport for NSW, the most competitive option for reopening the Cowra lines was to re-instate the Blayney to Demondrille line at 25 tonne axle load (TAL) with a speed of 80km/h. This option assumed a scenario of the Main West and Illawarra lines becoming significantly constrained in future and not able to adequately support central west freight rail services. The benefit-cost ratio calculated for this scenario was 0.9. With the Cowra lines closed between 2007 and 2009, most freight from the region is carried by road with some bulk freight picked up by services travelling along the Main West or Main South lines. The feasibility study notes that the region’s diverse resources and
agricultural industries support a freight task. The feasibility study found that the rail infrastructure itself is mostly intact, however sleepers and ballast would need to be replaced and two new crossing loops would be required. A number of timber bridges would also need to be replaced. Toole said that now was a good time to investigate improvements to the freight network. “With freight increasing across the State and the need to build a resilient network to cope with natural disasters and pandemics, this year has shown it’s an opportune time to further investigate our rail freight capabilities,” he said. “This is about futureproofing the movement of rail freight through the Central West.”
The NSW government has released the South East Sydney Transport Strategy and included in the preferred scenario two new metro lines to be built by 2041 and 2056. The Strategy outlines how Transport for NSW expects to respond to growing population in South East Sydney, an area of the city from Redfern to La Perouse and Rockdale. The first metro line would extend from the CBD to Green Square, and Randwick and terminate at La Perouse. The second would begin at Randwick and travel to Kogarah via Sydney Airport. The CBD to La Perouse metro line would be an extension of Sydney Metro West, and is the first Metro line to be completed, in 2041. Metro between Randwick and Kogarah would be delivered by 2056 and would extend beyond Kogarah to Miranda. In addition to the new metro lines, a rapid bus network would link the south east. A Transport for NSW spokesperson said that was preferred over light rail options. “After considerable consultation with Councils and other key stakeholders, two new Metro lines were considered to be the most effective means to provide for the transport needs of South East Sydney into the coming decades. Light Rail was considered, but a Rapid Bus and Metro combination allowed for better outcomes in terms of delivery and connectivity.” The Strategy also assumes that metro will
12 | ISSUE 10 - NOVEMBER 2020 | RAIL EXPRESS
IMAGE CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
Plan for Metro lines to South East Sydney
Two new lines and multiple stations are planned for south-east Sydney.
connect Hurstville and Macquarie Park and Kogarah and Norwest. Stations on the Airport Line, the only heavy rail line that runs through the region, reach capacity by 7.15am. Three in six trains arriving over capacity and four in six trains departing over capacity between 7.45 and 8.45am. “Transport for NSW recognises that as South East Sydney continues to grow over the coming 30 years, new lines will be needed to support existing infrastructure,” said the Transport for NSW spokesperson. The Strategy also covers the Port Botany area and while not recommending further rail to the port beyond the Port Botany Rail Line Duplication project, does set out as an objective that Port Botany has “easy access by all modes to local commercial, industrial and
employment precincts.” The Strategy however does not include passenger rail to Port Botany, only recommending that Port Botany be connected via bus and private vehicle to the rest of Sydney. The Strategy marks a shift in transport planning for the South East region of Sydney. Instead of taking a “predict and provide” approach, the Strategy identifies a vision for the region and then indicates the proposed transport infrastructure. “This approach recognises that continuing to accept current mode share, and in particular high levels of private car use, is not going to realise the vision, rather it will lead to increased road congestion and reduced accessibility for local residents, workers and visitors.”
Tender released for Port Botany Rail duplication the Australian economy, it will place increasing pressure on our roads,” he said. “I look forward to this transformative project getting underway so that Sydney, New South Wales and our national supply chain can reap the benefits.” The Cabramatta Loop Project tender, which will allow freight trains to pass each other on the Southern Sydney Freight Line, will be released separately. The Port Botany Rail duplication project was recently approved by the NSW government in its fast track process. The project was also added to the Infrastructure Australia Infrastructure Priority List in August, 2020, recognising the need for greater freight rail capacity to and from Port Botany. IMAGE CREDIT:RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
The design and construct tender for the Port Botany Rail duplication has been released to the three shortlisted contractors. The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), which is leading the project, has released the documentation to CPB Contractors, Laing O’Rouke Construction Australia, and John Holland, who were shortlisted in January. Once complete, the $400 million federally funded project will allow for more freight to be transported to and from Port Botany via rail, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack. “The Botany Rail Duplication will upgrade and duplicate the current single freight rail track between Mascot and Botany to increase the capacity of Sydney’s freight rail network while bolstering operational efficiency, flexibility and reliability for freight customers,” he said. “This will create more than 400 jobs during construction and provide a welcome boost to
The release moves the project one step closer to construction.
all the hard-working local businesses who use the rail line to get their products to markets.” Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the project would enable a reduction in trucks travelling through local roads in Sydney. Australia’s freight requirements are set to grow significantly over the coming decades. While this is great news for the industry and
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News
Victoria
IMAGE CREDIT: BOMBARDIER
Victoria purchases 18 more locally-made VLocity trains
The order will be fulfilled by Bombardier’s Dandenong workshop.
The Victorian government has purchased another 18 locally-built trains for regional Victoria. The government will purchase 18 threecarriage VLocity trains from Bombardier, which will be manufactured in Dandenong, south-east Melbourne. Victorian Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll said that the new trains will include extra passenger amenities, based on customer feedback. “We’re delivering the world-class regional trains Victorians deserve – with modern amenities to make people’s journeys around our state more reliable, accessible and enjoyable.” The order includes standard and broad gauge variants, with the standard gauge trains running on the North East line to Albury. These will replace V/Line’s existing fleet of locomotive-hauled carriages. Bombardier’s president, Australia and New Zealand Wendy McMillan said the extra trains, an extension of the 2018 rollingstock order, built on ties between the rollingstock manufacturer and regional Victoria. “These 18 new award-winning VLocity
trains build on the already strong bond between regional Victoria and Bombardier.” The carriages will be built with 69 per cent local content, supporting up to 100 jobs directly. “Not only are we building great trains for Victorians – we’re doing it right here in Dandenong, providing jobs for 100 Victorians in construction, and creating work for hundreds more across the supply chain,” said Carroll. McMillan said this order confirmed Bombardier will be building trains in Dandenong for the foreseeable future. “Providing job security for our workforce and our local supply chain in Dandenong is critically important for our business and we look forward to being here for many years to come.” CEO of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) Caroline Wilkie said the contract showed the value of building trains locally. “This is an outstanding example of the jobs, innovation and opportunity contracts like these can create for communities like Dandenong,” she said. “A nationally consistent approach would
provide even greater scale for the industry and extend those benefits further.” The new fleet recently won two prestigious design awards that recognised improvements in safety and passenger comfort. The new design includes built-in USB chargers, extra luggage racks and storage, modern catering, and wheelchair spaces with companion spaces nearby. The trains also include mobile phone signal boosters for improved coverage. The trains are already under construction and the standard gauge variant will begin running on the North East line once the trains have completed testing and when the current upgrade of the line is complete, said Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan. “Alongside the upgrade of the North East Line, these trains will deliver a more modern, comfortable journey for passengers travelling between Melbourne and Albury – we can’t wait for them to hit the tracks.” Victoria has increased regional rail services by 40 per cent since 2015. 2,000 services run each week and with further work on regional lines being carried out currently, greater patronage on regional lines is expected in the future.
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Victoria
Rollingstock innovations keep Metro trains on track Metro Trains Melbourne’s Comeng, Siemens and X’Trapolis fleets have undergone major maintenance to ensure the trains are kept to the highest standard and improve the experience for passengers. Melbourne trains are being retrofitted with wireless data recorders to monitor key train systems, improve safety and reliability, and maintenance, enabling the trains are available to run on the network more often. The On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) system will give Metro engineers access to near real time data so they can monitor train performance, identify faults, and improve train maintenance. Metro has recently installed the state-ofthe-art technology on 174 three-carriage X’Trapolis train units. The OBD project is being completed at the Newport rail workshops and has now moved on to the Siemens fleet. The system is used to monitor everything including vibration in critical train bogie components, heating, ventilation and airconditioning systems, as well as passenger body-side doors, traction, auxiliary power supply, and passenger information systems. This helps Metro diagnose and respond to potential issues sooner, reducing the risk of passengers being delayed by train faults. Metro’s general manager of rolling stock, Dave Carlton said that Metro was completing a world first with this technology. “We’re proud to be leading the largestever retrofit of remote condition monitoring equipment on an existing train fleet, globally. “The data we collect from this technology is being shared across Metro, which benefits our operations, infrastructure and network development teams.” Technical upgrades have also been carried out on the oldest vehicles in the Metro fleet. 75 per cent of the Comeng fleet, which in total
The upgrades include new passenger information screens on the Comeng fleet.
numbers 179 trains are being overhauled. In 2017, a three-stage, $75 million upgrade project began, funded by the state government. Metro’s CEO Raymond O’Flaherty said the project will extend the life of the fleet. “The Comeng fleet has served the people of Melbourne for almost 40 years, they are brilliant trains and they’ve certainly got more life left in them,” he said. “We have very stringent maintenance programs for all our trains, that’s one of the reasons they are still so reliable. It’s also essential that we utilise all the technical advances that are available, and this life extension program makes sure that our passengers have the best possible experience on board.” The life extension project has three stages, of which the first two are complete. Stage one included critical-safety improvements to Comeng train doors – a feature now standard on all Metro trains. Stage two was focused on the passenger experience, including rearranging and reupholstering seating, installing LED lights, new grab poles and straps, safer gang-way bellows, and new digital signage on the front of trains to give passengers destination information. Upgrades have also been made to the driver’s instrument panel. Stage three is the project’s final stage and is now almost complete. It involves upgrades to the passenger information system, with digital displays inside the carriages tracking the train’s journey in real-time. Victorian Minister for Public Transport Ben Carroll said that upgrades would also increase safety for passengers, with new high definition CCTV cameras been fitted with a wider field of view that can be accessed remotely, which will support Metro and Victoria
Police investigations. “We can access camera footage remotely as soon as issues are reported – helping Metro and Victoria Police respond to incidents as quickly as possible and giving Victorians peace of mind that their journeys are safe.” There are also improvements to hearingaid links for people with additional needs and upgraded speakers for clearer on-board announcements. On the engineering side, the trains’ air brakes are being overhauled, while the electrical relay panel and traction systems are being upgraded to support a safer journey. For the Siemens fleet, Metro’s middle child, Metro partnered with accessibility group Vision Australia to support new safety upgrades for the Siemens fleet New bellows were needed between carriages to fills the gap between the train and the platform. By providing an exterior that is flat along the full length of the train, Metro has reduced the risk of falls for vision-impaired passengers who may mistake the gap for a door. Since an upgrade program commenced in February this year, more than 20 per cent of Siemens trains have been upgraded with the new bellows. As well as being safer for passengers, the upgrades also provide sound-proofing, making the carriages quieter for a more comfortable journey. Together with Vision Australia, Metro used a mock-up train carriage to test the design to ensure it provided all the necessary safety features. The mock-up train is used by Vision Australia to help familiarise vision-impaired passengers and enable them to move confidently around trains, while also teaching guide dogs how to navigate the network. Carlton said this work was important for the community. “The work we do to make sure our trains and stations are fully accessible for all our passengers is absolutely essential. Providing a public transport service means making sure that every person can use our network without limitation,” he said. “These new gangways give us extra confidence that not only are we continuously improving safety, but we are improving the passenger experience. It’s not just about getting to your destination, it’s about getting to your destination as easily and comfortably as possible.”
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Victoria
Patrick and Port of Melbourne sign agreement for rail terminal at East Swanson Dock Patrick Terminals and the Port of Melbourne have agreed to construct a new rail terminal to enable more freight to be delivered by rail to East Swanson Dock. The new rail terminal, expected to be completed by mid 2023, will handle up to 200,000 TEUs annually, and provide a direct rail connection between the Port of Melbourne and suburban intermodal terminals, enabling more freight to be transported to and from the port via rail. “The new facility will provide a direct interface with Patrick’s East Swanson Dock Container Terminal, reducing cost of last mile between the rail terminal and quayside for rail based container movements,” said Patrick CEO Michael Jovicic. The announcement of the rail terminal is part of a wider push to get more freight onto rail at the Port of Melbourne. The Port of Melbourne is investing $125 million in on-dock rail as part of the Port Rail Transformation Project (PRTP) and this project is a significant part of that, said Brendan Bourke, CEO of the Port of Melbourne. “The PRTP is a key project of our Port Development Strategy and Our Plan for Rail
and is vital to successfully accommodating future growth at the port.” In August, the Victorian and federal governments announced funding for a new freight rail connection in Melbourne’s south east. The Victorian government is also providing funding for the Port Rail Shuttle network, which aims to reduce truck movements in metropolitan Melbourne by linking the port with intermodal facilities on the urban fringe. “This new on dock rail terminal supports the introduction of the government’s Port Rail Shuttle Network, which will reduce truck trips on the Melbourne road network,” said Bourke. The Patrick rail terminal will be constructed at the Coode Road site and is co-funded with the Port of Melbourne. Patrick is contributing $15m to the project. Construction is expected to begin in early 2021 and the Port of Melbourne is currently undertaking a request for tender profess for the infrastructure works associated with the Port Rail Transformation Project. Once complete, the terminal will include two dual gauge 23 tonne axle load sidings of 600 metres and interface with the Patrick
international container terminal options. The agreement is part of the extension of Patrick’s tenure at the Port of Melbourne to 2066. Maurice James, managing director of Qube which owns 50 per cent of Patrick, said in a statement to the ASX the project will enable more freight to be moved via rail. “The development supports Patrick’s landside efficiency focus and is expected to facilitate the development of metro-based rail shuttle services over the medium term.” Once complete, the Swanson Dock Rail Terminal will be an open access facility, in line with the Port of Melbourne rail access protocol, allowing Qube and other rail operators to use the facility. Jovicic said that the terminal will be a key node in the Melbourne freight rail network once new intermodal facilities are completed. “Over time, it is expected that rail modal share for will increase, with metro rail being a major driver of growth alongside the development of metropolitan inland terminals. Rail modal share and volumes on rail will be dependent on the take up of rail, particularly for metro container movements – which today are dominated by trucks.”
The terminal will include two dual gauge 23 tonne axle load sidings of 600 metres.
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News
Queensland
Fast rail vision for South East Queensland Mayors from South East Queensland are renewing calls for a fast rail network linking major cities in the region. The collection of mayors, which covers 10 local government areas from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast and out to Toowoomba, is advocating for a fast rail network that would operate at speeds in excess of 160km/h. This would contribute to the collective’s vision of a 45-minute region, where city to city trips could be completed in 45 minutes. The Mayors argue that reducing travel times between the nodes of the region would boost economic growth and reduce reliance on private vehicles. A compromise 60-minute region could also generate similar benefits, but with a cheaper price tag. The Council of Mayors estimate that a 60-minute region would allow for connections between the Brisbane city centre to hubs such as Loganlea within 22 minutes, Ipswich in 24 minutes, and Caboolture in 35 minutes. The plan also targets rising congestion, and notes that in doing nothing, congestion will cost the region’s economy $6 billion by 2031. Fast rail would also tie together the region’s four international airports in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba, enabling increases in visitation and spending.
The vision hopes to link four major urban centres.
With the region bidding for the Olympic Games in 2032, a fast rail network is seen as needed to move spectators during the event. The Council of Mayors note that the current Citytrain network is no longer able to service the region’s needs with an average running speed on the latest fleet, the New Generation Rollingstock of 60km/h. “At these speeds, Citytrain is too slow to offer commuters in the outer rings of South East Queensland a reason to leave their cars behind and use public transport,” write the Mayors. Rail advocacy group Rail Back on Track welcomed the group’s proposal, noting that
current infrastructure was not up to scratch. “The SEQ Citytrain network is over tasked and cannot provide fast rail services as is,” said Robert Dow, administration for Rail Back on Track. The Council of Mayor said that now was the time to act. “The Queensland government has the option to kickstart the exploration of Fast Rail now and use it as a smart investment for the state’s economic recovery – or miss this opportunity and know that the Queensland economy will pay a hefty price for it in years to come.”
Western Australia
Preferred proponent announced for Morley-Ellenbrook line construction The Western Australian government has selected the preferred proponent for the design and construction the MorleyEllenbrook line. Led by Lain O’Rouke Australia Construction, the winning consortium, MELconnx won out over a joint venture between CPB Contractors and Downer EDI as the preferred proponent for the design, building, and commissioning of the new 21km line and five stations. WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the line would ensure that Perth’s transport system kept up with urban growth. “Perth’s north-eastern suburbs have boomed recently and the population is predicted to increase dramatically over the next decade,” she said. “We need to ensure our infrastructure
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keeps up with this growth – not only are we delivering on the much anticipated Metronet Morley-Ellenbrook Line, we have also delivered key road upgrades including Northlink, the duplication of Reid Highway and the upgrade of Drumpellier Drive.” The rail construction contract is one of four works packages that make up the project. Other packages include the new Bayswater station, works on the Tonkin Gap highway, which the new rail line will run down the middle of, and forward works. WA Premier Mark McGowan said the project would benefit the communities it serves and the WA economy. “This has been talked about for decades and is a big step forward for this project, which will transform Perth’s growing north-eastern
suburbs and benefit the local and surrounding communities,” he said. The Morley-Ellenbrook line is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said the benefits would be immediate and long-lasting. “It means jobs right now and critical, targeted infrastructure for generations to come.” The announcement of the preferred proponent for the Morley-Ellenbrook line closes out the new rail projects that are currently part of the Metronet program. Further contracts are expected to be announced for level crossing removals on the Armadale Line and the electrification of the Armadale Line to Byford.
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To begin the 2021 publishing schedule, Rail Express will cover the latest developments in light rail projects and technology. Our February edition will showcase the current developments of the numerous light rail construction projects underway, including on the Gold Coast and Parramatta, and look toward future stages of the Canberra network. As always, our coverage will include developments on the Melbourne network and how this extensive system is adapting to the latest technology and systems to continue serving passengers. The potential for future lines linking communities on the Sunshine Coast, in New Zealand, and upgrades to the Adelaide network is also a key part of the light rail horizon in Australia and New Zealand.
CONTACT OLIVER PROBERT
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, RAIL EXPRESS 02 9439 7227 | 0435 946 869 OLIVER.PROBERT @ PRIMECREATIVE.COM.AU
Finally, we will celebrate the successful first year of the Sydney CBD and South East light rail, with bother branches now operating and connecting communities throughout the south-eastern suburbs of Sydney. Enabling each of these projects to successfully run are the suppliers, service providers, and operations, who will be speaking with for the February edition.
A U S T RA L I A’ S L E A D IN G B US INESS TO B U SINESS RAIL PU B LICAT ION
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South Australia
IMAGE CREDIT: MASTERSKY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
News
The contract is the first heavy rail contract for the joint venture.
Keolis Downer awarded $2.14bn Adelaide train operations contract Keolis Downer has been awarded the contract to operate and maintain Adelaide’s train services. The eight-year contract begins on 31 January, 2021 when Keolis Downer will operate Adelaide’s six lines and a fleet of 92 railcars. South Australian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Corey Wingard said the contract involved improvements for passengers. “Keolis Downer will operate Adelaide’s train services for an initial eight-year period under a performance-based $2.14 billion contract focused on delivering significant improvements to the customer experience.” Wingard said that Keolis Downer will implement a digitalised work platform for Passenger Service Assistants to enable them to spend more time with passengers. The contract is the first heavy rail operations contract for the Keolis Downer joint venture. The company operates light rail in Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Newcastle, as well as buses in NSW, Western Australia,
South Australia and Queensland. According to David Franks, CEO of Keolis Downer, the operator hopes to improve customer services and increase the use of public transport in Adelaide. “As a local public transport operator in South Australia for the past 20 years, we are excited to continue our partnership with DIT to deliver better train services in Adelaide,” Franks said. “We are committed to partnering with local stakeholders and organisations to create value in South Australia and deliver the Government’s vision of a sustainable, revitalised train service for the people of Adelaide.” Adelaide has seen steady growth in patronage on the rail network since 2014, when the Seaford and Tonsley lines were electrified. Further electrification of the Gawler line is currently underway. “The electrification of the Gawler line is underway and through this project we will be
introducing new electric trains with increased capacity,” said Franks. The Tonsley line is also currently being extended, connecting Flinders University and Medical Centre to the rail network. “These initiatives are real game changers and will transform the rail network. We are proud to be part of this journey with DIT,” said Franks. Wingard highlighted that the state government retained ownership of infrastructure and and controls over aspects of the service. “The state government still owns all the rail assets including tracks, trains and stations and will continue to have control of fare price, revenue, and standards for service levels.” Keolis Downer was one of three consortiums shortlisted for the contract. The others were Adelaide Next, a consortium of Deutsche Bahn and John Holland with Bombardier as a subcontractor and TrainCo, a consortium of Transdev and CAF.
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The alignment of Inland Rail has been the subject of intense community concern.
CREDIT: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
Major Projects
The railroad out of recovery The nation’s infrastructure leaders set out how rail transport could lead Australia out of a COVID-19 recession. In July 2019, prior to the arrival of COVID-19, governor of the Reserve Bank, Philip Lowe called on governments around the country to invest more in infrastructure. Cutting the official cash rate to a then-record 1 per cent, Lowe said that more spending on infrastructure was needed. “This spending adds to demand in the economy and – provided the right projects are selected – it also adds to the country’s productive capacity. It is appropriate to be thinking about further investments in this area, especially with interest rates at a record low, the economy having spare capacity and some of our existing infrastructure struggling to cope with ongoing population growth,” he told the Darwin business community. Much has changed since that speech, but in some ways, Lowe’s words could be read, word for word, again, with added emphasis, as the cash rate is now 0.25 per cent and spare capacity in the form of unemployment has only risen. To hear how the federal government and opposition are responding to this call for an infrastructure-led recovery, earlier in 2020, Rail Express spoke to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack and his shadow, Catherine King. Their comments below have been condensed and edited for clarity and length.
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THE ROUTE AHEAD FOR INLAND RAIL It’s a project that all major parties support, however Inland Rail has been a headache for the government and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) since objections have been raised to the route over floodplains in northern NSW and Queensland. With the rail industry looking for certainty over the project, governments are hoping to increase the project’s momentum. Rail Express (REX): In June this year there was another review announced about the project, this time looking at the so-called forestry route. Can you provide industry with some certainty about the project, particularly that critical stage between the NSW-Queensland border and Gowrie?
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack.
Michael McCormack: It’s important that regional Australia understands that by the mid-2020s when this project is completed that it is going to bring the benefits that have been
talked about since the 1890s. There’s been independent analysis, there’s been hydrological reports, there’s been everything you would expect to be in a project of this size, scale, and scope. With the Condamine Plain, I appreciate that some local people have some issues with the selected route and so to certainly make sure that we’ve got the right route we’re looking at that forestry route. We’ll put the ruler over it, we’ll have independent analysis of it, we’ll have a hydrological study of it, just to make sure that the right route is eventually selected. REX: Currently, we have forestry route review and then we have the independent panel who are reviewing the hydrological modelling on the original route, what happens if the conclusions out of both come into conflict? McCormack: Of course we need to take on board the expert advice, to make sure that the full benefits are passed on, making sure that we can get goods from paddock to port within 24 hours. When you talk to people as I have in the Toowoomba area, and you take Jill Allwright, she’s got a cereal producing factory there, she moved to Toowoomba eight years ago. She set up her company and she’s really looking forward to Inland Rail because freight is over 20 per cent of her operating costs. REX: I imagine businesses up and down the line such as Allwright’s would appreciate a connection to the ports of Melbourne and Brisbane as well?
McCormack: Well they will, and they’re already benefiting and during COVID-19 when so many industries have been shut down and so many jobs have been lost it’s heartening and rewarding to see that along the Parkes to Narromine section work has just continued and that’s employing thousands of people directly and indirectly. REX: But in terms of the direct connection between Acacia Ridge and the Port of Brisbane for double stacked trains which is such a significant aspect of what makes Inland Rail competitive, how are you going to ensure that a rail connection is built, if not when the line is opened, soon afterwards? McCormack: We’re working through those issues with state government as well as local governments. The NSW government for instance has put a special activation precinct around the Bowman area at north Wagga Wagga and invested heavily into that, and so there is buy in there for state governments, there is buy in there for local governments and of course private entities as well. We will continue to work with and negotiate with and embrace all the activity involved with Inland Rail and it’s been a collaborative project. REX: Labor has brought up some concerns with Inland Rail in the past, particularly around the section over the Condamine River floodplain in Queensland, how confident are you in the delivery of this project, particularly that section in Queensland?
Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Development Catherine King.
Catherine King: Labor supports Inland Rail and in fact we put the first billion dollars into the project to actually get it started. I’m surprised the government has taken the notion of Inland Rail very literally with it not having any connection to the Port of Brisbane or the Port of Melbourne. They are important, difficult, and challenging issues to sort out but you can’t just build Inland Rail with no connectivity to either port. These projects are complex and we know that you’re never going to please everybody and there are issues around having to procure
land, having to dissect across farmland, but one of the things that I’ve learnt as being a long time local MP and also having portfolios like this before is that you have to get the consultation right and when you’ve got such a big community expressing significant concern about the sort of hydrology work that has been done by the government and a lack of transparency about how the decision was made, you’ve got a problem. REX: How would Labor look to extend Inland Rail or make those connections to other freight networks around Australia? King: If we were fortunate enough to be in government in 2022, we don’t know what plans would be in place but what I would like to see is the start of a discussion about it. At the moment all we know about it is there’s going to be significantly increased trucks going through Acacia Ridge but no plan or discussion about what some of the alternatives are. The government needs to start that work now because without those connections Inland Rail doesn’t make as much sense as it should. A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR FREIGHT Without freight rail continuing to operate throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia’s supermarkets shelves would be empty and commodities would be sitting at farms and mines, never making it to market. To ensure that this critical link in the logistics chain continued to operate, governments stepped in, allowing freight to cross otherwise closed borders. In May, the ARTC provided some financial relief for rail freight operators by extending payment terms for current access charges and deferring a consumer price index increase that was scheduled for July. Rail freight operators are still concerned however, with more empty containers being transported by sea, and a lack of competitive neutrality with road freight. REX: Freight rail has rightly been recognised for the critical role it has played during the COVID-19 pandemic, how are you going to ensure the competitiveness of rail freight continues after the crisis? McCormack: Some of the real heroes in COVID 19 have been train drivers and intermodal workers, who have delivered. We’ve got this national freight and supply chain strategy since August 2019 when states and territories agreed with the federal government to sign up to the 20 year plan and we’ve got a five year national action plan. We’re tackling the growing and changing freight task and Inland Rail is going to dovetail into that. REX: One of the concerns of the rail freight
industry has been about a lack of a level playing field between rail freight and road transport. One positive thing that we saw come out of the crisis was that the ARTC extended the payment terms for current access charges and suspended CPI-tied increases to the fees. McCormack: We need everybody to be a player in this regard and yes there have been pressures on rail, I understand that, but that’s why Inland Rail is so important. That’s why the Victorian rail revival and other projects that we’re doing, both transpoting people and transporting freight, are just so crucial and that’s why we are investing so heavily. I am talking to ministers of all political persuasions to get the right outcomes. Is crucial that we get all the right investment in track, the right investment by states in rollingstock, and we bring about benefits for all. REX: But for those particular fees, for the road transport industry, CPI increases heavy vehicle road user charges have been suspended for about half a decade, while it just happened now for rail. Is there a possibility to extend that to create a more competitive rail freight environment? McCormack: We do want a more competitive rail freight industry and that’s why we are investing so heavily in it. At the end of the day, businesses and private individuals if they want to get something transported from one side of the country to the other or indeed from one town to the next, they’ll always make decisions based on cost. We want every stakeholder in the country to be competitive, whether it’s air, rail, road, or indeed whether it’s our sea lanes and our maritime freight, has a part to play in this. REX: Would you want to go back and have a look at competitive pricing neutrality between rail and road, and access charges? King: That wasn’t part of our policy at the last election but we’ve just seen an extraordinary effort in terms of all our freight and logistics companies, whether it has been rail through to what’s happened in the trucking industry. I think there’s a much stronger appreciation about the role that our freight and logistics companies play and we support the government’s pausing of some of those fees and charges in order to make sure that we get through this crisis. As a nation, what’s the most efficient way of delivering our freight? It’s important to ensure that we don’t pick one over another that we make sure that there is a reasonably level playing field for both but what we want to focus on is ensuring that we have the most efficient system that we possibly can whether it is
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Major Projects
road, whether it is rail, or whether it’s via shipping and our ports. AN INFRASTRUCTURE LED RECOVERY? Infrastructure will undoubtedly play a role in getting Australia back to work after the COVID-19 recession, but what form that infrastructure will take is still up in the air. While some jurisdictions are looking for zero emissions mobility and rail to play a larger role, funding announced so far has brought forward a number of smaller roads projects around Australia, to ensure that planning times are reduced. While the age of the megaproject is not over yet, what shape those projects take could be very different in the future. REX: What projects are you looking at in terms of bringing forward work or funding and is there a change in preference in terms of wanting to do smaller projects that can get started straight away? McCormack: Well I can almost say watch this space because it was of course really genuinely pleasing to be working with the states and
request that they bring forward some of the projects that we’ve asked them to. I wrote to them late last year and I sent another letter to them early this year when COVID-19 really started to take hold on all aspects of the economy. REX: There’s two projects, for example, that are sitting with you right now awaiting federal approval; the Murray Darling Basin Rail Project and Melbourne Airport Rail. Is there any indication that you can move forward on either of those? McCormack: I’ve actually messaged Victorian Minister for Transport Infrastructure Jacinta Allan about that and other infrastructure projects. There’s a lot happening in Victoria, a lot happening with Commonwealth money of course, and we want to make sure that whether it’s Murray Basin Rail or Melbourne Airport Rail, it’s something that’s been talked about for years and years and we’re delivering. REX: In particular with the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, your colleague Treasurer Josh Frydenburg has suggested that super funds should bring forward more investment in
infrastructure and this is one project where a consortium of super funds said they want to build a tunnel from Sunshine to Southern Cross station. Are you leaning towards a tunnel or an above ground option? McCormack: Let’s continue to talk about that. There are some announcements that are soon to be made, whether it’s Melbourne, whether it’s our capital cities or whether it is our most rural and remote and outback towns. There’s plans being drawn up whether it’s tunnels for rail, tunnels for the Coffs Harbour bypass or whether it’s just getting that long awaited bitumen on roads in outback dusty Queensland cattle tracks. THE FASTER OR HIGH-SPEED RAIL DILEMMA In a speech delivered to shadow cabinet in May, Anthony Albanese reaffirmed Labor’s commitment to building a high-speed rail link between Melbourne and Brisbane, via Sydney and Canberra. As a nation-building project it would certainly be iconic, but could COVID-19 actually turn Australia’s long held dream of
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high-speed rail into reality? REX: High-speed rail proposals obviously have a long history in Australia. Why did Labor feel like now is the right time to return to the project? King: Well I think we’ve never left the project to some extent. We’ve been pushing high-speed rail as a visionary rail infrastructure project for the nation for a long period of time, and obviously when we had the opportunity to hold the government benches started to progress the business case for that. REX: Labor took the policy of a billion dollars for land acquisitions along the corridor to the last election. Is that something the party is still committed to at a federal level? King: Well obviously we’re reviewing all of our policies at the moment, we’re two years out from the next federal election and we’ll have a bit to say in the lead up to the next election in terms of our transport policies including rail. Obviously money is going to be pretty tight this time around for both sides of politics, given the COVID-19 crisis, but we’ve laid a marker down pretty clearly that we think high-speed rail is an important long-term economic opportunity for our nation and shouldn’t be one that’s lost. REX: There’s also a number of proposals for faster rail. How would Labour see a program of high-speed rail interacting with the current businesses cases focused on faster rail on similar corridors to those the high-speed rail line would follow. King: Faster rail can be anything from substantial corridor improvements, improvements in rail technology, through to more expensive projects of duplication and looking at improving some of the regional rail networks. It doesn’t have to be either or but what you have to do is be serious about it There’s lots of potential for regional rail improvements and we should be looking at that all the time. REX: The leader of the opposition brought up high-speed rail but you have suggested you wanted to focus on faster rail. Could you give us an indication about your thinking about why you’d like to focus on faster rail rather than high-speed rail? McCormack: I can remember holding a community conference in my home town of Wagga Wagga when I first was elected back in 2010. The late Brian Nye headed up the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) back then and I invited him to speak. I was amazed at how many people turned up but even back then, the cost of high-speed rail a link between Sydney and Melbourne via Canberra, it had a price tag then on it of $114 billion. That figure
Ensuring more freight is moved via rail may require a change of approach to regulation.
has just escalated and while there have been moves to protect and preserve the corridor so that we can ultimately do something along these lines you have to have the willingness, the capacity, and also the commuter interest to do it. Australia is a big country and we don’t have the population that some of those countries which have invested heavily in high-speed rail do. In Australia we’re investing in the infrastructure fits the bill for what we’re doing right now. High-speed rail, I’d like to see it in my lifetime, but we’re a big country and we’re very densely populated in our capital cities. There are opportunities of course for this type of investment but given the fact that it’s going to be very difficult to with COVID-19 to actually find that sort of investment anywhere in the world at the moment, there are other priorities at hand. REX: One of the stumbling blocks for highspeed rail has been that price tag but there are alternative funding methods such as value capture that are used to get projects like these off the ground. Would you be looking at these as a way to fund a high-speed rail project? King: One of the things that coronavirus crisis has shown us is that we’ve lacked any large scale, iconic infrastructure transport project and Anthony in his vision speech wanted to particularly go back and highlight high-speed rail because of a couple of things. One is the investment potential that it has, but also the nation building potential that it has, in terms of developing a much stronger sense of regional and decentralised towns from Melbourne from Sydney, all the way up to Brisbane. REX: Another element of Anthony Albanese’s speech was calling for the local manufacturing of rollingstock. Albanese nominated successes in Queensland, WA, and Victoria. How would
Labour seek to expand this to other states and for builds to continue happening in those states that already have a manufacturing capability? King: My hometown of Ballarat is a railway town. We still have our railway workshops here, many of the X’Trapolis trains are built here as well, and they’re really important skilled manufacturing jobs for our region. Part of the problem for many of those manufacturers has been that the procurement is really patchy. Each state and territory government does that separately, they may procure three trains here, they may do 50, and the manufacturers in my own constituency tell me it’s that long term pipeline of projects that keeps those railway workshop doors open. COVID-19 has taught us that our manufacturing does have enormous capability, but it does need support. One of the things we announced in the 2019 election campaign was that we felt there was a need to have a national rail procurement strategy to actually start to look at how you can smooth out some of those lags that occur in rollingstock procurement so that we can continue to still have those terrific railway workshops here. We’ve got a great history of it, and we don’t want to see railway manufacturing go the way of the car industry. You need a plan to support it, to keep it here and to keep local jobs here. REX: Would you support or encourage quotes or targets for locally manufactured rollingstock like there are in Victoria? King: As a Victorian I’m very attracted to the plan that the Victorian government has in relation to local procurement. Federally we are subject to trade law as well so we always have to be conscious about that but I am a big fan. Many people have decided that we should be manufacturing more things that we are capable of manufacturing in this country and I’m a big fan of local content and local procurement.
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Products & Technology
A human-centred ecosystem tm stagetec systems are introducing the Smart pi ecosystem – a connected digital network of audio and visual information, which puts the rail customer at the centre. In 2013, to little fanfare, a report popped up the recently restructured Transport for NSW agency website. The report, entitled Customer Satisfaction Index coincided with the creation of Sydney Trains and NSW Trains as what the report termed “customer focused train operators”. The report included metrics, based on surveys of passengers, of how satisfied travellers were with transport services in NSW. In that first report, 79 per cent of customers were partly to very satisfied with Sydney Trains services. What this report signalled was the beginning of a shift in how rail services would be delivered to travellers in NSW, and a broader change in the philosophy of how
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transport operators approached providing mobility services. Instead of just making the trains run to a pre-determined schedule, the golden metric now became customer satisfaction. In the years since, as patronage on Sydney’s rail network has grown, there have been many pressures on the system. Trains are almost always full during the peaks and fit to burst on some lines. Major construction projects have caused disruptions and new fleets of trains have been introduced, with older rollingstock retired. Over this time, customer satisfaction has consistently improved, and in the latest figures from November 2019, overall train network satisfaction stood at 90 per cent.
Beneath the satisfaction rating, one area of the service that customers are much more satisfied with is the availability of information. Satisfaction with arrival information has jumped from 81 to 92 per cent and satisfaction with next stop information leapt from 75 to 91 per cent. It’s a similar story for availability of information on delays and easy of finding information. Today, it’s easy to forget how common a garbled, if not incomprehensible announcement was only a few years ago, and as the service has improved, standards of satisfaction have too. Behind this shift in quality have been providers such as Sydney-based tm stagetec systems. General manager Mark Lownds has been part of
The Smart pi EYE screens can be configured to display more information through graphics than just text.
the team that has rolled out a new generation of audio public address, information display and networked distribution systems. “We realised that everybody is expecting audio announcements to be really good. We’re getting so used to expecting it should sound good and it should. Now, in Sydney we’re very lucky, you can hop on a train or stand on a platform and understand what’s being said,” said Lownds. Achieving this has been no small feat. Ensuring audio announcements are intelligible in a rail environment means that they have to compete with other loud noises from trains and other vehicles, and stations are hard environments with lots of surfaces for sound to bounce off of. With a background in professional audio engineering, tm stagetec managing director Treva Head knows what it has took to get the level of customer satisfaction with audio announcements to where they are today. “We’ve worked with experts in the field, like acousticians, who expect the best out of the technology. They push our stuff to the limit and it’s really encouraging to see these acousticians who said ‘Wow, your product actually does
deliver what you say it’s delivering.’ They have to solve some really difficult problems, reverberation in these harsh environments like tunnels where the sound just wants to echo, but if we can basically steer that sound and that energy to only where it needs to be, then that gives them tools to do it.” Having delivered the technology for digital audio around the Sydney rail network, Head and Lownds are looking to the next step. Combining networked audio with visual display screens, the company is working with manufacturer Smart pi to create a modular ecosystem for operators to continue to improve customer satisfaction. “Our idea is this public information system that can fix those problems in all environments and you can mix and match the different parts that you want to put it together,” said Lownds. Having seen what else was in the market for large, distributed public information networks, and the potential for greater integration between different parts of the rail system through digitalisation, led to the ecosystem approach. “Most of the current systems are bespoke,” said Lownds. “They’re either written just for that project, which means that there’s no economies of scale from adding in the new features. For us it’s an entire product range, where we can add in features, we can add in new modules, as new technology becomes available it becomes available in the whole ecosystem for our clients to be able to upgrade.” A COMMON LANGUAGE Essential to enabling a system such as this to work was establishing a common language between different modules. Following globally accepted industry standards, Smart pi has used Open Control Architecture (OCA). This standard is specified in the audio engineering standard AES70. “Any other products that support OCA can talk to us,” said Lownds. “We’re not trying to say if you’re using our ecosystem you can only use our ecosystem and never use anything else. It’s, ‘Here’s our protocol, go for it.’ How the protocol works is you connect to our device and it shows you everything you can do; you don’t even need to contact the manufacturer for information.” For the modules that are available in the Smart pi ecosystem, the OCA framework enables communication between audio and visual elements of the customer information system. For example, when a live announcement is being made at a station platform, the digital signal processor (DSP) communicates between the microphone and the Smart pi EYE information screen to show
a hearing loop logo. The announcement is transmitted over the local hearing loop and the visual notification enables a hearing-impaired person to know an announcement is being made, flip their hearing aid to loop mode, and understand the information. Because each device is running on the same network language, these connections can easily be made without the need for individual integration. “Everything works together and it’s built to do that out of the box,” said Lownds. Having this open communication protocol also allows for the software that is running behind the announcements to be easily updated as new features or patches come out. “In a lot of the systems that people are using at the moment, they put it in, they make it for that project and it never gets updated. So, you are now 10 years behind because it takes that long before they’re ready for a major upgrade to do something else. With us, we’re releasing updates, you get access to the updates so you can get all the new features,” said Lownds. PEOPLE-FOCUSED INTERFACES With the people who use the train network the ultimate users of the Smart pi system, a focus throughout the development process has been on ensuring that the design is based on how people will use it. This has started with the interface that the operator would see. The system is web-based allowing it to be access anywhere and from any device without the need for dedicated application. During the development of the software tm stagetec has worked with Smart pi to ensure the system is built for its human users. “We’re trying to use generic language, so you don’t need a university degree to work out what we’re doing,” said Lownds. “For instance, our audio processing main block, you could call your audio processing block, but we just call it a zone, because that’s what it’s doing. It’s still got all the amazing technical stuff behind it, we’re just trying to do that underneath so that standard installers, electricians, operators, or whoever, can configure and use the software without having to go and do a four-week course. “We’re really trying to make it human, not technical not audio, but human.” Not only designed to be used by network controllers at a rail operations centre, the design of the software is taking to account that its users could be station attendants, guards, or customer service personnel. This has had a direct impact on the layout of the system. “For things like ambient noise control, if you increase the volume, we have created a
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Products & Technology
The software is designed to be simple to use and control, and accessible from any device.
very simple graphical user interface to say here’s the top, and here’s the bottom and it just stays inside of that range, you don’t need to understand thresholds,” said Head. For the end users’ perspective, the system is on display in tm stagetec’s Sydney showroom, where many of the staff and visitors use the nearby Mascot station daily. With the products on display, common gripes or suggestions can be incorporated as they arise. One issue that has arisen with the visual display is the need to reduce scrolling text that cannot be read at all times. “If the train is going to 20 different stations and I just miss it scroll past my destination while the train is on the platform, and I might miss my trains if I have to wait for the stop to appear,” said Lownds. “We came up with a concept of we want you to be able to look at the screen and get as much information as possible in three seconds.” Instead of trying to squeeze in as much text as possible, the solution was a graphic of a train on a line. Customers can immediately see how far off the train is from their station, as the two previous stations begin the line. The train image itself can be adapted to show load data to enable customer to find a quieter carriage. The line then continues to the next stop and an algorithm will display further stops based on a preference for larger stations that serve
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as interchanges. An unbroken line will indicate the stations are consecutive and a chequered line will indicate that there are stops in between. The final point on the line will be the terminating station. “In three seconds, you can find out where the train is, how full it is, where you want to sit, and the important stations it’s going to, and you haven’t read any text yet,” said Lownds. This human-centred approach to design comes down to how tm stagetec approaches the beneficiaries of their products. “We are really looking at the human experience for the end user, not just our customer. We also think about passengers as our customers, maybe not directly, but they are the ones judging and using our products, so it’s really important for us to ensure that they get the best experience.” Focusing on the customer needs has also influenced the technical architecture of the Smart pi ecosystem. A focus throughout the three-year development process has been on finding energy savings where possible and reducing equipment counts while allowing for redundancy in the network when needed. One example of this is the network amplifier module (NAM). Rated to work at temperatures from minus 30 to 60°C, the module involves no moving parts to reduce maintenance needs and power consumption and instead relies on
technology such as heat sinks to work in harsh environments. The NAMs can also be the nodes from which a cable for a hearing loop runs off and being mounted in the field enables cable lengths to be cut from 150 metres to 10, reducing the amount of power needed for the hearing loop itself. The modular nature of the system also enables scalability. Databases can be enlarged or reduced depending on the size of the network and the physical hardware needed can match, meaning that the ecosystem can provide for an entire metropolitan network or a single-line system, along with any number or array of devices in between. The decision to build the product range in this way comes down to the approach that tm stagetec have taken throughout. “We want to have a tool that’s the product which the customer can then basically customise or personalise without having to come back to the supplier all the time,” said Head. With the system now in the final stages of testing, which includes running 10 screens off a Microsoft Surface over a WiFi connection to push the system to its limits, the project has brought together a number of threads into a cohesive solution, said Head. “Everything that we’ve learnt has gone into this.”
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Workforce, Certification & Training
Creating a pathway to rail Bombardier’s efforts in Australia to grow and maintain a diverse workforce are at the core of what makes a successful rail business today. In late September, a milestone was reached at Bombardier Transportation Australia. The date marked 12 months since the launch of the Women’s Professional Network (WPN), an internal empowerment group for the women employed at Bombardier’s sites around Australia. To mark the occasion, a photo taken earlier in 2020 was published on the manufacturer’s social media sites showing the Melbourne base WPN members, and a few male staff, standing in front of a newly built VLocity train set at the manufacturer’s Dandenong facility. Demonstrating the commitment to diversity from the top down, standing at the front of the group were Victoria’s Minister for Women and Prevention of Family Violence, Gabrielle Williams, Australasian Railway Association (ARA) CEO Caroline Wilkie, ARA Chair Danny Broad, CEO of the St Kilda Gatehouse, Stacey Aslangul, and president of Bombardier Transportation Australia and New Zealand Wendy McMillan.
“Diversity has many faces but the WPN is a shining example of grass roots work that is being done in our business to help lift our female colleagues in their work with Bombardier Transportation,” McMillan said to acknowledge the project’s milestone. The significance of having a leader like McMillan is not lost on Rahul Kumar, head of human resources Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia at Bombardier. “It starts from the top. Most of the diversity and inclusion initiatives have to be top driven, so the leadership buy in is key for us and we’re very lucky to have Wendy as president.” Kumar has been part of a core team that has been leading a push on diversity and inclusion at Bombardier in Australia. Avoiding large, complex projects that lose momentum and fail to be implemented, Kumar has focused on grassroots initiatives such as the WPN that can be sustained over a long period. “If we’re going to be focussing on diversity, let’s bring women together. Most
Earlier in 2020, Bombardier celebrated International Womens Day with CEO of the ARA, Caroline Wilkie, Victoria’s Minister for Women and Prevention of Family Violence, Gabrielle Williams, and President of Bombardier Transportation Australia and New Zealand Wendy McMillan.
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of the work is done outside of HR by testing and commissioning engineer Kamakshi Rambhatla. What started as just an effort of getting women together has now resulted in mentoring programs, we’ve had workshops being run by local speakers and we’ve had our local member for Dandenong and the Minister for Women, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams come and address them.” In the 12 months since its launch the WPN has not only improved the careers of those involved and connected women from Bombardier’s sites across Australia but has inspired a movement of sorts with other WPNs being born in Southeast Asia and India. Today, over 20 mentoring groups run under the WPN banner, and an award and recognition program highlights those who have gone above and beyond. “We now get 20-30 nominations consistently every month,” said Kumar. “At the start, we had to go and ask, ‘Do you want to
Rahul Kumar has facilitated grassroots diversity and inclusion initiatives at Bombardier.
nominate someone?’ Now it’s changing from a pull to a push system.” While the program has driven engagement internally, Kumar is aware of the challenges of attracting not only women, but young people, and people from a variety of cultural backgrounds to the rail industry. However, this has not dissuaded Kumar from trying. “Everyone keeps telling us we don’t have female graduates, we can’t find females in shop floor roles, we can’t find tradeswomen. It’s a reality too, and it’s not easy to find if you advertise, but we said, ‘Are we going to stop at this problem or are we going to find a way?’” In addition to the traditional pathways into a manufacturing career such as apprenticeships and graduate programs that Bombardier offers, development plans were put in place to provide pathways for those who maybe not have been able to access the same training and education opportunities or who did not come from a traditional rail background. One of these was TRANSIT. Set up by the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA), the initiative highlights potential rail careers to those from other sectors that were in decline, in particular the automotive sector. Also, in collaboration with LXRA, Bombardier partnered on GROW, which seeks to introduce people from marginalised or disadvantaged backgrounds – including asylum seekers, refugees and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – to training and employment opportunities in the transport and construction industries. A third program that Kumar invested in is the Overseas-Qualified Professionals program, run by Melbourne Polytechnic, which provides a pathway for
those with international qualifications to have their training recognised in Australia. “In a conventional world, individuals from these programs would have found it difficult to get through because they either didn’t have the skills, the background, or the education,” said Kumar. “We have broken those barriers; they prove themselves during internship programs and they considered against any open position in Bombardier. “We focused on these unconventional ways of getting talent in and once they’re in, then we make sure that they have a buddy and a mentor to put them on the journey.” Most of our OQP employees are doing a fantastic job, said Kumar. These approaches are leading to success at Bombardier, with the female workforce introduced to manufacturing roles working on the Dandenong shop floor, another first in Bombardier’s long history at the site. There are six women working in various roles currently, and recently, two more female electricians have been selected to join the manufacturing workforce. A similar very structured approach is being followed in our services site in West Melbourne, where we now have four female employees in shop floor roles. “Now we are starting to see cycles building, so all those efforts now are seeing fruition after a two-year journey,” said Kumar. MEASURING DIVERSITY A now common element of corporate reporting is metrics which measure diversity. Often measured at the board level, these metrics can also be across a company as a whole. For Bombardier, the company globally tracks the number of women in management roles.
Beneath these headline figures, Kumar points out, is a focus on ensuring there is a pipeline of diverse expertise, and not only based on gender. In addition, diversity is not always captured in clear percentage figures “What we have done locally is look at how many women we have in succession plans to leadership because we always need to invest and ask if we have that pipeline of talent. Then we also look at diverse nationalities. This is a hard one to track in a place like Australia. For example, I myself came from India and I moved here in 2004. So, when I put my application down now what do I call myself, an Australian with an Indian background? I would not because I have got an Australian passport, I am Australian. We have done informal mapping, and in Dandenong itself we have over 30 different nationalities represented in some shape or form.” Another focus is ensuring that the diversity is spread throughout the business, and not only in roles that are traditionally associated with a gender or cultural background. “Sometimes there are good numbers on diversity but that 10 per cent or 20 per cent figure is skewed because a chunk of it is getting picked up by these traditional functions. In Australia, we are focusing on where we struggle, and that is in what we call conventional rail roles, and that’s building trains, maintaining them and also rail signalling,” said Kumar. The final area that goes beyond a simple statistic is the retention rate. A diverse hiring policy is no use if the staff come and go through a revolving door, so Bombardier is looking closely at the reasons for a person
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Workforce, Certification & Training
leaving the organisation to see where it can do better. “Most people will say I’m going to a new company for career progression but why could
HR business partner Sharon Davis.
we not provide those avenues internally? We will track that to gather that information and then try and make some initiatives to bridge those gaps,” said Kumar.
Testing and Commissioning Engineer Kamakshi Rambhatla.
Two leading participants in the Women’s Professional Network (WPN) program are Kamakshi Rambhatla and Sharon Davis. From differing backgrounds, both attested to the value of the program in bringing together employees and creating opportunities for growth. Rambhatla joined Bombardier Australia in 2011 as an electrical engineer after holding roles as a software engineer at General Electric and before that for a company that made simulators for aircrafts for the Indian Airforce. Taking on the role of Testing and Commissioning Engineer in 2017, Rambhatla has worked on Bombardier’s VLocity trains, the Melbourne LRVs and Adelaide trains. For Davis, working at Bombardier was an opportunity for her to re-enter the workforce after having children. Starting out in marketing and communications, for the past six years Davis has filled the role of HR business partner. In addition to roles on the Melbourne and Adelaide fleet, Davis also worked on the Rail Systems Alliance project. Both were involved in the Women’s Professional Network and found the connections enabled them to expand their skills to new areas. “WPN has given me an opportunity to interact and work with some exceptionally talented people I would have never crossed paths with otherwise,” said Rambhatla. “Such platforms encourages one to explore one’s interests and passions along with broadening one’s network, learning new skills and sharpen existing skills along the way.” Davis explained that the WPN led her to work outside of her specific area and in her case began working on bids as well as strategies to grow the pipeline of women. “Diversity and inclusion is often considered the domain of human resources. But for diversity and inclusion to thrive, people managers at all levels of the organisation need to own it and walk the talk, from the very point of job design. “More recently there has been the opportunity to review the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the flow on to redesigning wellness programs across the business,” said Davis. With training and development selected by the members of the WPN as the highest priority, both Rambhatla and Davis has been involved in passing on skills and knowledge. “It was my privilege to host interns in the testing & commissioning department and for the WPN program at BT,” said Rambhatla. “It was immensely satisfying to mentor interns from under-graduate, post graduate and professional development programs and give them an in-sight into of how things are done in the ‘real world’. It was gratifying to know that the students felt a sense of accomplishment at the end of their internship, knowing well, that their contribution was valued and was being used.” With these experiences so far, Davis has been able to broaden the impact of the WPN to beyond Bombardier by working with the ARA and St Kilda Gatehouse.“The way we operate as a company and contribute to the communities in which we work are key drivers of the change effort,” she said. As Rambhatla highlights, the rewards have been both personal and professional. “If I can through my presence or interaction, inspire students or fellow women to consider a career in rail, I would love to be part of that journey – their journey.”
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THE VALUE OF A DIVERSE ORGANISATION While academic research has proven that diverse organisations are more productive and profitable, as Kumar points out, for an organisation like Bombardier the value of inclusion is self-evident. With products and services operating in over 60 countries and approximately 36,000 employees, working across cultural boundaries is essential. “Having a workforce that’s inclusive is the cornerstone of delivering projects, that’s how we survive.” For example, the high capacity signalling system for the Metro Tunnel Project in Melbourne that Bombardier is delivering as part of the Rail Systems Alliance, brings together Australia and Thailand based teams along with other sites around the world. Similarly, the locally designed New Generation Rollingstock for the South East Queensland network are a collaboration between Bombardier teams in Australia and India. “If we are not a diverse and inclusive organisation, we will start to see it in our delivery, in our products in the way they’re made and developed,” said Kumar. In 2021, Bombardier will be doubling down on these efforts in Australia with the introduction of a hiring process that is blind to gender, sexuality, religion, marital status, and age, to remove any forms of unconscious bias. “We are almost ready with a standard format,” said Kumar. “When CVs come in, they come in all fancy shapes and forms, some have got a vision statement, some have got objectives, so we’re going to remove that. We’re going to standardise our format. We’re going to say if someone is interested in Bombardier we want you to put your inputs into these broad categories and we don’t want your name, we don’t want your sexual orientation, religious beliefs, whether you’re married or not, your date of birth and also any reference to your gender.” While such company-wide efforts are making a difference, as Kumar points out, there are stories every day that showcase why it is always important to keep a focus on diversity and inclusion within rail. “In 2019, one of the graduates from the GROW community was telling me that he was the first in line from his whole family to ever get into a professional job. He had a double degree in engineering but was working part time as a home removalist. There was a graduate position coming up and I got a call from our LXRA contact saying you should have a look at this young engineering graduate. I said, ‘Not a problem, we will put him through the process.’ Now that guy is doing a fantastic job based in our West Melbourne site.”
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Visions for Australia’s rail future A Q&A with Michael McCormack and Catherine King as Australia begins its infrastructure-led recovery. - SEE PAGE 24 A modular information system putting the customer at the centre
How diversity is building the rail industry
Combining labour and training for a workforce solution
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Workforce, Certification & Training
Flexibility the key to unlocking efficiency With rail organisations having to respond to ever more complex events, having a workforce management system that can adapt is critical. No matter how well-developed a plan is, it is only as good as how it is applied. When it comes to rail scheduling and planning, the most workshopped, tested or modelled plan will be judged against how it delivers on the day of operations. “It’s relatively easy to develop an efficient master roster but where many of the available market solutions fall short is their ability to monitor and respond to emergent changes once that plan is being executed through the day of operations,” said Cameron Collie, senior business consultant for Dassault Systèmes. “In rail, there are numerous unplanned changes that can impact or change who you’ve got available on the day and so it can become largely irrelevant how good your original plan is if 20 minutes into the day of operations things change and your planning assumptions become invalid.” Collie has worked with rail operators to apply the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq application to overcome these challenges. The system, used by global rail organisations such as Eurostar, Swiss Federal Railways and Amtrak, provides rail operators in the freight and passenger sector with a dynamic and flexible workforce management platform that enables long-term planning and demand forecasting for planned events. “The types of events that need to be taken into consideration by planners include leave planning, special events that may be occurring, such as grand finals or royal shows that cause variations in the demand and variations due to holiday periods, for example there might be reduced running over Easter or Christmas periods,” said Collie. “In freight, we often see seasonal variations. Typically the movement of grain is very seasonal, and you need to have different plan options to address those. Then of course there’s the requirement to maintain the rail network that can cause outages and cause disruptions to the plan that you’re seeking to resource.” To ensure that these planned and foreseen events are taken into consideration, Collie has worked with rail operators to forecast and model trends to account for seasonal
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Being able to adapt to changes on the day of operations is critical.
variations. These models are supported by scenarios. When an event occurs, planners are able to manually or automatically undertake a comparative analysis of available scenarios to see what will deliver the best outcome. Employees can also self-manage shift swapping through a mobile app, reducing the demand for intervention and ensuring the plan stays on track. But what happens when something unexpected occurs? One of the most common unplanned events can be staff calling in sick. As an integrated workforce management system, the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq software can see where shortages are occurring. “During day of operations, we can see unplanned absences from people calling in sick, which can be fed into the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA solution either via a mobile app or a sign on clerk,” said Collie. “What happens then is any activities that are allocated to that staff member are unallocated. Anything they had assigned moved into the unassigned activity bank and then the planner would then look to assign those activities to one or more other people and there’s a range of alternatives they can do that through.” The tasks can be reassigned manually or by
using optimisation filters to select the most appropriate staff member. “You click on the filter that shows the available and suitable staff to complete that activity. Available means making sure that they’ve got nothing planned in that timeframe and suitable, particularly in the case of train drivers, is making sure that they’ve got all the relevant route knowledge, and traction knowledge to perform the task,” said Collie. “Alternatively, we’ll see late variations in demand and the requirement to run new train services or cancel train services for whatever reason,” said Collie. Caused by a multitude of reasons, the late running of services on the day itself can also lead to pressures on staff. “The trains are trying to run to a schedule, and variations to that can upset the deployment and disposition of your staff and where their next duty may be.” Drawing on information from the scheduling system or traffic management system, the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq application then references this against staff profiles and filters for requirements such as limiting fatigue and tiredness, or even meal break requirements. “The key capabilities required are the ability to receive real-time inputs from all available
A Gantt view of drivers against shift contents in the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq application.
information sources and then for that to trigger automatic conflict and constraint protection,” said Collie. “We’re talking about if a driver is driving one train and that’s late, then he is going to be late to his next driving duty, which may be not on the same rollingstock set, so all of those things are automatically detected to assist the planner in identifying the things that need a level of intervention.” To lessen the need for rapid decision making, and to remove the chance of human error, the software provides automated decision support enhanced by ongoing optimisation, explained Collie. “We’re aiming to make that as simple as possible through scenario-based menu options, rather than driving the need for a planner to perform atomic transaction level changes.” These changes then flow through the entirety of the operational plan, without the need for follow-up changes. “As we get notifications of variations to the operational timetable, we will update the internal timetable version. We have a bespoke technical capability called Propagation, whereby once we receive notification of any
Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq interfaces between rail staff, maintenance staff, and operations.
variation, consequential changes ripple right through all the objects in the database, and each time an object changes in value, that in turn invokes any rules associated with that object variable,” said Collie. “In that way, not only can we tell that the train is running late, but we can immediately determine that the allocated staff member is not going to be able to make his next train duty or it’s going to impede on his meal break or he’ll get to the statutory limits of his footplate or driving time, resulting in the requirement for an emergency replacement driver.” Responsiveness during day of operations can be as real time as the as the data can be supplied to the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq application. A MORE FLEXIBLE FUTURE Driving the push towards greater optimisation and automation is Dassault Systèmes’s focus on the KPIs that rail organisations are accountable to. When it comes to footplate time – the amount of time a driver spends driving a train – optimisation within the planning software aims to balance workforce
Gantt View of drivers against shift patterns as displayed on the Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq application.
requirements against the operational demands. “The optimiser can be running in the background at all times and as those real time events come into the system the optimiser can identify and act and resolve those where applicable,” said Collie. Beyond increasing efficiency, at the core of the system is an understanding of what motivates rail organisations. “If we consider the train drivers or the guards then the single biggest key business driver that we’re trying to achieve is to make sure that no train service is cancelled or delayed as a result of the unavailability of train crew. All of those technologies that we have available to us, propagation, automatic constraint, and conflict checking and optimization are key to this.” Coming out of the experience of 2020, where COVID-19 impacts threw workforce planning into new light, ensuring the resilience of rail organisations in future will come down to having the most efficient and effective way to manage any number of unplanned events and possible plan outcomes. “In the first instance, you’ve got uncertainty in terms of whether you’re going to have increased absenteeism because people are coming down sick and how to deal with that, you have of course the social distancing requirements, so you can only have reduced numbers of staff on hand at any one time, so all the operational norms pretty much go out the window,” said Collie. “It’s highly variable and you need the ability to be flexible with that.”
To find out more about Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq workforce planner follow this link or scan the QR code: https://bit. ly/3j38eVx.
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Workforce, Certification & Training
Putting experience into rail training DB Rail Academy brings 185 years of rail operations expertise to the training of rail staff. The rail renaissance is clearly not a phenomenon that is confined to Australia and New Zealand. Globally, investment in rail is growing, with the sector tipped to continue to grow despite COVID-19 as governments look to environmentally friendly mobility infrastructure as a way to stimulate economies. Major new rail projects are continuing in younger markets as well, with new tracks being laid in countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia where rail has previously not played a large role in moving people and goods. Across many of these projects, experts from some of the more established and technically advanced railways have been brought in to
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advise and consult on the construction of new rail lines. Deutsche Bahn has drawn on 185 years of rail heritage in Germany, and with DB Engineering and Consulting GmbH (DB E&C), the expertise is compiled in order to advise rail engineers, rail operators and public entities around the world. However, Doreen Christmann, strategic business development manager for DB Rail Academy, Deutsche Bahn’s full-service training provider for the global rail and transport sector, pointed out that the job is not complete when the final sleeper is laid. “If you want to implement a new railway line, you need to have qualified staff beforehand,” said Christmann. Seeing that the need for well-trained and
qualified staff was an ongoing exercise, DB E&C established the DB Rail Academy to provide ongoing training and education. “We established the DB Rail Academy four years ago with a more strategic and comprehensive approach. To stay with the customers and to support and guide them through the whole process after the establishment of the project and once the operation had started,” said Christmann. DB Rail Academy launched in 2016 with its first customer in Dubai, where the local Roads and Transport Authority is in the process of establishing new automated metro lines, a tram network, as well as buses and ferries. “We began by supporting them in the
CREDIT:MARCOS BORGES
International Certification Program in Brazil
CREDIT:DOREEN CHRISTMANN / DB RAIL ACADEMY
establishment of their entire qualification system. One of the results is that they now have a training centre based on our recommendations,” said Christmann. In addition to newly established transport authorities, the DB Rail Academy has also been embraced by transport operators in Latin America who are investing in renewing and expanding their rail networks. In other countries that have a longer history with rail, such as India and China, the training provider can offer training in upgrading to the latest systems and processes, highlighted Oliver Stoffel, business development manager at DB Rail Academy. “We have larger countries, with a longer history of railways, that need assistance in terms of transition from older standards and technology to state-of-the-art technology,” he said. “Then we have countries which are already very professional in the rail industry, Singapore springs to mind, where it’s more about the exchange of experience and being a sparring partner to our customer and client.” In Australia and New Zealand, DB Rail
Fundamentals in System Rail Training in the USA
Academy can support new projects in geographies that have not been served by rail, or enable operators to migrate to new technologies as part of their revitalisation of rail services. A NEW APPROACH TO TRAINING While having the right skills to meet the rail investment boom is an issue that is facing Australia and New Zealand, there are issues with low numbers of drivers and staff that are already impacting existing networks. Transport operators have often been caught short and have had to cancel train connections due to a lack of personnel. With a higher number of drivers, guards, and station staff rail operators can expand the number of services and compete with private freight operators who are also hiring from the same pool. Robert Wagner, regional director Australia for DB E&C noted that knowledge transfer needs to occur. “The competencies are there and really focused in the experience of the older staff, but there’s no one that’s actually transferring this knowledge to younger people who can take over when these staff retire. This is something here on a broader scale, how do we train staff in general, not only train staff, but also train controllers and train attendees and others?” When it comes to training the next generation of rail workers, DB has the advantage of experience. “Academic training or training from schools and universities is more theory, and what you miss is the real problem and realising in the day to day course of a business the operational issues that you only face if you’re working in this business,” said Christmann. “This covers not only the best practices but also the lessons learned along the way, what mistakes did we make, what we learnt out of it, and how can
we improve?” Currently, DB Rail Academy is in discussions with established training operators to bring its training methodology to Australia. Developed with the Technical University of Kaiserslautern, units within the DB Rail Academy are collaborative and interactive. “It’s not the kind of learning where an expert is standing in front of a bunch of people. In our training courses it’s working together on issues, finding solutions together,” said Christmann. “We go into the depot or workshops or to the train control centres, talk to the people and really see how it is working.” Locally, these methods have been applied in the delivery of new transport infrastructure such as the Canberra Light Rail. DB E&C was engaged for the project and, through DB Rail Academy, provided the training for the trainers of light rail drivers on the new network. “We developed the curricula and the content so it can be taught, and we were present when the first driver trainers were trained, and then they trained a whole bunch of the drivers in Canberra on the system,” said Wagner. This example illustrated how a rail project goes beyond the physical infrastructure required to get the system up and running. “We as the consulting engineer, reviewed the works they had done outside on the line, the overhead catenary, the depot and so on, but also adding our knowledge in terms of well, what do we actually need to have enough train drivers available and suitably trained to the date of commencement of operations,” said Wagner. Having this hands-on training and support ensured the system was a success from day one.
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Workforce, Certification & Training
Momentum Rail Workforce Solutions and CERT Training came together for a workforce solution for the Gawler Line.
Partnering to deliver the rail workforce
A new model of collaboration could be the way ahead for a labour-constrained industry.
In 2018, after years of waiting, work began on the full electrification of the Gawler Rail Line. A critical project to modernise Adelaide’s rail network and allow for the introduction of electric rollingstock, the relatively small size of the rail sector in South Australia presented an obstacle for the project – how to get the right number of qualified people to work on the project. An issue not uncommon to rail projects around Australia, the limited supply and ageing demographic of the rail workforce means that labour shortages are a significant issue, said Angela Henderson, national operations manager of Momentum Rail Workforce Solutions, a specialist rail services and personnel provider engaged for the project. “The challenges are that there is really a set amount of qualified people with the correct competencies to do the roles required for this project and we need more than what there is in the pool,” said Henderson. The specific roles that the project required were protection officers as well as stopboarders. Staff in these roles play a safety critical role in managing the traffic coming in and out of the
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worksite. To meet this need, Momentum joined forces with sister company rail training provider CERT Training (Centre for Excellence in Rail Training) to provide the staff with the required level of competency to work on track. Initially, the project has focused on the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) owned section of rail, which requires specific knowledge of ARTC safe-working rules. Getting staff to this level of competency took a combination of theory and practical knowledge, said Michael Arthur, CERT general manager. “The staff need to be trained up on the ARTC safe working rules, and the process for that is a combination of formal training in the classroom and also on-site training and mentoring them with experienced Momentum staff members to get them to the level of knowledge and capability to perform those duties on their own.” So far, three groups have been conducted through the program, with training for each combining in classroom and on-site instruction taking two months. What made this project possible, was the unique combination of CERT’s training capabilities with Momentum’s workforce
solution. Momentum has collaborated with a job provider to find suitable candidates, while CERT has ensured that they have the required qualifications to be on the worksite. By working with a job provider, staff have been drawn from outside the rail industry and from a diversity of backgrounds, including women, long-term unemployed, people from minority backgrounds and Indigenous people, overcoming the traditional demographics of the rail industry. On the Gawler project, this has meant for those roles covered by Momentum, staff have not had to be poached from other projects. “What we’ve found is that we’ve been able to enlarge that pool of required people for the project,” said Henderson. Momentum’s experienced senior employees then mentored these employees to be ready to productively complete the work required, said Arthur. “Through the mentoring process, the trainees get to consolidate their learning, and once they’re able to prove that they are competent, we get sign off from our trainer that they’ve passed the theoretical and also demonstrated that in a practical environment, then we can
issue them their qualification for safe working.” In this program, CERT and Momentum, both companies under the Engenco Group umbrella, have been able to combine their distinct abilities. “Together we can offer a complete workforce solution to our clients and that’s exciting,” said Henderson. “By coming together, we bring that expertise together and we offer a very good product to our client.” As Anthony Fritsche, executive general manager – Workforce Solutions outlines, the outcome is more than a job, and more than a training qualification. “It’s actually about offering a full pathway, when you put training and labour together you offer a whole onboarding, employment, and career development program. The full value chain in human resource solutions.” A COLLABORATIVE WORKFORCE SOLUTION In the case of the Gawler project, the collaboration would not have been possible without buy-in from the lead contractor, in this case Lendlease. Rather than mandating that staff have 6 to 12 months of experience before working on the project, the contractor trusted CERT’s ability to appropriately train staff before coming onto site, said Henderson. “The way the project is structured, the new staff can work under another protection officer, and is directing them. They’re able to get the experience required through that process by having that more senior person there constantly to assist them.” The on-site supervision is backed up by CERT’s rail training heritage, with training built
New entrants to the rail industry have been given practical and class-room based training.
The partnership is building the rail workforce of the future.
upon industry experience, highlighted Arthur. “We make sure that our trainers have industry leading backgrounds and experience in all the different disciplines that they deliver. We have subject matter experts that create the resources internally and we work very closely with operators in the industry, to make sure that everything that we’re using is current. Then we work closely with Momentum to ensure that the training programs that we have available are adequate and fit for purpose for their staff when they go out on site and meet the needs of the rail operators.” With the staff now out on track working, there is the opportunity for them to take these skills further in the rail industry. Some will add competencies to their skill sets as the project moves from ARTC track to rail controlled by the South Australia Department of Infrastructure and Transport, while others will be able to take the skills they have learnt so far and apply them to new projects, creating a pipeline of skilled, competent and experienced rail workers. “Having entered with no background at all, the opportunities for them to develop and work their way through the system is endless,” said Arthur. “They can go as far as they want to go.” With the experience on the Gawler project, there is also opportunities for the model to be applied to other areas of the rail industry. Already, CERT and Momentum are working with a national freight operator to find, train and deliver drivers, terminal operators, and shunters. “Operators recognise that there’s an ongoing demand for drivers that isn’t being met through traditional means,” said Arthur. “We’ve worked with them to put together a program now where we’ll take people with no
rail background and run them through a series of training programs that includes vocational placement that will allow them to gain practical experience and ultimately the plan is to work them right through until they become qualified drivers.” With labour shortages a critical issue for the rail sector as a whole, innovative workforce models such as this will be critical for the sector’s future. “The traditional way of offering a dollar more than the next operator down the road to pinch their staff is a very short-sighted model and not one that’s going to be sustainable,” said Arthur. “Whether the projects be safe working, infrastructure, or driving operations, we’re looking at programs across the country and where we can provide our clients a pipeline of staff who are new entrants to the industry. They are trained specifically for that operator in their rules and procedures, and then through Momentum, we’re able to place those people into employment. It’s effectively providing a customised, tailored workforce solution that’s implanted into a client’s business and then able to grow to meet their ongoing demand.” Fritsche highlights that this workforce solution will be key for the rail industry to meet the demand for skills and labour. “This model will be able to increase the pool of talent in a structured way. We’re building a fit for purpose workforce of the future through this type of model, drawing upon different demographics and because we’re providing the training, the skills, the knowledge and the employment, then we can control that whole process ensuring an effective and sustainable outcome.”
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Workforce, Certification & Training
A local home for rail’s next generation Thales is investing in the local workforce to enable rail’s next generation to fill the digital skills gap.
Fifty per cent of all new hires in the past 12 months have been female and close to half of Thales’s transport workforce is under the age of 40.
According to a 2015 report from Deloitte Access Economics, by 2020, Australia was expected to have a digital skills gap of 100,000 people. According to business leaders, last year, the technology sector was an estimated 200,000 people short. Within the rail sector, similar shortages of these in-demand skills are being reported. In the Australasian Railway Association’s 2018 investigation into the workforce capabilities of the rail sector, by financial year 2021, there would be a 29 per cent workforce gap in the area of engineering, ICT, and science technicians. By 2024, the gap is expected to grow to 26.7 per cent of the workforce required. For ICT professionals, the picture is only slightly better, with a 22.6 per cent gap expected in 2024. At the same time, the demand for digital skills has never been greater. In NSW, the state government has committed to the digital transformation of transport. The Sydney Metro line is one of the most technologically advanced passenger railways in Australia, and Transport for NSW’s Digital
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Systems program aims to put Sydney Trains at the forefront of digital rail. Across all sectors, the state hopes to become the digital capital of the southern hemisphere. To enable this digitisation of transport, governments around Australia and New Zealand are looking to partners in the private sector who can help them achieve this vision. One of those partners is Thales, which has established a digital innovation lab in Western Sydney to connect local talent to the digital innovation happening around the globe. Thales Australia strategy director for ground transportation systems, Sita Brown, is watching how these demands for next generation technology are playing out locally. “We’re already starting to see the implementation of new technologies in industry, an increased demand for automation and things like big data”. With Thales’s business covering not only rail but defence, aerospace, and security, Brown is aware of both the broader demand for digital skills and the specificities of rail’s workforce needs.
“Digitisation is obviously not unique to rail, but I think the issue that we have in rail and why this is such a hot topic at the moment is that rail is undergoing this unprecedented investment and modernisation at precisely the time when the industry is suffering from a real skills shortage,” she said. Outside of NSW, next-generation digital signalling is being installed in Melbourne and Brisbane, and planning for high-capacity signalling in Perth is underway. Australia’s freight rail network has also led the world in automation to achieve higher levels of productivity. Each of these systems require digital skills and knowledge in the planning, implementation, and delivery stages, while opening the door for further digital innovation. Rather than a single digital skill set, digital capabilities will be needed across an entire industry. “We’re going to need to become an industry with a highly technical skillset,” said Brown. “Specifically, skills in cyber security and data analytics will be essential in helping to create more efficient, safe, reliable, and sustainable transport systems.” BUILDING THE BASE OF DIGITAL TALENT To meet the demand for digital skills Thales is harnessing the energy of youth. With 35,000 students enrolled in information and communications technology courses around Australia in 2017, and numbers continuing to grow, capturing this wave of younger talent is one way of meeting the digital skills shortage in rail. Thales’s graduate program is attracting these students as they graduate. “We are attracting some top talent through that program which brings new people into the organisation and into the rail industry,” said Brown. “With new people comes new thinking and fresh ideas. No one would argue that graduates are the future of our business.” It’s widely acknowledged that rail faces not just a skills but a demographic crisis, as a significant chunk of the current workforce reaches retirement age. In addition, the traditionally male-dominated nature of the industry has hampered efforts to reach a broader segment of the workforce.
“Thales Australia is genuinely committed to supporting a culture of diversity and inclusion. It’s no secret that more diverse and inclusive teams, whether you’re talking age, gender, background, race or whatever it is, are more productive, creative, and produce better results for the business as a whole,” said Brown. “Our transport business is one of the most diverse businesses in Thales Australia. Almost 50 per cent of all new hires in the past 12 months have been female and close to half of our transport workforce is under the age of 40, so we are making great progress bridging the diversity gap” said Brown. Harnessing the potential of rail in solving some of the big issues facing humanity is another pull factor for young graduates, as is the fact the company stretches beyond transportation into many other areas of activity likes of defence, space, aerospace and security, to name just a few. “I think rail has suffered from a poor industry image in the past – an image of being a low tech, heavy electro-mechanical industry. However, people are starting to understand the role that technology plays in rail urbanisation and the benefits this brings to cities and communities. This is helping to attract new talent as is the fact Thales encompasses many and varied areas of activity. Irrespective of which part of the business you look at, the stuff we do is really important,” said Brown. “There’s never a dull day in Thales and it’s difficult to imagine ever being bored in such a challenging environment”. For Thales’s graduates, this means they have the opportunity to rotate across the different parts of the Australian business be it defence or
Thales has invested in a digital innovation lab in Sydney.
commercial and the opportunity to work on real and meaningful things. They are encouraged to challenge the status quo and are able to bring new approaches to problem solving. In turn Thales benefits from fresh ideas, new perspectives, and innovation. Thales has also recently formalised its approach to flexible working arrangements through the introduction of ThalesFlex. “Let’s face it, the next generation want to see dynamic companies with flexible work arrangements” said Brown. “As more and more organisations move to flexible ways of working in the wake of COVID-19, organisations who don’t embrace flexibility will inevitably be on the backfoot in terms of being an employer of choice. This will no longer be a nice to have, but a must have”.
assignments so that they can develop and bring those specific skills back into country,” said Brown. “Sometimes retention can be an issue with the stop-start nature of projects that we’ve unfortunately seen in the past”. While technical knowledge and engineering know-how can be easily imported, Thales is also aware that having experts who understand the local operating environment is equally important. For this reason, Thales has been training up local staff to be the next leaders in rail through internal learning and development programs with a particular focus on project management, including the implementation of a competency famework for project management, IPMA certification, a virtual diploma of project management, and a business acumen pilot.
LOCALISING INTERNATIONAL EXPERTISE IN AUSTRALIA Having been directly involved in some of NSW’s leading digital rail projects, including Sydney Metro, where Thales supplied the central control and communication systems, and Parramatta Light Rail where Thales supplied signalling and communications systems, the company’s global expertise has been invested in Australia. “Australia is a great country to live and there’s an enormous pipeline of work in the region so for the most part we’ve been pretty successful in attracting talent from our broader global organisation and localising those skills here in Australia – either through expatriation or knowledge transfer to upskill our local workforce. We’ve also got a handful of people currently undertaking international mobility
GEARING UP FOR FUTURE GROWTH With Sydney Metro Northwest completed in 2019, Thales announced that it would also be providing its services to the extension of the line that would travel underneath the CBD and to South-West Sydney. As the Parramatta Light Rail project now approaches the final design stage, the depth of knowledge and expertise that has been localised in Sydney and Australia through these projects means that Thales is ready to take on the next challenge. “We have a workforce mobilised with a deep understanding around those market segments so we’re well positioned and eager to win future light rail opportunities and we’ve got the capability to do that in country,” said Brown. “We’ve delivered Northwest, we’re in the process of delivering City and South West and we’re laser-focused now on the future Metro lines.” These investments in people and technology have coalesced around the digital innovation lab that Thales has established at its site in Sydney. To date, the facility has been focused on showcasing Thales’ Integrated Communications capabilities, but will be expanded to include Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling technology, with the site set to become a local centre for excellence in the application of this technology to new and existing railways. Having the lab located locally not only aids in the development of Thales’s workforce but also allows Thales to show operators and customers its commitment to local knowledge bridging the rail industry’s digital skills gap. “We can bring our customers through to showcase and demonstrate our capabilities,” said Brown. “The facility will continue to evolve and expand as we move into 2021.”
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Workforce, Certification & Training
Omada’s graduate engineers are trained and mentored by Omada’s team of experienced signalling engineers.
Learning rail’s complexity With no prior knowledge of the rail industry, Omada’s graduate engineers have been introduced to the complex and rewarding world of rail signalling. In early March, Omada launched their graduate program with the goal of increasing one of the rail workforce’s most lacking resources, that of rail signalling engineers. Nicholas Soilleux and Nathan Murphy were the first two engineers to join the Omada Rail Systems graduate program. Soilleux joined Omada with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours), majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering, from the University of Queensland. For Murphy, joining Omada was an insight into an industry he had previously known little about. Having recently graduated from Queensland University of Technology with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Aerospace Engineering (Honours), he had also completed an engineering internship at
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Aviation Australia. “It was only once I joined the rail industry that I realised how important and integral the signalling field is to the safe and effective operation of railway networks,” said Murphy. Having gotten a glimpse of the industry as it stands, Murphy acknowledged the great potential that the rail industry holds for young engineers. “This is a great opportunity to work in a very stable field, with many future career paths. A great benefit is being able to work under the mentorship of skilled and experienced engineers who have all been amazingly helpful.” With their appetite whetted for what was to come in a career in the rail
industry, Murphy and Soilleux were quickly inaugurated into the world of rail signalling under the guidance of Omada’s directors Luke Craven, Mark Hadfield, and Christopher Miller, along with Signalling Design Engineer and Tester, Neil Shineton. Over the course of the three-year program, graduates will complete their Post-graduate Diploma in Railway Signalling, while being involved in practical work including design, testing, and construction work. During the first months of the program, a new challenge arose. To comply with restrictions caused by COVID-19, Omada shifted to working from home in late March. Training has continued through this shift utilising video calls to conduct online training and tutorials. These are
complemented with exercises, such as filling out example control tables for interlockings. But despite having to working from home, the progress of the training program has not been restricted. As Murphy pointed out, major achievements have been made. “I have achieved Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) assistant signal design competency and have been able to design circuits for a project that I’ll hopefully see implemented,” he said. “Gaining competency to go on site and being able to get into the real nitty gritty of the signalling systems and the reallife application of the signalling designs has been a real milestone.” Having been introduced to the contemporary world of rail signalling, Murphy also highlighted that the technology he is working with now is a far cry from what previous generations of signalling engineers would have grappled with. “Signalling systems are extremely complex and integral to the safe and effective operation of the networks. I’ve been able to see how the systems design for the railway has developed since its first inception in the early 1800s in England.” These insights have emerged through Omada’s inhouse Basic Signalling Training (BST) course, delivered in the first year and providing the basis for further training over the three-year program. The BST course is designed to expose those with no background in rail to the complexities of the industry and enable them to build on a base knowledge of signalling principles, work on site safely and competently, and effectively
Gavin McDowell has previous experience as an electrical engineer, before joining Omada.
Nathan Murphy pictured working on site during his first year in the Omada graduate program.
use design tools and software such as MicroStation. Just two months into the program, Murphy and Soilleux were able to get first-hand experience on Omada’s project at the Rail Academy in Newport, Victoria. While under mentorship and strict guidance, the graduates collected the information needed to upgrade the signalling equipment at the Academy. The aim of this project to upgrade the signalling infrastructure, is to result
in the Rail Academy being one of the best equipped specialist rail training facilities in the world. With Murphy and Soilleux now halfway through their first year of training, in September another new face joined the program. Gavin McDowell, who had a previous career in electrical engineering, took the opportunity to involve himself in the graduate program as a way to begin a career change into rail. Similar to Murphy and Soilleux, McDowell saw the opportunity to be part of an expanding organisation. “I was motivated to join Omada as it is a rapidly growing company with lots of experience working within the railway industry. I was also motivated by their goal of becoming the leading provider of railway signalling engineering services in Australia,” he said. Already, McDowell has been exposed to the different railway standards and networks while gaining an insight into design procedures, interlocking systems, and track circuits, providing a foundation for his future career. Omada will soon be looking for candidates to bring into their graduate program’s second intake. If you or someone you know are interested in joining the rail industry, Omada’s graduate program is a strong platform for personal and professional development.
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Workforce, Certification & Training
A harmonised approach to rail training A common approach to rail safety is being supported by a common approach to rail training. Enabling the interconnected rail network in Australia to operate as one system is a critical challenge for the rail industry and regulators. While much attention so far has focused on developing harmonised Standards across operators and infrastructure managers, once these Standards are in place, staff need to be trained to implement or operate under these Standards. At the forefront of efforts to harmonise the Australian rail industry and encourage interoperability is the Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB). In addition to its work on the National Rail Action Plan and projects including the Australian Network Rules and Procedures, RISSB is delivering the training and education that enables the Australian rail workforce to communicate in one language. Michael Aviet, general manager product delivery at RISSB explains how the organisation’s training stems from this essential work.
RISSB’s training program is designed around Australian Standards.
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“One of RISSB’s main objectives is to create harmonisation in industry and by delivering standardised training we can achieve that uniformity across industry,” said Aviet. “All our training is linked back to a product held within RISSB’s Australian Code of Practice documents, whether it’s a Guideline, Standard, or a Code of Practice. What we do is we look at the trainable elements within those specific publications and then move those elements into a training course.” RISSB has been delivering courses such as Rail Safety Investigation and Derailment Investigation and Analysis for a number of years, which are based on RISSB Standards, Guidelines, or Codes of Practice. Another way in which RISSB training aligns with its publications is in their development. “We go to industry, we consult with them about where the gaps are, and what our members and the wider industry requires,” said Aviet. “Once we’ve identified that, we consult
with key stakeholders within industry to help us identify common practices and build the course up to a comfortable level of commonality. Obviously, there are going to be things that are organisation specific, we don’t intend to get involved in telling people how to operate their business, we just want to develop a baseline of commonality through delivering standardised training packages that all of industry will accept.” Harmonisation is also achieved through the Rail Industry Reference Committee, the body responsible for national training package qualification for rail. Sitting on this committee allows RISSB to deliver training that is targeted at what operators are looking for in their workforce. “Through the discussions that happen in the Rail Industry Reference Committee we find out what operators are looking for in their competency matrix for the roles that they have in their organisation. Using that information, we then go out and canvas industry to find if those identified gaps are true,” said Aviet. “We’re not going to fill every gap in industry, and I don’t think that’s RISSB’s role. For us, at the moment, it’s more about complementing the skill sets that are out there, building on people’s experience and knowledge and then trying to pull people towards a more standard, harmonised way of operating.” This thinking has also guided the choices of which courses have been developed so far. One of RISSB’s flagship courses is Rail Safety Investigation which promotes a standardised method of investigation that aligns with the peak rail investigation body, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). As Aviet outlines, by promoting a consistent national approach, further harmonisation will occur. “An operator may conduct their investigation under an incident, cause, analysis method (ICAM) which is a general health and safety style of investigation, but then a different operator may use a contributing factors framework which is based off the ATSB. The idea of the derailment investigation and analysis workshop is to get rid of that and to say, ‘We all operate like this, and it’s consistent
with the ATSB which is Australia’s peak body for rail safety investigations and it’s consistent with what the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR) expects’. It’s that type of harmonisation that we’re aiming for, to bring everyone together.” TAKING THE NEXT STEP IN TRAINING In the past year, RISSB has begun the process to become a registered training organisation (RTO) to be able to deliver courses that benefit industry. Although something the organisation had previously considered, becoming an RTO will enable RISSB to deliver accredited course in their own right and continue promoting harmonisation. “To get that harmonisation we want to put some controls and accreditation around our courses so that they’re recognised as best practice across the whole of Australia,” said Aviet. Also spurring the move to become an RTO was RISSB taking over the management of the National Track Safety Induction (NTSI) course. With a strong demand from industry to have the course delivered online, for RISSB to provide that course in its own right, the move to become an RTO aligned with another initiative, to set up a learning management system for online training. “When we turned our minds to what’s next for training, e-learning or online learning was one of those opportunities that stood out. It was really brought to the fore through external talks about the NTSI course. There is a huge demand for delivering that course online, so doing that presented a significant amount of challenges if we didn’t go down the road of firstly getting an online learning platform and those discussions led to the acceleration of the RTO accreditation discussion as well.” The timing of the move to online learning was also fortuitous as face-to-face training could not be delivered due to COVID-19 restrictions. This made the e-learning platform a natural fit. “COVID-19 has highlighted to us some of the challenges of being able to offer courses within a classroom environment only,” said Aviet. “So, the intention is that down the track, courses will be delivered through blended learning or only online.” The first to be delivered fully online will be the Fundamentals of Risk Management and Rail Fundamentals courses. With online delivery making harmonisation accessible, RISSB’s training is providing the knowledge and expertise for a national rail network.
Rail safety investigation is one of RISSB’s flagship courses.
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Workforce, Certification & Training
Expecting the unexpected Improving rail decision making comes down to the ability to communicate. Trapeze knows the value of having data on hand for workforce management. Kirstyn Glass, a rail operations consultant for Trapeze, knows rail. Fifteen years ago, Glass began her rail career working on ticket sales at the Ekka (Royal Queensland Show) and at Beenleigh Station, south of Brisbane. “That was my introduction to rail. I quickly understood the rail industry working in station operations, directly with the people using the stations, and alongside my colleagues. Being exposed to the issues that
Having a comprehensive workforce management system in place will enable rail operators to respond to planned and unplanned events.
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happen in the industry such as disruptions, late trains, weather events and more, I began to understand the puzzle that is the railway and all the connections it needed.” After rotating through various stations around South East Queensland, Glass then became a train operator, driving freight trains from the Port of Brisbane to Toowoomba - one of the first women to do so. In this role, Glass saw a different view
of the rail industry, one that came directly through the windscreen of the driver’s cabin. With these experiences under her belt, Glass then moved into the planning space. “I went into possession and service planning. In that area, we performed everything from small closures to major possessions, running track machines, as well as special events which covered live sport, concerts, the Ekka, festivals, charters and
trade shows – from small to large, you name it. Anything to do with a timetable alteration would come through the office. Tasks would involve arranging protection on the track, dealing with work groups and overhead teams, organising train replacements where required, and so on.” This role introduced Glass to an array of planning, scheduling and operations tools that were used to alter rosters and schedules to account for planned and unplanned events. “I was using a number of different software programs to change trains, possessions or closures and these had an impact on job cards for crew workings. This would inform a train notice that impacted
various departments within operations, especially when we planned for large events like the Brisbane Exhibition, for example.” At the time, a major challenge across the rail industry was not having a platform to manage these changes in one central location - which meant connectivity was an issue. Decision making was sometimes lengthy and input from other departments could mean further changes to a plan. “We had to open four or five different software programs to have a good overview of the network, or of an event and see the implications of change. A good example is a footy game where the ticket sales increase sharply in the days leading up to the event. A month out, we might be planning for a crowd size of 20,000, but that might eventually end up at 50,000. To be able to rapidly respond, make changes to the trains, edit job cards, notify train control, and notify any workgroups that may be impacted, required coordination across different departments. There were also approvals required for putting on extra services as well as ensuring contractual obligations were met.” As the different platforms did not interface with each other, communication across departments fell back on common stumbling blocks. There were times where the right people with the right skills were not in the right place at the right time. “Of course, when you wanted some information from someone else sitting at another computer, in another building, or in another suburb and they didn’t answer their phone. It creates challenges for yourself and the staff that you work with.” Glass experienced these challenges of workforce management not only in her role as a train planner, but also when she was a staff member who had to use the different systems. “As a train driver, when I wanted to find out my shift times, I would have to ring a phone number and an automated voice system would tell me when I was working. It would be three or four minutes on the phone, listening to that shift be read out by a machine, line by line and then moving on to the next day’s shift.” Glass is now enabling rail operators to overcome these challenges with the Trapeze operations and workforce management solutions. However, it is her experience of being a user of legacy systems that Glass reflects on, when delivering the latest integrated planning solutions. “When you’re working a 24/7 roster, being
engaged with your depot and accessing your workings is really important for your lifestyle. We would only receive 48 hours’ notice of our shifts, so I couldn’t organise dinner on Sunday until the previous Friday night. One of the things that I am passionate about, is giving people the ability to manage their life, in conjunction with making operator processes cost effective and efficient. It means that you’ll have a happier workforce, both from the workforce managers position, and the field staff by empowering them to manage themselves as much as possible.” Today, Glass provides subject matter expertise on rail operations and works closely with Trapeze clients, to understand their processes and provide business analysis of their requirements and objectives. Glass also focuses on delivering the benefits of the Trapeze Rail Planning & Scheduling and Workforce Management tools, supported by their local and global software teams to deliver the software, as well as aligning the Trapeze rail solutions to ensure client needs are met. AUTOMATION TAILORED TO THE NEEDS OF THE RAIL WORKFORCE The workforce management solution that Glass is now working with is a system designed specifically for the transportation industry, with functionality developed for rail. Trapeze brings together the master timetable, with rostering and staff allocation data and implements this on the day of operations. These days, the complex manual tasks that Glass used to come up against can be automated. Trapeze’s g eneral manager rail for Australia and New Zealand, Ben Dvoracek, notes that within this system, workers can view shifts, set up swaps, and communicate with workforce managers. “Workforce management isn’t about controlling staff or changing their lifestyle as much as it is about increasing their ability to communicate with the operation through digital channels and through selfservice roster management. This essentially allows staff the flexibility to deal with events in daily life that require flexibility to view and change their roster with ease.” Designed with the rail worker in mind, the employee self-service function, accessed through a mobile app or web kiosk, aims to streamline communications between operations and front-line staff. The app ensures the right people are in the right place at the right time. “One of the things that I absolutely love
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Workforce, Certification & Training
is the ability for people to set preferences,” said Glass. “Unexpected things do happen all the time, and a worker can set a preference that you might only want to work after a certain time of the day. Then, the dispatcher can efficiently look for the right person to do the shift, because they know that the shift adheres to their preferences, before selecting the employee for the shift.” Having communication through a personalised digital portal removes the need for paper leave requests or overtime forms that require manual data entry and increase the risk for human error. “It’s so important for crew, but also onboard staff, transit officers and other rail employees to see benefits of the systems in place. It means they can do their life administration without having to be on the phone to the dispatcher or the workforce planner. The workforce planner can look at things at a more strategic level and go back to what their job role is intended for, rather than taking these administrative calls.” The system is also designed for the daily operations that are the bread and butter of any rail network. Glass recalls unplanned incidents such as a possum causing a transformer to malfunction, leading to changed running on the network while the critical infrastructure was fixed. With functionality built to respond to the endless array of unexpected incidents that have an impact on employee rosters, while complying with strict rules around fatigue management, Trapeze can enable schedulers to make informed decisions. “Our system has a leading and wellknown fatigue assessment tool integrated into the software, so when a dispatcher or workforce manager is making those changes on the day of operations, they can see the impact on the shifts coming up, and that enables a better plan,” said Glass. In the configuration process, Trapeze can also be set up to comply with Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs), limiting the potential for non-compliance. “There are certain conditions that have to be adhered to, like how many hours people are working, shift length, penalties, whether they receive make-up time, and aggregate pay - so we look at those rules and configure requirements from the EBA into the system. This ensures timetable and payroll management is accurate and compliance requirements are met. When a shift change is made or extended and affects a hard limit, like for example working 11 shifts in a row, operators must have a day off so
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Ben Dvoracek highlights that workforce management isn’t about controlling staff, but allowing them to get on with their lives.
Kirstyn Glass brings first-hand experience in the rail industry to her role at Trapeze.
the system can take that into account by applying blocks or warnings, which supports the workforce planner issuing the change” said Glass. “While deciding if that person is going to be used, the system automates processes such as qualifications and knowledge to do a task, reaching out to multiple departments to check if people are available or the duties are adhering to the labour relations conditions – this reduces touch points and decisions are quick, safe and accurate.” ENABLING STRATEGIC PLANNING In aligning the master timetable with the day of operations, workforce management tools enable long-term strategic planning. As 2020 has shown, being able to flexibly respond to unforeseen and unexpected events is essential for a resilient rail network. Having these experiences realised in the day of operations can allow planners to review and evaluate processes and procedures, explains Dvoracek. “Rail schedulers and workforce planners are constantly managing issues that are happening dynamically within the rail system, rescheduling people, and adapting to changes to the network. All the data that’s produced during that Day of Operations can be utilised back in the planning and scheduling process, to identify whether the schedules that are in place are realistic. For example, at what points are the schedules not being met? Are they not being met during certain times of day or during certain times of the year? You can use that to modify the schedule on the backend to then make your system operate more efficiently, while informing strategy.”
With workforce management tools now able to talk to enterprise asset management software as well as planning and scheduling platforms, collecting this data in a useable fashion can be the way to manage variations in patronage and demand on assets. “With networks changing so rapidly to accommodate for increased passenger demands, assets have such a high rate of utilisation that maintenance activities on these assets can only be performed during select periods of the day. This integration automates the transfer of data between operations and maintenance and makes these decisions more transparent across departments.” said Dvoracek. With operators experiencing rapid timetable and staffing level changes during COVID-19, using the information from how this has played out will enable responsive planning for the recovery of patronage on the network. “Having integrated systems in place enables changes to be implemented quickly and allows rail operators and authorities to start planning for what might happen at the end of this pandemic. Planning for the unknown can lead to so many scenarios and possibilities. By using parameters and algorithms, you can have a view on the possible outcomes of various scenarios so the organisation can understand what’s the safest, most cost effective, and best method for you and your staff to deliver the service to your customers,” said Dvoracek. “Software systems allow you to do more with less and gain valuable insight from your data, enabling you to make better and more informed decisions quickly, ultimately enhancing the experience for your staff and rail customers.”
Safety & Assurance
New Horizons for young rail professionals Organisations involved in the rail industry in Australia and New Zealand are being invited to nominate an emerging leader to take part in RISSB’s Horizons 3.0 Program.
Rail’s best and brightest are invited to nominate for a unique opportunity.
Commencing in February 2021, the Horizons 3.0 Program is aimed at technical professionals aged 35 and under who have been identified as high potential leaders and who would benefit from learning more about the rail industry, understanding RISSB’s role in Standards development, deepening their knowledge of cutting edge technology in rail, and extending their networks. Featuring an immersive multi-month program, attendees will attend forums (either face-to-face or virtual depending on travel restrictions still in place in 2021), participate in hackathons, go on site visits, learn how RISSB develops its Australian Standards, undertake group and individual projects and even participate in a shark-tank style pitching competition. With a focus on professional development, program participants will: • engage with CEOs and senior managers of major transport-related companies; • hear from technical leaders from outside
the rail industry about the real-world application of new technologies; • extend their professional networks; • increase their understanding of, and appreciation for, RISSB’s need to balance safety and productivity; • learn about innovation and new technology that may impact business; • develop their potential alongside handpicked leaders from other organisations; and • assist RISSB and ultimately the rail industry more broadly to further enhance safety and productivity. In 2021, we’re also planning to offer each participant an exclusive opportunity to work with a senior industry figure on an issues-based business case, which they will then present to their business. Since the program’s inception two years ago, more than 100 people from 40 companies have participated. Program attendees have come from passenger operators, freight operators,
track managers, consultants, constructors, manufacturers, ONRSR, ATSB, the National Transport Commission, various government departments, and the tertiary sector. Horizons 1.0 and Horizons 2.0 attracted nearly 100 of the brightest and best from industry with participants, their organisations and the industry benefitting from a dynamic, informative and forward-looking program. A Horizons graduate described the experience as “a fantastic opportunity to network with the next generation of railway technical, safety and operational experts and industry leaders. We’ve had a unique opportunity to view some of the latest technology and projects in the Australian rail industry and learn some valuable lessons from a wide range of industry and management leaders.” If you would like more information about the program or to find out if your candidate(s) is suitable for the course, please contact Phil Allan, RISSB’s strategic relations manager at pallan@rissb.com.au.
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Industry Associations
CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
NSW has recently acquired rollingstock primarily built overseas.
National approach needed for rail procurement The dichotomy between building trains in Australia or overseas ignores the opportunities for procurement reform that would keep Australia competitive, writes Australasian Railway Association CEO Caroline Wilkie. In recent months we have seen two very different approaches to rail procurement in Australia. In New South Wales, the state government welcomed new rollingstock onto the network, after importing trains from overseas. Meanwhile, in Victoria, the state government confirmed the order of the next tranche of V/Line trains, to be manufactured at Bombardier’s Dandenong facility. As one state looked to promote local jobs in its own backyard, the other claimed doing so wasn’t really an option. The truth is, both procurement processes highlight some of the challenges the industry is facing. The NSW government’s erroneous claims that is wasn’t realistic to build trains in Australia were understandably met with disappointment from the industry. We have – and always have had – a strong rail manufacturing industry in Australia. We can be proud of our $2.4 billion
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rollingstock manufacturing and repair industry with capability and experience across the country. Companies like Alstom, Bombardier, Downer, and UGL are leading the way in Australia, with over 900 businesses involved in rail manufacturing and supply nationally. The industry can design, manufacture, maintain, and repair rollingstock to the highest standards, with capability in Cardiff and Broadmeadow in NSW; Dandenong, Ballarat and Newport in Victoria; Maryborough in Queensland; and East Perth in WA. Metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne are the largest centres of rollingstock maintenance and repairs in Australia, and two of the three largest non-capital city employment bases for the industry nationally are in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. But the sector lacks the scale of its international counterparts and is hamstrung by the procurement processes that exist across the country.
While contract awards like those in Victoria do create jobs and support local businesses, more needs to be done to support the longterm health of the sector. Victoria, like most state governments, applies local content requirements at the state level. It is not hard to see why governments are prone to favouring a state-first procurement policy when awarding these contracts. Research conducted by the ARA this year found that while the average business spends about twice their wages cost on intermediary inputs, the rollingstock manufacturing and repair industry spends five times their wages cost. It is understandable that governments believe keeping manufacturing in their state will realise these flow-on benefits and maximise the jobs and economic benefits generated from their investment. But in practice, it really means there are fewer and fewer chances for the industry to
jurisdictions and erodes the size of the project pipeline Australian businesses can work towards. A national approach to rail procurement is the only solution. We need an approach that recognises our manufacturing industry can only grow and scale up if we treat the whole of Australia as one single market. We need to ask industry to deliver an outcome or solve a problem, rather than specify the individual components that must be used, even if they are not the best choice available. We must consider the whole of life costs of an asset, and the additional economic and sustainability benefits our industry can deliver, rather than choose options that are cheap to produce but could cost much more to maintain. If we take these simple steps, the industry will have greater certainty, increase its
investment and training, and have access to a bigger project pipeline. They will achieve new efficiencies and forge innovation that will make a difference for the industry and the people that rely upon it. Ultimately, rail manufacturing will grow and increase its competitiveness, providing more jobs and opportunity than is possible right now. We were heartened to hear NSW Minister for Transport and Roads, Andrew Constance confirm that he is willing to work on the issue with other state governments. With more rail contractors and manufacturers looking to increase their use of Australian suppliers in the wake of COVID-19, there is no better time to act than now. We look forward to working with Constance and his counterparts across the country to deliver better outcomes for the industry and the economy.
CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAILGALLERY.COM.AU
win work, create jobs and support innovation and growth. It means the team working on rollingstock in Victoria might not meet the local content requirements set by NSW, Queensland, or WA. If the same team wanted to bid for a very similar contract outside of Victoria, they might need to have facilities and people located in the state where they are bidding. For many companies, that kind of duplication – often for a single contract – is impractical, expensive, and difficult to manage. Even if they do choose to establish a local presence, the costs can be prohibitive not just because of the need to be local, but because different states may favour different specifications to achieve the same outcome in their tender process. In the end, this creates layer upon layer of complexity that drives up costs, makes it hard for rail manufacturers to work across
Victoria recently purchased 18 more locally made VLocity train sets from Bombardier.
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Contracts in brief
Keep up to date with the latest contracts, EOIs, and tenders announced this month. NSW Registrations of interest for Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport tunnelling package Prospective tenderers are invited to put forward their interest in delivering 10 kilometres of twin metro railway tunnels. The tunnels will stretch from St Marys to Orchard Hills and between the Airport and Aerotropolis. The tunnels will form part of the new rail line which will connect Western Sydney Airport with the city’s rail network at St Marys, via Orchard Hills and Luddenham. Six stations are also part of the project, which begins at St Marys, where the new station underneath the existing Sydney Trains station will enable interchanges between the Sydney Metro line and the existing rail network. The stations at Orchard Hills and Luddenham would support future residential and commercial development. Two stations will be at the airport itself, with one at the Airport Business Park and one at the Airport terminal. A final station will be built at the Aerotropolis, which would be the commercial heart of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis. Contractors shortlisted for Sydney Metro West 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
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kilometres of twin tunnels from Westmead to Sydney Olympic Park. TMS supplier selected for Digital Systems program Siemens has been announced as the successful tenderer for the supply of a new Traffic Management System (TMS) for Sydney Trains. The TMS is part of Transport for NSW’s Digital Systems program, which involves the replacement of traditional signalling with European Train Control System (ETCS) level 2 in-cab signalling. The program also involves the implementation of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) to assist drivers to provide reduced and more consistent journey times. The $80 million TMS will continually monitor the position of all trains, to ensure trains run as scheduled and to assist with responses if incidents do occur. Shadow operator appointed for new Sydney Metro lines UK-based consultancy Ricardo along with Seoul Metro has been appointed as the shadow operator for the two new Sydney Metro lines. The contract covers both the Sydney Metro West and the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport lines. Ricardo will supply advice and technical input from the viewpoint of the prospective operations and maintenance contractor to inform the projects’ design. Ricardo will also assist with the handover process once the final operator is chosen. Seoul Metro, which operates fully automated metro lines in Korea, will also be involved in the shadow operator contract. VICTORIA Contractor selected for Shepparton Line Stage 2 upgrades The Victorian government has announced the successful contractor for Stage 2 of the Shepparton Line Upgrade. A Coleman Rail and KBR joint venture has won the contract, which includes infrastructure upgrades to allow VLocity trains to run on the line, replacing
locomotive hauled N-type carriages. The project involves the extension of platforms at Mooroopna, Murchinson East and Nagambie stations to enable the VLocity trains to stop there. A new stabling facility north of Shepparton Station will also be built. Other works included in the contract include upgrades to 59 level crossings between Donnybrook and Shepparton. The crossing loop near Murchinson East will be extended to enable trains to pass each other. WESTERN AUSTRALIA Preferred proponent announced for MorleyEllenbrook line construction Led by Laing O’Rouke Australia Construction, the winning consortium, MELconnx won out over a joint venture between CPB Contractors and Downer EDI as the preferred proponent for the design, building, and commissioning of the new 21km line and five stations. The rail construction contract is one of four works packages that make up the project. Other packages include the new Bayswater station, works on the Tonkin Gap highway, which the new rail line will run down the middle of, and forward works. SOUTH AUSTRALIA Keolis Downer awarded $2.14bn Adelaide train operations contract The eight-year contract begins on 31 January, 2021 when Keolis Downer will operate Adelaide’s six lines and a fleet of 92 railcars. Keolis Downer will implement a digitalised work platform for Passenger Service Assistants to enable them to spend more time with passengers. The contract is the first heavy rail operations contract for the Keolis Downer joint venture. The company operates light rail in Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Newcastle, as well as buses in NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland. Keolis Downer was one of three consortiums shortlisted for the contract. The others were Adelaide Next, a consortium of Deutsche Bahn and John Holland with Bombardier as a subcontractor and TrainCo, a consortium of Transdev and CAF.
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