Rail Express ISSUE 4- 2018

Giving regional drivers an elite set of eyes PAGE 58

New toys for CQUniversity's Crash Lab students PAGE 51

Timetable for Vic's regional rail overhaul PAGE 21

ISSUE 4 | 2018

Lost on the path to prosperity?

Leading economist's drastic plea

Integrated TETRA & LTE Solutions for Critical Transport Communications Turnkey + Fully Customised Freight Regional Metro Light Rail

Successfully integrated with a wide range of Rolling Stock and Signalling providers

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ISSUE 04

|

2018 CONTENTS

04

From the Editor / Publisher

06

Ownership update

08

Message from ARA CEO Danny Broad

NEWS UP FRONT6 08

10 National 15

37

New South Wales

19 Victoria 25

Western Australia

30 Queensland 34 Tasmania 35

New Zealand

PASSENGER RAIL 46 54

37

Faigle’s diverse range of hanging straps

42

Deloitte’s Richardson warns of massive underspend

FREIGHT RAIL

50

38

Inland Rail boss outlines next steps

46

IA calls on Gov to incentivise road pricing reforms

62

Pacific National gets new sugar wagons

64

Winter crop outlook

66

ARTC Hunter maintenance

58

CERTIFICATION & TRAINING 49

Apprentices to fill more NSW roles

49

Mernda extension smashes skills target

51

New gear helping CQUniversity train future investigators

SIGNALLING, COMMUNICATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Giving regional drivers an elite set of eyes PAGE 58

New toys for CQUniversity's Crash Lab students PAGE 51

Timetable for Vic's regioanl rail overhaul PAGE 21

COVER STORY

54

Authorities team up to tackle Queensland SPADs

55

Alstom wins Sydney Metro signalling maintenance

57

Real-time occupancy stats for Waratah passengers

58

4Tel tech boosting regional safety

60

Opal being extended to bank cards

61

MCS Digital on future of LTE in rail

ISSUE 4 | 2018

Leading Australian economist Chris Richardson says the nation’s ‘lagging’ infrastructure spending has jeapordised future success. Turn to Page 42 for our full report.

Lost on the path to prosperity?

Leading economist's drastic plea

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

3

From the editor

Published by:

Oliver Probert Editor - Rail Express

Positivity around rail at National Summit

T

HERE WERE POSITIVE NOISES FOR rail from all corners at June’s National Infrastructure Summit in Sydney – welcome news for a sector too often left behind in the policy debate.

The tone was set early at the two-day event, with the release of a new report by Infrastructure Australia calling for the Federal Government to establish an incentive scheme encouraging states towards key infrastructure reforms, including road pricing and public transport franchising.

Australasian Railway Association boss Danny Broad immediately welcomed the idea of an incentives scheme, and federal infrastructure minister Michael McCormack said the scheme would help the Commonwealth lean more on the states to “get things done” to fix congestion in capital cities, and improve connectivity in regions.

McCormack was at the Summit to talk about Inland Rail, a topic expanded on greatly by the project’s new chief executive, Richard Wankmuller, who spoke on the Summit’s second day.

Wankmuller explained the significant task ahead for his team, and the work the ARTC is doing to manage the enormous number of

stakeholders involved along the length of the 1,700-kilometre project.

Also on day two we heard from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian who, in the middle of an ugly dispute with major Sydney Light Rail contractor Acciona, announced the state would reconsider its approach to major projects.

Berejiklian said the state would aim to be more collaborative, and less hostile in its dealings with the private sector. It will be interesting to see how this approach is managed by her transport minister, Andrew Constance, who has rarely shied away from public hostility in recent months.

Our reports from the National Infrastructure Summit begin on page 38.

Elsewhere in the July-August edition of Rail Express, we cover the latest in signalling and communications technology (starting page 54), an update from CQUniversity’s training centre (page 50), and much, much more.

Please enjoy the magazine, and don’t hesitate to get in touch. oliver.probert@primecreative.com.au

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 Brad Buchanan E: brad.buchanan@primecreative.com.au Editor Oliver Probert E: oliver.probert@primecreative.com.au Business Development Manager Ben 0’Brien T: 0427 270 774 E: ben.obrien@primecreative.com.au Client Success Manager Natasha Shekar E: natasha.shekar@primecreative.com.au Art Director Michelle Weston E: michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au Design Blake Storey, Adam Finlay, James Finlay

Christine Clancy Publisher

Welcome to Prime Creative Media

I

T IS WITH GREAT PLEASURE THAT PRIME Creative Media welcomes Rail Express to its family of publications.

Since publishing our first magazine title in 2003, Prime Creative Media has appreciated to important role of the transportation and infrastructure to the Australian economy. Rail Express joins our industry leading media platforms in Roads and Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Engineering, Mining and Logistics that make a real contribution to developing and growing these critical sectors.

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

In our efforts across these titles, our goal has been to facilitate the growth of the transportation industry, with content designed to support the individuals and organisations that serve such a vital role in connecting our Australian markets and people.

We look forward to the opportunity to serve the rail industry, at a time when connecting the country through a reliable and sustainable means such as Rail has never been more important. christine.clancy@primecreative.com.au

Subscripions Gordon Watson T: 03 9690 8766 E: gordon.watson@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.

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RAIL EXPRESS

Rail Express acquired by Prime Creative Media The team at Rail Express is excited to announce its acquisition by Australia’s largest independently owned business-to-business, multi-platform publisher, Prime Creative Media.

P

RIME CREATIVE MEDIA formally acquired Rail Express, and sister publication Australian Bulk Handling Review, from Mohi Media, on July 2, 2018.

Prime Creative Media publishes business-to-business magazines across Australia’s critical industrial sectors including: road transport, manufacturing, logistics, engineering, mining and resources, infrastructure, waste management, and education.

The Rail Express team has joined Prime Creative Media’s Sydney office.

“Australian Bulk Handling Review and Rail Express are highly regarded publications in their industries,” Prime Creative Media Managing Director John Murphy said. “We look forward to serving these industries that are so important for the growth and productivity of the nation.”

Murphy says he was excited to acquire titles that are clearly aligned with Prime Creative Media’s current portfolio offering

multiple platforms of print, digital and experiential touch points, as well as strong links to industry associations.

“They are titles that will not only complement our current offering to the manufacturing, transportation, and logistics sectors, but also reflect Prime Creative Media’s brand promise of giving our clients the best exposure to key decision makers,” he said.

“They come to us with a strong, engaged readership and qualified databases. We look forward to continuing to grow the key relationships within the industries these products serve.”

Murphy said he is equally excited to welcome some very talented people to the company, crediting Mohi Media founder Michael Mohi and his team for doing an incredible job of rebuilding these print and digital products.

“I couldn’t be happier with the new home for these titles,” Mohi said. “Prime Creative Media and Mohi Media share

similar values and ways of doing business, with a focus on growing individuals, organisations, and industries.”

John Murphy

& INFRASTRUCTURE

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

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ARA COLUMN

Skills a priority for the rail sector Danny Broad, Chief Executive Officer of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA), writes about the group’s efforts to address a skills gap that could leave the country stranded with not enough workers to undertake the infrastructure work the country will need in the coming years.

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

Danny Broad.

“

A national skills gap analysis is required to forecast national resource requirements in skills and capabilities.

”

and opportunities to workforce development.

The outcomes of this report will inform decisions for promotion and recruitment efforts, delivery and requirements of fit-forpurpose training and competencies, and workforce development planning.

It will also influence consideration given to the coordination and timing of the rollout of projects across the nation and the impact lumpy demand has on the availability and capacity of the Australian rail workforce.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: INFORMA AUSTRALIA

Forecasted investment in rail in Australia.

• The effects of impacting sectors such as road construction, mining and defence projects that are also growing at similar speeds as the rail industry • The impacts of low levels of interest from school leavers seeking a career in rail • Employees being poached between organisations who are often left competing on remuneration packages • Organisations finding it difficult to get employees on the job to project schedules due to the time constraints of new employee training and the limitations posed in gaining pathways to skill competencies.

It is for this purpose, a national skills gap analysis is required to forecast national resource requirements in skills and capabilities. Not only to identify the skills needed for new construction projects but also ongoing, operations and maintenance.

In addition, the ARA has identified that we need to better understand the internal and external impacts, including the aging rail workforce; transferability of skills from other industries; the length of time to close skill gaps; training and competency requirements; impacts of technology on role relevance; and other supply and demand influences.

Our national Rail Skills Gap Analysis Project with BIS Oxford Economics will examine these issues and the types of skills and the number of positions that are required to deliver our national rail project pipeline and any barriers to success.

The project will identify recommendations for industry and government to address the challenges

PHOTOGRAPHY: BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS

T

HE AUSTRALASIAN RAILWAY Association (ARA) sees skills as a priority issue for the rail sector and it is for this reason it has engaged BIS Oxford Economics to undertake an Australian and New Zealand Rail Skills Analysis Project.

The focus of the project is on analysing skills gaps over the next 10 years and identifying recommendations for industry and government to address the challenges and opportunities in regards to workforce development.

With Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments significantly investing in new rail infrastructure and rollingstock at close to $100 billion over the next 15 years, we are seeing some jurisdictions and organisations attempting to quantify the skills required. However, the approach is too narrow and we need a national approach to address our nation-wide problem.

Consideration needs to be given to: • The movement of employment across borders

Holistic National Rail Training Solutions CERT is a Registered Training Organisation (Provider ID 51333) that has offices and trainers that are strategically placed nationally, and in all mainland states, to ensure compliant, responsive and cost effective service to national clients. CERT has the ability to mobilise both personnel and business processes nationally as required.

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Talk to us about how Government funding may assist you

NEWS

NATIONAL

Canberra Light Rail: Stage 1 testing begins, Stage 2 inquiry opens before increasing to 20km/h. Initial tests took place between 10:30pm and 5am.

Before long, the testing process will see the vehicle travelling at its final operating speed of 70km/h and being put through high speed brake tests during both day and night.

While early testing was going on, Federal politicians on the other side of town were debating the finer points of a short section of the proposed route for Canberra Metro Stage 2, which passes through Federal territory alongside Parliament House.

Department of Parliamentary Services secretary Rob Stefanic told a Joint Standing Committee on June 28 the inquiry into the proposed light rail route was, from the Federal Government’s perspective, a “threepronged” affair.

“The first is visual amenity,” Stefanic

said. “As part of our responsibility as custodians of Parliament House, we have a responsibility to maintain the design integrity and the design intent of the parliamentary precinct.

“The [second] is the accessibility component… Parliament House is an icon and has visitation second only to the War Memorial in Canberra, so the light rail should conceivably support visitation to Parliament House and the route should support that.

“The final prong is the working population of Parliament House. Typically on a working day there are about 2,000 people here, and the light rail should support commuters as much as possible.”

Submissions are open to organisations and members of the public keen to contribute to the Joint Standing Committee’s inquiry.

PHOTOGRAPHTY: CANBERRA METRO

CANBERRA’S FIRST LIGHT RAIL vehicles began testing in June, while politicians at Parliament House debated the route for Stage 2 of the new light rail network.

The completion of construction along extended sections of Canberra Metro’s Stage 1 route made way for energisation in June.

Starting with sections of track in the northern part of the project’s corridor, crews powered 750 volts of electricity through light rail electrical equipment and infrastructure. The rest of Stage 1’s 12-kilometre route will be energised in the coming months.

Following electrification checks between Mitchell Depot and Gungahlin Place (Areas 1 and 2 of the corridor), Canberra’s first light rail vehicle began low speed trials of that section, travelling at speeds of 5km/h

Canberra’s first light rail vehicle has begun testing on short sections of track.

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NATIONAL

NEWS

Labor pitches partnerships, not deals, for city planning

PHOTOGRAPHTY: INFORMA AUSTRALIA

Anthony Albanese says local governments need to be given more responsibility in long-term planning.

FEDERAL MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT Anthony Albanese has proposed a more independent approach to cooperative infrastructure planning, saying the Coalition’s City Deals model is limited, unclear, and too often used to appease marginal seats in the lead-up to federal and state elections.

Speaking at the Sydney Institute, Albanese – Labor’s infrastructure spokesperson – accused the Turnbull Government of using its City Deals model to target specific areas in an effort to win elections.

He said an ALP Government would replace City Deals with a better, more independent model, which he is calling City Partnerships. City Partnerships would put more responsibility, and more control, in the hands of local councils, who he believes are currently excluded from proper planning, and are left holding the bag when the electoral cycle shifts the mood in Canberra. “[The Coalition’s] City Deals Program is

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a poor imitation of the UK model it seeks to replicate, with funding commitments that are determined from the top down and tied to the electoral cycle,” Albanese said.

“The lack of rigour and independent oversight means City Deals are subject to political whim. The absence of transparency and clear guidelines has left local councils unsure as to how they can best participate.

And limited engagement with the private sector and the lack of clarity around funding of projects means that all levels of government are missing out on potential value uplift.

“The fact is City Deals have either been in marginal electorates framed around single election commitments or are simply missing depth and detail.”

By contrast, Albanese said, City Partnerships would build on Labor’s “proud urban policy legacy”.

“Our policy comes from months of consultation with local government and

experts from across the sector. We have listened to councils talk about the need for all three levels of government to work together, but in a way that is meaningful.

“Where local government is treated as a genuine partner, rather than as just another stakeholder. And where all the cards are on the table from the outset and priorities are determined in collaboration.”

Albanese, who was minister for infrastructure under the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government, said cities around the country were already keen to adopt the new model, which would secure a more certain long-term planning future.

“Effective City Partnerships can only be delivered through genuine collaboration with all three levels of government and the private sector,” he said. “We will ensure City Partnerships are underpinned by a strong evidence base and proper analysis to maximise return on investment and social outcomes.”

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

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NEWS

NATIONAL

Collaborative research to map route for rail technology development The Smart Rail Route Map will look at long-term priorities for technological development.

THE AUSTRALASIAN RAILWAY Association (ARA) is teaming up with the Rail Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) and Deakin University to map out the rail industry’s long-term priorities for technological development and innovation.

The Smart Rail Route Map will be developed by a project team from Deakin University, which will provide expertise in Systems Mapping when workshopping, developing and modelling this project’s outputs, and from the Rail Manufacturing CRC, which will identify innovative rail research that benefits the industry.

The project team from Deakin University will be led by Professor Douglas Creighton from the university’s Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation.

“The project team is collaborating directly with a newly established steering committee, made up of representatives across the Australian rail industry, to define industry goals, map the key challenges

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ISSUE4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

for the rail sector over the next 30 years relating to technology disruption, and identify focus area objectives and initiatives,” Creighton said.

The $550,000 project will be jointly funded by the ARA and the Rail Manufacturing CRC (each contributing $350,000 and $200,000 respectively).

“The Smart Rail Route Map will help our industry to realise the vision of a national approach to rail technology, bringing economies of scale, support interoperability and many other efficiencies,” ARA chief executive Danny Broad said.

The Smart Rail Route Map will reportedly be “technology-neutral” – i.e. technologies will be assessed without predetermined biases – and communicate details and findings in a “non-technical” manner. Project outputs will be owned by the Australian rail industry and are to support the efficient and cost-effective development of new technologies and services.

“The Smart Rail Route Map will translate ideas and data into a meaningful direction for how the Australian rail industry can leverage technology in the coming decades,” Rail Manufacturing CRC’s Dr Stuart Thomson said.

“The Rail Manufacturing CRC looks forward to working with the ARA and Deakin University to see tangible collaborative opportunities identified.”

An initial Smart Rail Industry workshop was held in Melbourne in April, while four mini-workshops have been carried out with the steering committee and various industry participants on the map’s key focus areas: customer service for passenger and freight rail, traffic and network management, and high-performance rail.

The Smart Rail Route Map is to feature at the ARA-hosted Telecommunication and Technology Forum in Melbourne on 30 October 2018. The project will reportedly be complete by the end of 2018.

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NATIONAL

NEWS

Perth projects submitted for federal approval BUSINESS PLANS FOR TWO OF PERTH’S Metronet projects, the Thornlie-Cockburn Link and Yanchep Rail Extension, have been submitted to Infrastructure Australia following their endorsement by the Western Australian Government.

WA premier Mark McGowan said construction is expected to begin on the projects next year, with both rail lines to be delivered by one contractor.

“Development around train stations can take many years, however Metronet puts these areas in a good position to maximise our investment and create connected, liveable communities,” the premier said in June.

The Yanchep Rail Extension will extend the Joondalup Line with a new 14.5-kilometre section from Butler to Yanchep, and three new stations.

The Thornlie-Cockburn Link will also see 14.5 kilometres of new passenger

railway constructed to connect Thornlie and Cockburn Central stations, with two new stations at Nicholson Road and Ranford Road.

The total cost of both projects is $1.056 billion, with the federal government set to provide $700 million, and the state government $356 million. Federal funding would no doubt come into question, however, if IA disagrees with the WA Cabinet, and finds one of the project not to achieve necessary benefit-cost ratios.

State transport minister Rita Saffioti indicated both rail links would receive IA approval. “The rail connections for the both the northern suburbs and through Canning Vale have long been talked about,” the minister said. “These plans recognised rail as essential infrastructure and an important travel option to help connect and move people living and working in the area.”

The procurement process for the

construction of the two projects will begin in the coming months, with a contract expected to be awarded next year. A tender has already been released for consultants to carry out geotechnical and groundwater investigations, while a briefing session for the construction industry was held on July 18.

Saffioti said the community and stakeholder consultation process for the projects had helped guide their design.

“I am also pleased that our consultation with existing residents has already led to changes so that there will be more ballast matting under both new passenger lines and under the existing freight line between Thornlie and Cockburn to reduce noise and vibration,” she said.

Construction of the Thornlie-Cockburn Link and Yanchep Rail Extension is expected to begin next year. The opening of both lines is planned to take place in 2021.

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NEWS

NATIONAL

First Inland Rail construction contract awarded A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN BMD Constructions and Fulton Hogan has been declared the preferred construction contractor for the Inland Rail project’s Parkes to Narromine section, where major works are to begin later this year.

The joint venture, INLink, became the first winner of a major construction contract for the Inland Rail project when Inland Rail chief executive Richard Wankmuller made the announcement in July.

Wankmuller said there would be further opportunities for regional companies and businesses to work on the Parkes-Narromine section, with INLink now looking towards finding suppliers.

“With early works on Inland Rail now well under way, residents and local businesses will increasingly see the flow-on benefits, including jobs and new investment opportunities,” Wankmuller said.

“INLink will be putting together their environmental management plans

and applying for their Environmental Protection Licence to lay the foundations for major construction.”

The 106-kilometre Parkes to Narromine section is to utilise existing ARTC operated track. It will undergo extensive upgrades, including the replacement of bridges and culverts, enhanced level-crossings and three new crossing loops at Goonumbla, Peak Hill, and Timjelly. A new 5-kilometre long connection to the Broken Hill line west of Parkes is also to be constructed.

There are also to be ancillary works for the flood immunity of the line, along with improvements to stormwater and drainage, and upgrades to existing fencing of the rail corridor.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation will be awarding further contracts for the project over coming months in the lead-up to construction on the section.

Regular delivery of concrete sleepers

to Peak Hill from Braema, Mittagong, has been under way for some time. 200,000 will eventually be produced by local business Rocla.

“Construction materials have already started being delivered with materials arriving from all over Australia and NSW,” Wankmuller said. “6534 tonnes of Whyalla steel rail have already been delivered and the first of 200,000 concrete sleepers have arrived in Parkes from Mittagong in the Southern Highlands.”

Community sessions are to be held in the Parkes region over the coming months, where landowners, business owners and local residents will be able to receive information about the project and provide their input to the ARTC. “We’re operating in and are a part of these communities,” Wankmuller said.

“ARTC has long held a provisioning office in Parkes to maintain the interstate rail network and we’re to open our Inland Rail shopfront there soon.”

The Smart Rail Route Map will look at long-term priorities for technological development.

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NSW

NEWS

PHOTOGRAPHY: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU

Businesses push for fast Sydney Metro West A RAIL LINE CAPABLE OF moving passengers between Sydney’s CBD and Parramatta in just 15 minutes would maximise jobs and economic activity, a new report has said.

Sydney Metro West is the proposed third stage of the Sydney Metro urban rail programme, and the Committee for Sydney, the Sydney Business Chamber and the Western Sydney Business Chamber in July released a report analysing options for a 25-minute, a 20-minute, and a 15-minute transit between the city and Parramatta along the route.

The report’s modelling found a 15-minute scenario including five core stations would generate the most jobs. A 15-minute train line would create 70,000 additional jobs in Westmead, 75,000 in Sydney Olympic Park, and 45,000 in Parramatta – figures which combine for 39,000 more jobs than what would be generated by a 25-minute train line, according to the modelling.

“Sydney Metro West will be city shaping,” the Committee for Sydney’s policy director Eamon Waterford said. “With a fast journey to Parramatta, it will support the NSW Government’s vision of rebalancing jobs from the eastern Sydney CBD towards the Central River City focused on Greater Parramatta and, in future, the Western Parkland City.”

Sydney Business Chamber’s Western Sydney Director David Borger reiterated a faster journey showed more benefits under the modelling.

“Areas like Westmead and Olympic Park could see an additional 20,000 - 30,000 jobs created if the journey was 20 minutes or less,” Borger said.

“These would also be high-quality, skilled jobs, the sort we need to boost the economy of a rapidly growing Western Sydney.”

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The Federal Coalition has yet to commit to fund the Sydney Metro West, still in its early design phase.

Minister changes tune on funding NSW TRANSPORT MINISTER ANDREW Constance told the media he’s happy with the way the Federal Coalition is treating the Western Sydney Metro, days after Labor leader Bill Shorten said an ALP Government would provide $3 billion to the project.

Shorten, speaking at a NSW Labor conference in Sydney, said an elected Labor Government would provide $3 billion to the Sydney Metro West project, and $3 billion for a rail line to the future Western Sydney Airport.

Constance, a front-bencher in the NSW Coalition Government, has pushed for Federal Government funding to the Western Sydney rail developments for some time.

The Federal Coalition has said it will take part in a 50/50 funding program for the line to the new airport, but is yet to commit funding of any kind to Sydney Metro West, which is still in the early design phase.

Just days before Shorten’s conference, Constance was quoted as saying that his federal colleagues should commit money to Sydney Metro West.

“Canberra need to seriously start to look at this project to make this work,” the state transport minister was quoted as saying. “If I can get Canberra also interested in this it has the potential to be even more fantastic.”

But on Monday, a day after Shorten made his $6 billion rail commitment, Constance stood beside his federal Coalition colleague Paul Fletcher and denied he was pressing for funds.

“I’m very happy with the way in which the national government is investing in infrastructure in this state,” Constance was quoted as saying.

Addressing Shorten’s commitments, Constance reportedly continued: “You’re untrustworthy when it comes to these dollars because your state counterparts when they were last in office promised all of these projects and didn’t deliver a thing.”

Labor transport spokesperson Anthony Albanese slammed Constance’s perceived backflip, saying on July 3: “Mr Constance is more interested in politics than delivering Metro West. He should dump the hypocrisy and grow up.”

Albanese said all levels of government had to work together to deliver the rail line, which will connect the Sydney and Parramatta CBDs with a high-frequency metro service.

“Australians want political representatives to focus on outcomes, not politics,” he said.

“Metro West is a good project. That’s why NSW Labor leader Luke Foley, who understands the importance of infrastructure investment to tackling traffic congestion and boosting economic productivity, has promised a state Labor Government would fast-track construction. It is also why Federal Labor has committed funding.

“Instead of playing political games, Mr Constance should press the Turnbull Government to get behind this important project.”

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

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NEWS

NSW

Parramatta light rail approved; construction to start late 2018

“

Major projects such as Parramatta Light Rail are only possible thanks to the strong economic management of the NSW Liberals and Nationals Government.

”

line would better connect western Sydney suburbs and allow people to turn up and go to their desired destinations.

“Major projects such as Parramatta Light Rail are only possible thanks to the strong economic management of the NSW

Liberals and Nationals Government,” Berejiklian said.

However, Labor’s Opposition leader Luke Foley said the Government ought not “boast” about its ability to deliver the Parramatta project on-time when the Sydney project had been so delayed and beset by problems. “[The premier] can’t tell us when the Sydney light rail project of hers will ever be finished, it is running about two years behind schedule, and yet she has got the gall to get up and boast that she is going to deliver one in Parramatta,” Foley said.

Stage one of the Parramatta Light Rail project will connect Westmead to Carlingford via Parramatta and Camellia, along a 12-kilometre, two-way route including 16 stops.

The current estimate is the line will open in 2023, with trams moving at least 250 passengers and operating every 7.5 minutes during peak. Transport for NSW expects roughly 30,000 people to use the service every day by 2026.

Stage 1 of the light rail project, Expected to open in 2023, will run 12 kilometres between Westmead and Carlingford via the Parramatta CBD and Camellia.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

THE FIRST STAGE OF PARRAMATTA Light Rail has received planning approval and construction is due to start by the end of this year.

Expected to open in 2023, Stage 1 of the light rail project will run 12 kilometres between Westmead and Carlingford via the Parramatta CBD and Camellia.

A total of 156 submissions were made to respond to the project’s Environmental Impact Statement, including 15 from government agencies and other key stakeholders.

While businesses in Sydney’s CBD have complained of shrinking sales due to the protracted construction of the city’s light rail project, state minister Andrew Constance said the Parramatta version would be delivered “on time and on budget”, with disruptions to businesses limited to “months not years”.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said construction of the first stage of the project would be an “exciting time for the people of Parramatta,” and said the completed

NSW

NEWS

Enabling works deal awarded A JOINT VENTURE OF DIONA and Ward Civil & Environmental Engineering was in July chosen to deliver enabling works for the project’s first stage.

As part of the works, George Street in the Parramatta CBD will become a twoway road, and O’Connell Street will be widened to four lanes as part of road and traffic changes ahead of major light rail construction.

The Diona Ward Joint Venture will relocate underground utilities, upgrade intersections, install new traffic lights, and

deliver changes to landscaping, street lanes and parking.

“These enabling works are vital to keep the city moving and to minimise disruption for the people of Parramatta,” Parramatta Light Rail program director Tim Poole said.

“These changes, while not directly along the Parramatta Light Rail route, will provide additional capacity and connections for everyone in the CBD before, during and after the light rail construction.”

The work under the Diona Ward Joint Venture is expected to begin in late 2018.

The contract is the second of four major contracts to deliver and operate stage one of Parramatta Light Rail. It follows a contract to remediate the planned light rail depot site, which was awarded in April 2018.

Contracts to deliver Infrastructure Works, and Supply, Operate and Maintain the Parramatta Light Rail are currently out to tender and will be awarded by the end of this year, Transport for NSW said.

“

These enabling works are vital to keep the city moving and to minimise disruption for the people of Parramatta.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

”

Contracts to deliver Infrastructure Works, and Supply, Operate and Maintain the Parramatta Light Rail are currently out to tender and will be awarded by the end of this year.

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NSW

New tender approach for NSW

NEW SOUTH WALES WILL CHANGE the way it develops tenders for major infrastructure projects, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian announcing plans for a more “collaborative” approach.

Berejiklian unveiled the new program at the National Infrastructure Summit in Sydney at the start of June, as the NSW Government continued to address its dispute with key contractor Acciona over the Sydney CBD & South East Light Rail Project.

Acciona is seeking over $1 billion in extra fees after it was tasked with utilities relocation work – an expensive role it says it was not told about before the contract was signed.

The State Government has argued it was not misleading during the signing of the Light Rail deal, but has conceded a less combative approach to contract negotiations would be more beneficial for all parties.

“Fortunately, I’ve been around long

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enough to know the life cycle of projects,” Berejiklian told the Summit on June 5.

“Every major project has its challenges.

Sometimes you might slip on a milestone by a few months, but then make that time up further downstream.”

Berejiklian was unable to say when the light rail project will be complete.

The consortium responsible, ALTRAC, has told the Government it will be ready

by March 2020, but Berejiklian says she’s told the consortium, “You can do better than that”.

The new scheme for major projects, outlined by the premier, will look to have a more collaborative relationship with contractors throughout the tender process, and should move away from contracts based around a fixed price, and lump sum payments.

“If we can work harder, collaboratively, to improve the interface between government, industry and all the major

parties in a project, then of course we should do that,” the premier said.

Berejiklian addressed the Sydney conference a day after John Holland chief executive Joe Barr said contractors were too often being lumped with all the risk in major infrastructure projects.

Barr, responding to a question about the light rail project in question – but without directly referencing it himself – said underground utilities are a good example of a project component which remains largely unknown to all parties, until the project is underway, so it’s only fair that at least some of the risk would be shared in that case.

Transport for NSW secretary Rodd Staples, speaking on June 4, conceded governments “make mistakes” at times when it comes to risk allocation. He said utilities operators have, understandably, become more protective of their networks, and stricter about how they are managed.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: INFORMA AUSTRALIA

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

VIC

NEWS

Western route preferred for Melbourne Airport link

PHOTOGRAPHY:SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

The Victorian Government is looking for more than “an expensive funnel for tourists and business people”.

AN ALIGNMENT RUNNING THROUGH Melbourne’s west looks the frontrunner for the city’s planned airport rail link route, with Victorian transport minister Jacinta Allan saying that the state government has set its sights upon integrating the project with its wider transport vision.

Allan, who recently attended a briefing session for the project alongside federal cities and urban infrastructure minister Paul Fletcher, said among the priorities set by the Andrews Government for the rail route to the airport was its ability to respond to population growth in Melbourne and regional cities, as well as its ability to integrate effectively with the ongoing development of network.

“We’re experiencing significant population growth to the north and the west of our city in particular. And then, beyond this, recognising there’s an opportunity to maximise connections into regional Victoria,” Allan said.

“And that’s why, also, in addition to this work that’s underway, our recent State Budget provided $50 million to look at faster rail connections into the region, starting with a focus on Geelong as the second largest city in Victoria, a major and important regional economic centre and how that can be better connected to

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Melbourne as part of this broader look at how we can best deliver a massive injection, a massive improvement to our public transport system through an airport rail link.”

This past November, Premier Daniel Andrews had indicated that his government wanted the rail link to be more than “an expensive funnel for tourists and businesspeople between the CBD and airport,” but a line that could help provide better connections between centres like Geelong and Melbourne.

A 2012 Public Transport Victoria (PTV) report explored four options for the rail route, which have been used as the basis for planning currently underway for the project’s preliminary business case: (1) an Albion East route utilising the existing Sunshine rail corridor and linking up to the CBD via the Melbourne Metro Tunnel; (2) a new direct tunnel alignment from the CDB to the airport via Highpoint; (3) an alignment utilising the Flemington Line via Milleara Rd, Highpoint and Flemington; and (4) and alignment using the Craigieburn line and travelling via Attwood, Coolaroo and Broadmeadows.

The Albion East route is the preferred route of PTV and the State Government.

The Federal Government had reportedly,

until recently, favoured the direct tunnel route – which would, according to the state, cost approximately double the Albion East route – as it would incorporate 127-hectares of Commonwealth land at Maribyrnong near Highpoint shopping centre planned for development.

However, local reports suggest the Federal Government is now “hopping on board the western alignment” for the project.

Melbourne Airport’s operator, Australian Pacific Airports Corporation, has also announced that this would be, in its view, the best option.

“For us, we’re looking at how to safeguard a rail to be able to extend beyond the airport or to be able to extend the network to the west,” the airport’s chief of parking and ground access was quoted as saying. “That’s why, for us, it looks like Sunshine would make sense to be the front running route because it has access to regional, it has access to the west where the major growth is.”

Minister Fletcher, speaking to the media after the project briefing session, kept his cards close to his chest regarding the Turnbull government’s position on route options.

“What the Federal Government wants to see is a detailed and rigorous assessment of the four potential routes. We got an update today on the work that the team of Commonwealth and Victorian government officials are doing on the preliminary business case, including the detailed assessment of the four potential routes,” Fletcher said.

“And so, what we want to see is an outcome based upon the detailed analysis and the merits of each route, before finally coming to a recommendation.

That work’s underway and I look forward to that work producing an outcome and a clear recommendation to the two governments.”

Fletcher indicated that the decision on the route would be made by September 2018, when the project’s preliminary business case is expected.

“That’s what we’ve indicated for some time and certainly today’s joint briefing session to me and to Jacinta Allan as the Victorian State Minister has suggested that that work is on track to meet that time.”

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Opposition labels Maryborough project a ‘stunt’ aim at potential increases in passenger train services to Ararat and Maryborough, and allow future passenger rail to Dunolly by retaining the line’s dual-gauge connection from Maryborough.

State transport minister Jacinta Allan visited Maryborough in July, and said the project would bring the line up to standard.

“We’ve listened to the Maryborough passengers and the community, and we’re working hard to ensure they get the transport services they deserve,” Allan said.

“We delivered extra services to Maryborough last year and there is more for passengers to look forward to, as we deliver the infrastructure to pave the way for more services.”

The Liberal-National Opposition has said that the project proffered by the government is inadequate, and has instead committed $32 million to extend V/Line passenger services on the Maryborough line.

According to Liberal MP for Ripon, Louise Staley, the Opposition policy will ensure services will return to not only Dunolly, but to St Arnaud and Donald.

“Only a Guy Government will ensure services will run all the way to Donald and

“

We delivered extra services to Maryborough last year and there is more for passengers to look forward to, as we deliver the infrastructure to pave the way for more services.

”

upgrade all the stations along the way to bring more towns onto our country rail network,” she said. “We’ve committed the funding and it will be one of the first things we will do in a Guy Government.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: DANIEL ANDREWS / TWITTER

THE VICTORIAN OPPOSITION HAS attacked the Andrews Government’s expensive project to upgrade the Maryborough Line, claiming that train services could be returned to Dunolly “tomorrow”.

According to Victorian shadow public transport minister David Davis, the Andrews Government’s late-June announcement that $130 million will be spent to return train services to Dunolly was merely “weasel words” and “smoke and mirrors”.

The Andrews Government’s plan involves converting the existing broad-gauge track between Ballarat and Maryborough to dual gauge, but Davis says this is totally unnecessary.

“If Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan wanted they could return passenger services from Maryborough to Dunolly tomorrow on the existing dual gauge connection,” Davis said. “This is just a stunt without any actual outcome.”

The Government’s Freight-Passenger Rail Separation Project, which is to separate broad-gauge passenger services from standard-gauge freight rail services, will also

The Andrews Government is looking to convert the existing broad-gauge track between Ballarat and Maryborough to dual gauge.

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VIC

NEWS

Governments provide timetable for Vic regional rail overhaul UPGRADES TO THE BALLARAT Line will be complete by 2019, the Warrnambool Line will be upgraded by 2020, and the Geelong, Gippsland and Bendigo Echuca lines will follow, according to a new timetable released by the State and Federal Governments.

The $1.75 billion Victorian Regional Rail Revival program is well underway thanks to funding from the Federal Government, which was released after Victoria signed up for the Inland Rail project.

Federal transport minister Michael McCormack joined Victorian public transport minister Jacinta Allan on June 8 to announce work had progressed on a four-year program to overhaul the state’s regional railways.

Work on the Ballarat Line is already underway, and the pair announced it was due for completion by the end of 2019.

Completion dates outlined by the ministers on Friday include the Warrnambool Line Upgrade by late 2020, the Geelong Line Upgrade and Bendigo Echuca Line Upgrade by late 2021, and the Gippsland Line Upgrade by late 2022.

“We heard from communities they wanted more certainty on timing of

works on every line and we are pleased to provide an update,” McCormack said.

“We look forward to seeing the program benefits, which will deliver huge public transport improvements for Victorian passengers, and deliver more than 1,000 jobs during construction.”

McCormack and Allan also announced in June the business case for the full duplication of the South Geelong to Waurn Ponds corridor had been submitted for review by Infrastructure Australia.

“While the business case for the full project is under assessment, we’re getting on with the work needed to start duplication at Waurn Ponds Station, to give passengers on regional Victoria’s busiest train line the services they deserve,” Allan said.

McCormack and Allan also announced the tender process for the replacement of the Avon River Bridge in Stratford, as part of the revival program.

The new $95 million bridge is included under the $530 million Gippsland Line Upgrade. The existing bridge, built in 1888, requires a speed limit of 10km/h.

“The new bridge is just part of the

work we’re doing on the Gippsland Line Upgrade to give Gippslanders the train services they deserve,” McCormack said.

“The design and construction of the new bridge will provide numerous opportunities for local contractors and suppliers to be involved and ensure this investment benefits Gippsland in the long run,” Allan added.

Geotechnical and site investigations at the Avon River rail bridge began in March, to ascertain current ground conditions and soil quality. The information gathered will inform the project’s design and construction phases.

Construction of the new bridge will begin in 2019, following planning and environmental approvals, and is expected to be completed in 2021.

Above: The Avon River rail bridge will be replaced.

PHOTOGRAPHTY: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU, RAIL PROJECTS VICTORIA, , UITP

Below: Victoria’s Regional Rail Revival program is a joint effort between federal and state governments.

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New high capacity trains being assembled in Melbourne THE ASSEMBLY PROCESS IS UNDERWAY on Melbourne’s new high capacity metro trains (HCMTs) in Newport in the city’s west, with the first train expected to start servicing the network next year.

A total of 65 of the 160-metre, 7-carriage trains (with a capacity of 1,100 per train) are being assembled in Downer’s Newport manufacturing facility, following the delivery of components – including carriage shells – from Changchun, China, where they have been constructed by the Evolution Rail joint-venture between Downer, Plenary Group, and Changchun Railway Vehicles (CRRC).

“The delivery of the HCMT contract continues Newport’s proud train building history, creating hundreds of jobs and opportunities in our local community,” Labor’s member for Williamstown Wade Noonan said.

The $2.3 billion train construction project will see 60 per cent of the total content provided from Victorian companies, with bogie frames being built in Bendigo, traction and electrical systems made in Morwell and key electrical components and pantographs from Hallam.

“They arrive as a shell, and we will now move through and we'll put bogies underneath," Evolution Rail CEO Phillip Walker was quoted as

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saying. “The bogies are manufactured in Bendigo, the traction motors are manufactured in Morwell, and then we'll start to put air conditioning packs on top.”

A team of 175 workers are currently working on the trains in the Newport facility, and it is expected that, overall, 1100 jobs across Victoria will be created throughout the delivery process.

At least 15 per cent of hours to be worked on the HCMT project will be carried out by apprentices, trainees or cadets, while 7 per cent will be undertaken by individuals deemed to face barriers in achieving employment, including workers transitioning from the auto-manufacturing sector.

The HCMTs, the first of which are expected to arrive Cranbourne and Pakenham lines in mid2019, will become the primary fleet for the Metro Tunnel when it opens in 2025. The first train is to undergo testing in November 2018.

“By the middle of next year, we will see bigger and better trains on our busiest lines, carrying more passengers and delivering a more comfortable ride,” state transport minister Jacinta Allan said.

“This project helps set up Victoria for a long-term future in the rolling stock industry, creating more jobs and opportunities for local businesses.”

Below: The High Capacity Metro Trains are being built by a Downer-CRRC joint venture State MP Wade Noonan visits the HCMT build site.

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4Tel Melbourne to host UITP 2021 THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION of Public Transport has selected Melbourne as the host city for its massive Global Public Transport Summit in 2021, the first time the event will be held south of the equator in more than 25 years.

The association, known as UITP (Union Internatinoale des Transports Publics), announced Melbourne as the winning bidder for UITP 2021 on May 16, after it was shortlisted alongside Moscow and Hamburg late last year.

UITP said Public Transport Victoria would serve as the local host for the event.

“With the biggest tram network in the world and major projects expected to be well underway during 2021, it will be the perfect time to showcase what our city has to offer,” PTV chief executive Jeroen Weimar said.

Victorian public transport minister Jacinta Allan said the state was home to some of Australia’s biggest infrastructure projects.

“With our massive program of major transport projects like the Metro Tunnel and level crossing removals, it makes sense that the world’s biggest public transport conference wants to come to Victoria,” Allan said.

Digital Railway Specialists Melbourne wil host the UITP event in 2021..

InnoTrans ‘18 H7.1b/S305 AusRAIL ‘18 Stand 19

www.4tel.com.au www.railexpress.com.au

NEWS

VIC

134 retired trams up for grabs SCHOOLS, COMMUNITY GROUPS, not-for-profits and other public institutions were recently invited to express interest in acquiring a retired tram from the Victorian Government.

Melbourne’s iconic W-Class trams were included in the Retired Trams Strategy, which saw expressions of interest from late May to early July. Under the strategy bidders were asked how they would restore, repurpose and maintain an old tram, with the goal of preserving the retired vehicles for future generations.

This followed what the state described as a “careful examination” of 237 retired trams by an expert Stakeholder Reference Group, which in turn developed the strategy to bring the trams out of storage at the Newport Railway Workshops.

A total of 134 of the trams were

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subsequently made available to the public, including 131 W-class trams and 3 Z-class trams.

VicTrack advised applicants indicative pricing to professionally repurpose one of the trams as a shelter was in the range of $20,000 to $80,000, depending on the condition of the tram and the work required.

Those interested in looking to repurpose a tram as a bar would be looking more in the price range of $80,000 to $100,000, while a café tram would cost around $80,000 to $280,000 to repurpose.

Enthusiasts looking to restore a tram to its original condition would be set to spend something in the range of $588,000 to $650,000, VicTrack said. But “under no circumstance” would a retired tram be allowed to operate on the metropolitan network.

Many retired Melbourne trams have been repurposed in the past, with some now used as cafés and classrooms.

“Over the years trams have transported millions of Victorians, connected our communities and are an integral part of our rich heritage,” Victorian public transport minister Jacinta Allan said.

“If they’re not going to be used on the network, we want to keep these trams accessible to the community. These Victorian icons will now be available to come to life once again and preserved for future generations to enjoy.”

Allan said expressions of interest would be assessed by an independent panel against a weighting system, which gives priority to those trams that will remain accessible to the public and provide a demonstrable community benefit.

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WA

NEWS

Rio runs first AutoHaul train

PHOTOGRAPHY: RIO TINTO

Rio’s $940-million AutoHaul program aims to fully automate its train services to and from port facilities.

RIO TINTO HAS REPORTED THE first official delivery of iron ore by an autonomous train in the Pilbara region, with the landmark operation taking place in early July.

An autonomous train, comprising three locomotives hauling roughly 28,000 tonnes of iron ore, travelled more than 280 kilometres from Rio’s Tom Price hub to export facilities at Cape Lambert on July 10, 2018, the company said on July 13.

The train was monitored remotely by operators in Rio’s Operations Centre more than 1,500 kilometres away in Perth.

This follows the AutoHaul program’s approval from regulatory authorities, including the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, in May this year.

“This programme symbolises both the pioneering spirit and innovative talents of many people across Rio Tinto and shows our absolute commitment to improving safety and productivity,” Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s managing director for Rail, Port & Core Services Ivan Vella said.

“We will continue to ensure our autonomous trains operate safely under the wide range of conditions we experience in the Pilbara, where we record more than eight million kilometres of train travel each year.”

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Vella said Rio would continue to work closely with drivers, who will be prepared “for new ways of working as a result of automation”.

AutoHaul is a $940 million program directed by Rio, with the final goal of fully automating its train services to and from port facilities on WA’s north-west coastline. Rio currently operates roughly 200 locomotives on more than 1,700 kilometres of track.

The average round trip for Rio’s trains covers about 800 kilometres, including loading and dumping, and takes around 40 hours.

Under the new program, locomotives carry the AutoHaul software and are fitted with on-board cameras for constant monitoring. All public crossings on the network are fitted with CCTV cameras and have been upgraded “to the highest safety standards,” Rio said.

The average round trip for Rio’s trains currently takes around 40 hours.

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WA

Pilbara’s big three fuel iron ore renewal MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENT decisions by Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue Metals Group have refreshed the outlook for the massive iron ore mine, rail and port operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The board of iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group on May 28 approved a $1.67 billion mine and rail project, which includes adding 30 million tonnes of annual processing capacity, and 143 kilometres of new railway.

FMG owns and operates a 620-kilometre railway in the Pilbara, linking its three mines

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“

The massive spend will provide around 2,500 construction jobs.

”

to export berths at Herb Elliott Port at Port Hedland. The plan is for a new rail to link a fourth mine, Eliwana.

Eliwana would underpin the introduction of a 60 per cent iron product to Fortescue’s offering, which would still be slightly below the premium grade, but would help tackle the recent growth in the discount being applied to below-grade iron ore.

Fortescue has completed a definitive feasibility study into the mine and rail project, and will soon begin detailed design work.

It plans to spend US$165 million in FY19,

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WA

BHP approved the $4.49 billion development of its South Flank project in the Pilbara, with a targeted 80 million tonnes of annual production designed to replace output from the aging Yandi mine.

BHP minerals Australia president Mike Henry said the massive spend will provide around 2,500 construction jobs, and more than 600 ongoing operational roles.

Below: Fortescue, which built its own railway in the Pilbara, looks set to expand its network to accommodate a fourth mine.

Rio Tinto is mulling its proposed Koodaideri project.

PHOTOGRAPHY: FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LTD , RIO TINTO.

US$760 million in FY20, and US$350 million in FY21 developing the project.

“This project allows us to commence the supply of Fortescue Premium product to the market from existing operations in the second half of FY19 with volume increased as Eliwana ramps up to full production,” Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said.

Gaines, who was made chief executive in November 2017, said the new mine and rail project would allow FMG to maintain a minimum output of 170 million tonnes every year over 20 years.

“Fortescue has now shipped over one billion tonnes of iron ore in just 10 years, generating strong returns from our position at the lowest end of the global cost curve,” Gaines said.

Eliwana is set to create up to 1,900 jobs during construction, and 500 full time roles.

A little over two weeks after Fortescue’s announcement, the board of mining giant

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“South Flank is a capital efficient project which offers attractive returns, and which was approved following a thorough evaluation,” Henry said on June 14.

South Flank will extend BHP’s existing infrastructure at its Mining Area C site. The project will construct an 80 million tonne per annum crushing and screening plant, an overland conveyor system, and stockyard and train loading facilities.

The spend also includes

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“

The investment is welcome news for Western Australia, and yet another sign that the economy is turning the corner.

”

procurement of new mining fleet, and substantial mine development and prestrip work.

Product from South Flank will increase BHP’s Pilbara operation’s average iron grade from 61 per cent to 62 per cent, and will boost the overall proportion of lump from 25 per cent to around 35 per cent. “[The project] will enhance the average quality of BHP’s Western Australia Iron Ore production and will allow us to benefit from price premiums for higher-quality lump and fines products,” Henry said.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: BHP

WA

WA Premier Mark McGowan welcomed the announcement by BHP, saying the additional construction jobs would help boost the local economy.

“The investment is welcome news for Western Australia, and yet another sign that the economy is turning the corner and jobs are being created for Western Australians,” the premier said.

Not to miss out on the action, the third major player in Pilbara iron ore, Rio Tinto is readying itself to give the green light to its Koodaideri iron ore project, which would cost upwards of $2.4 billion to build.

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NEWS

Rio announced a feasibility study into Koodaideri in May, saying the mine – like BHP’s South Flank – would replace existing production.

If approved, the Rio project would provide 1,600 construction jobs and a further 600 operational roles.

Below: BHP says its South Flank expansion would replace capacity from the aging Yandi mine.

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QUEENSLAND

Aurizon questions own vertical integration

Aurizon may have to make some tough decisions after its protracted dispute with the mining sector.

THE STRUCTURE OF ONE OF Australia’s largest rail businesses could change fundamentally, as a result of ongoing tensions between it and its clients over its operation of one of Australia’s largest bulk rail networks.

Aurizon boss Andrew Harding has indicated the rail operator will review its vertically-integrated structure, as his company remains the subject of significant criticism from some of its largest bulk customers.

Speaking at Aurizon’s investor day on June 27, Harding said the rail giant would review its options throughout FY19.

Aurizon was floated on the ASX by the Queensland Government in 2010, as both a bulk and freight rail operator, and the monopoly owner of the Central Queensland Coal Network. Harding told investors almost 10 years later that while a lot of good work was done a decade ago to consider the value of that vertical

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integration, the time has come to take another look.

Aurizon’s vertical integration has been questioned by many since the float, with stakeholders arguing the competitive benefits of vertical integration aren’t worth the regulatory headaches Aurizon has had to contend with.

The latest, and perhaps largest of these headaches is the ongoing dispute between Aurizon, its customers, and the Queensland market regulator, QCA, over how much revenue the rail owner is allowed to earn from its operation of the Central Queensland Coal Network.

Aurizon is sticking to its guns, saying it needs to cut its maintenance spending on the CQCN if it is to match the framework outlined by the QCA in its draft decision at the end of 2017.

But miners are furious over an estimated 20 million tonnes in annual capacity cuts that will occur as a result

of these maintenance practice shifts, and so far have placed the blame wholly on Aurizon, which has made this change before the QCA finalises its decision.

Harding has maintained the QCA is unlikely to change its mind enough to not justify acting as soon as possible on maintenance methods, given the restrictions of the current access undertaking will be backdated to the start of FY18.

Aurizon’s network boss, Michael Riches, focused heavily in his investor day presentation on the perceived flaws of the QCA’s thought process on the current access undertaking.

Riches estimated the maintenance changes had already cut 5-6 million tonnes of capacity from the network, since they were applied in February this year.

He also said miners had recently rejected an offer from Aurizon to briefly

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QUEENSLAND

suspend the new maintenance practices in an effort to reach a mutual outcome, but that this was rejected.

“We can’t, for an unlimited or indefinite period of time, cease our practices with no certainty of what the outcome is going to be. That would not be a sensible thing to do,” Riches said.

The focus from Riches’s perspective is not only on getting the best deal for Aurizon during the current access undertaking debate, but to eventually fix the regulatory environment so this sort of drama doesn’t occur in the future.

Whether that is possible before the next access undertaking process gets underway – potentially 2-3 years from now – is questionable, but Riches is optimistic.

“There’s better models around, there’s ways this has been done before. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here. Strong engagement with government, and the QCA in particular, around a recognition of change, and a desire to get a better outcome will lead to an opportunity to accelerate that.”

The Queensland Resources Council, whose members include many of the coal miners Aurizon has angered, took out full-page advertisements in national papers on the day of the investor presentation, calling on Aurizon to revert its maintenance practices until the QCA hands down a final decision.

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“Aurizon,” the advertisements read, “Stop playing games with Queensland’s coal exports. You are damaging the reputation of Queensland’s largest export industry. You are short-changing Queenslanders with the loss of royalties from lost exports. You are disregarding your customers. You are putting your shareholders’ investments at risk.”

Aurizon’s group executive for coal Ed McKeiver said his customers are frustrated with ongoing capacity restrictions, but said the frustration is yet

NEWS

to cost the company a major contract.

“There’s no doubt there’s frustration, and customer dissatisfaction in our Central Queensland business,” McKeiver said.

“Demand’s strong, capacity’s constrained, and stockpiles are filling.

And customers are getting frustrated, and some of them are even curtailing production as those stockpiles stock out.

“There’s no evidence yet of a contract loss,” he continued. “Our first [contract up for renewal] is in FY20. In fact we’ve won a contract in this context, signing up Bounty in the Blackwater System in March.”

Nonetheless, McKeiver said he was aware the dispute posed a legitimate risk to future contract decisions.

“I’m alert to the risk, my team’s alert to the risk. We’ve got a professional team,” McKeiver said.

“There is absolutely tension in the tender process. Our customers are sophisticated counter-parties, though, and some of them can look through and continue to assess our suitability for their haulage solutions based on our service quality, scale, and the long-term value we can deliver for their business.

“We are doing whatever we can for our customers in [Central Queensland] by scrambling, and pushing, and demanding access, and trying to get as many trains scheduled to meet the demand as we can.”

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$10m to upgrade Downer’s Maryborough site advocates,” Bailey said.

“This investment will mean the rail plant at Maryborough will be set up for the future, and ready to start work on accessibility upgrades for the six car NGR trains, reducing the need for unnecessary work on the rollingstock.”

A series of projects worth approximately $70 million have recently got underway at the site, including $23.5 million mechanical overhaul of its L-Series fleet which carry services to Mount Isa, Spirit of the Outback services that connect through to Longreach, and Westlander train services which travel to Charleville.

A $21 million project was also awarded to Downer in March to overhaul 15 dieselelectric locomotives, which carry Kuranda Scenic Railway, Inlander, Spirit of the Outback and Westlander services.

“Additionally, the awarding of a $14.6 million contract in March to overhaul 18 bogie sets on Queensland Rail’s IMU 160/260 Citytrain fleet will build upon $7.8 million in bogie overhaul works for the IMU 120/SMU200 series, which has been underway since this contract was

awarded in 2017,” Bailey said.

“The trains undergoing the bogie overhauls were originally built here in Maryborough by Downer, so it’s exciting to see their servicing and maintenance work will be carried out by them too.”

Other works underway at Maryborough include an overhaul of 32 air conditioning units, the servicing of 33 transformers for train power supply on the South East Queensland network, and a upgrade to the converter cooling on IMU160/260 series.

Labor MP for Maryborough Bruce Saunders said the contracts were ensuring rail manufacturing works remained in the state and continued to support local jobs.

“These projects are part of the Palaszczuk Government’s Buy Queensland policy, which highlights the importance of government contracts going to local businesses and supporting local communities,” he said.

“Downer EDI is an outstanding example of the direct benefits – a steady stream of local work for regional Queenslanders, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to supporting key industries in regional economies.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: BOMBARDIER.

DOWNER EDI’S RAIL manufacturing plant at Maryborough will receive $10 million from the Queensland Government to upgrade its infrastructure and to support continued work on contracts for Queensland Rail at the site.

The upgrade is to include improvements to existing facilities to better accommodate six-car trains as well as safeguarding the longterm continuation of manufacturing at the Downer plant.

Upgrades to the overhead power lines will support six-car static testing, while a new section of track will be installed to support weighing, levelling and water egress testing.

A new run-around road and an additional spur will also be installed to ease shunting restrictions and improve stabling capacity State transport minister Mark Bailey indicated that some of the infrastructure upgrades would support rectification work on New Generation Rollingstock trains to they comply with disability standards. The government is currently partnering with disability advocacy groups in developing the designs.

“It is important that we get this design work right, working alongside disability

Queensland’s new NGR trains will be adjusted at Maryborough to ensure they align with disability access requirements.

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ISSUE4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

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QUEENSLAND

NEWS

Queensland to fund modern contactless payments THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT will fund a program to deliver contactless payments on public transport via smart phone and bank card.

The $371 million program includes $90 million in the 2018/19 budget period, to begin implementing ticketing technology that will allow public transport users to pay their fare using their credit or debit card, or their smart phone.

State treasurer Jackie Trad said on June 12 the plan wasn’t aimed at completely phasing out the existing Go Card contactless payment system, but said the overhaul was a step to

reduce the system’s reliance on a single ticket solution.

“We know that when we make public transport more convenient, more people get on board,” Trad was quoted as saying. “Part of that is making paying for a fare easy and accessible.

“New technologies including using wearable devices, your smart phone or credit and debit cards to pay for public transport are all on the table in addition to the existing Go Card and paper ticket options.

“We are finalising a global procurement process and expect to be able to announce the successful proponent in the near future.”

“

We are finalising a global procurement process and expect to be able to announce the successful proponent in the near future.

”

Contactless payments with debit and credit cards – and associated technologies – is the next step in public transport ticketing.

www.railexpress.com.au

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

33

NEWS

TASMANIA

THE TURNBULL GOVERNMENT committed $60 million to Tasmania’s freight revitalisation program in this year’s budget, but the figures have shown less than 1 per cent of planned future infrastructure spending in the state will go towards rail.

The 2018 federal budget included $59.8 million for the Tasmanian Rail Revitalisation Program, bringing total Commonwealth contribution to the program to $120 million and unlocking the next four-year tranche of works.

The 2018 federal budget included $59.8 million for the Tasmanian Rail Revitalisation Program.

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ISSUE4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

The program is aimed at upgrading priority sections of the state’s freight rail network, with tenders being released progressively for re-sleepering and rerailing works, minor drainage works, replacement or rehabilitation of selected culverts and selected rail bridges.

As of June, 107,000 sleepers, 106 kilometres of rail, and 55,000 tonnes of ballast had been replaced, and 114 kilometres of track had been tamped under the program. 31 culverts had also been rehabilitated, and 30 level crossing

upgraded as part of the program.

The second tranche of major projects will include reconstructing formation and ballast, replacements to sleepers and culverts, and upgrades to 35 level crossings.

While the funding for rail revitalisation was welcomed by TasRail, an audit of future planned and proposed projects by Infrastructure Tasmania, for its first ever ten-year project pipeline, has shown just $150 million of the state’s $13.9 billion investment program is dedicated to rail.

The remainder of tranche 1 of the rail overhaul program is due in 2019, and totals $30 million, according to the new report. A second tranche of rail funding, which is still subject to a business case phase, is worth $120 million and is due between 2020 and 2023.

Together the two tranches represent the only rail-dedicated spending included in the new 10-year pipeline, which details 247 projects and $13.9 billion in spending over the next decade.

Tasmanian infrastructure minister Jeremy Rockliff said the pipeline report would help further underpin the growth of the state’s economy, supporting thousands of jobs, and boosting business confidence.

“The pipeline provides governments, investors, developers, employers, businesses and communities with a long-term view of key projects that are underway or on the table,” Rockliff said.

“The Hodgman Liberal Government recognises that infrastructure projects require considered consultation, planning and design, and that they can’t be delivered overnight but by taking a strategic approach we can ensure Tasmania remains the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

With the 10-year pipeline now filed, Infrastructure Tasmania will shift its focus to developing a 30-year Tasmanian Infrastructure Strategy, which will be based on emerging demographic, social and technological trends.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: TASRAIL

Budget funds to revitalise network, but rail just 0.9% of Tasmania’s infrastructure pipeline

NEW ZEALAND

NEWS

Twyford fined $500 for plane phone call NEW ZEALAND TRANSPORT MINISTER Phil Twyford will pay the minimum fine from the Civil Aviation Authority for making a phone call on a plane after the doors had shut.

Acting prime minister Winston Peters confirmed on July 9 the transport minister had been fined NZ$500 by the CAA, but the authority had determined it was not a serious incident.

“Minister Twyford has apologised for his actions, noting as transport minister, with responsibilities for the CAA, he must be above reproach on these matters,” Peters said.

Twyford released a statement accepting the CAA’s decision.

“I reiterate my unreserved apology for using my phone after the aircraft doors had shut in preparation for take-off,” the minister said. “This is inappropriate for anyone, but particularly inappropriate for me as transport minister. It is an important reminder to follow safety requirements around using phones on planes.”

Twyford in May offered his resignation as

New Zealand transport minister Phil Twyford will pay $500 for making a phone call on a plane.

transport minister to prime minister Jacinda Arden, but Arden said that would not be necessary.

Twyford told press the call had been to a staffer, and had lasted under a minute while the plane was taxiing for take-off, but

nonetheless apologised “unreservedly” for his error.

He was stripped of his direct responsibility for the CAA after the incident, and this was handed to assistant transport minister Julie Anne Genter.

Work trains run full length of Napier-Wairoa line WORK TRAINS HAVE RUN THE full distance of New Zealand’s rail line between Wairoa to Napier as restitution works progress towards its reopening later in the year.

The trains were the first to run along the full length of the line since 2012, when severe storms damaged a section of the track north of Wairoa.

KiwiRail’s general manager of network services Henare Clarke said the trains, which would be delivering sleepers to work sites, were a sign of the progress that had been made in getting the line ready for freight once more.

“This is an important project for the region, for New Zealand and for KiwiRail.

It lifts the regional economy. It makes the roads safer by taking logging trucks off roads that were not designed to cope with

growing volumes,” Clarke said.

“It helps the environment by cutting carbon emissions: every tonne of freight carried by rail is a 66% emissions saving over heavy road freight.”

KiwiRail has estimated that using the line to move the logs could take up to 5,714 trucks a year off the road, and reduce carbon emissions by 1,292 tonnes.

Funding to get the project off the ground came in February, with the New Zealand government allocating $5 million from its Provincial Growth Fund. The whole reinstatement project is expected to take a full two years to complete.

With both work trains and hi-rail vehicles – vehicles that go on rail – now travelling along the track, KiwiRail and TrackSAFE Foundation have warned the public to treat the corridor as “live” at all times.

“The progress we are making means that people need to be extremely careful around the rail corridor and when using level crossings as there has been little activity on the line for the last six years,” Clarke said.

TrackSAFE’s manager Megan Drayton reminded the public to keep off the track and to use level crossings.

“Look out for trains, obey the signs and signals at crossings and always stay off the tracks,” Drayton said.

“Trains are deceptively quiet and they can’t stop in a hurry or swerve to avoid anything on the tracks.”

He was stripped of his direct responsibility for the CAA after the incident, and this was handed to assistant transport minister Julie Anne Genter.

NEWS

NEW ZEALAND

Up to $500 fines for Auckland fare evaders THOSE WHO TRY TO EVADE PAYING fares on Auckland’s public transport system will potentially cough up fines of up to $500.

Since June 18, transport officers have been able to issue infringement notices to passengers who fail to tag on with their AT HOP card or are found without a ticket while using services. Offenders who are caught are looking at infringement fees of $150, or, if they choose to challenge the fee in court (and lose), a fine of up to $500.

Auckland Transport’s transport compliance manager Logan Christian

said the $2 to $3 million a year lost in fare evading places an extra burden on ratepayers and taxpayers who currently subsidise half the cost of travel.

“This is not about revenue gathering, this is about making it fair for everyone who uses public transport,” Christian said.

“We want this to be a deterrent, we don’t want to have to issue these infringements, we just want everyone to pay for the services they use. If you use an HOP card, it’s cheap to travel on public transport, so there really is no excuse not to pay your fair share.”

AT’s transport officers began patrolling the train network late last year, when the new role was created. Each holds a warrant from the Commissioner of Police as enforcement officers.

The officers currently work on the Western and Onehunga Lines, with the expectation that their service will spread across the network as more individuals are hired to fill the role. An eventual 230 are expected to be hired and to gradually take over from 168 train managers currently working across Auckland’s trains.

PHOTOGRAPHY: RAILGALLERY.COM.AU

The fines will make up the $2 to $3 million lost a year to fare evaders.

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ISSUE4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

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PASSENGER RAIL

Materials specialist tailors hanging straps for public transport Austrian thermoplastics specialist faigle is looking to grow its presence in the Australian market, telling Rail Express its line of hanging straps for public transport can be easily retrofitted, and tailored to suit a wide variety of passenger rollingstock.

PHOTOGRAPHY: FAIGLE KUNSTSTOFFE GMBH

A

LREADY A MARKET-LEADER SUPPLYING rollers for 80 per cent of the world’s escalators, faigle says its line of hanging straps can provide a secure grip for passengers, while being designed as a colourful eye-catcher against the interior of rollingstock.

A spokesperson for faigle told Rail Express hanging straps are a preferred alternate for commuters over fixed bars and handles.

“When buses and trains are fully occupied during rush-hour, some passengers have to stand, and handles and bars are provided for holding on to during the journey,” the spokesperson said. “However, surveys within the scope of customer satisfaction indicate passengers would like additional hanging straps, and faigle quickly and easily makes retrofitting possible.”

The manufacturer says its years of experience in the design and manufacturing of these hanging straps allows it to specialise their design for the customer; whether that means a classic or modern design, a specific colour, or another requirement.

“Our customer base already includes about 50 public transport companies worldwide, who receive hanging straps with a high level of resilience and durability which comply with stringent fire protection standards,” the spokesperson said.

“Furthermore, all models can be easily cleaned and can, on request, be provided with an antibacterial finish – but what they all have in common is the high quality made by faigle.”

In the Danish capital of Copenhagen, growing passenger numbers have increased the number of standing passengers during peak times. This led the operator, Metroselskabet, to fit more hanging straps in the trains.

“Retrofitted with the faigle topAdstrap model, the carriages now also provide convenient grip for around 200 standing spaces,” the spokesperson explained.

“But there was an unexpected positive

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Hanging straps in Copenhagen take over the function of a guidance system inside the autonomous Metro trains, meaning doors are blocked less often.

side effect: Following installation, the hanging straps take over the function of a guidance system inside the train. Travellers intuitively search for a space under a free hanging strap and are therefore guided inside the carriage.

“As a result, the doors are blocked significantly less often by passengers.

This reduces the stopping times of the autonomous Metro at stations, and timetables can be adhered to better.”

In Vienna, faigle continues to supply specially-designed straps after 20 years, and manufactures new straps for easily installation into the existing system.

“For more than 20 years, Vienna’s public transportation firm has been using faigle’s ‘classic hanging strap’ IGOSTRAP. If individual examples must be replaced, then faigle can supply even small quantities quickly and reliably, and replacements are unproblematic,” the spokesperson said.

“The supplied strap is customised to the desired length and boreholes for the tightening screws are already punched.

Therefore, the strap is quickly and

accurately inserted and then fixed.”

In Bangkok, faigle says the airport bus operator places particular importance on resilience and tensile strength, due to the high demand on the service.

“Intensified safety regulations prevail, in particular with regard to fire protection,” the spokesperson explained.

“This is not a problem for hanging straps from faigle: all models fulfil the strict fire protection standard EN/45545 and can therefore be used even at airports in most countries.”

The Asian market – faigle says – also tends towards a bracket-shaped strap over the classic shape, so the manufacturer supplies its varioSTRAP design here.

“The interior design of the airport bus is aligned to the high-quality fittings of the aircraft, as they are operated by the same company. The elegant bracket design can be harmoniously integrated into the modern ambience.”

Contact: www.faigle.com/en

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

37

INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT

Inland Rail boss: partnerships with community, private sector key to success Richard Wankmuller was named the chief executive of the Inland Rail project in April.

PHOTOGRAPHY: INFORMA AUSTRALIA

Richard Wankmuller has given infrastructure executives an idea of the scope of work underway across the 13 sections of the Inland Rail project.

S

PEAKING ON THE SECOND DAY of the AFR Infrastructure event in early June, Richard Wankmuller, the Australian Rail Track Corporation’s new Inland Rail CEO, outlined the economic benefits of the 1,700-kilometre freight route, the important role of private sector investment in its development, and the efforts his organisation was making in working with local communities.

Wankmuller, who started in the CEO role in April this year, began his presentation by describing how the

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

Melbourne to Brisbane freight link was being designed, first and foremost, with the needs of industry in mind.

“One of the first things that we have done is to try to figure out ‘what does industry want?’ The messages here were very clear,” Wankmuller explained. “[Inland Rail] has to be price competitive; it has to be an alternative to trucks at all times; it has to have the reliability you can count on to get services and goods to market in time.”

With rail currently providing a

relatively low percentage of freight haulage in Australia, trucks remain dominant in the sector. With growth of the freight task on the major corridors between Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth expected to rise from approximately 6.7 metric tonnes today to 17.9 metric tonnes in 2050, securing the competitiveness of rail freight is more important than ever.

“Building Inland Rail will make a tremendous change in what would be the amount of trucks on the road to what will

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“

One of the first things that we have done is to try to figure out ‘what does industry want?

”

be the amount of trucks on the road,” Wankmuller said. “We can eliminate over 200,000 trucks.”

Most importantly, he stressed, transit time for freight between Melbourne and Brisbane will be brought down from its current 33 hours to less than 24 while remaining reliable and cost effective. With the line able to run 1.8-kilometre doublestacked trains, and provide for axle-loads of 21 tonnes at 115km/h and 25 tonnes at 80km/h, Wankmuller pointed out that Inland Rail will provide a 30 per cent reduction in costs compared to trucks.

“Without that you are not going to meet business needs,” he said. “It is very, very important that this line is straight, flat and fast.”

Wankmuller went on to describe what he called the “unique challenge” of delivering the Inland Rail project: it’s very length and breadth. Spanning, as it will, 1,700 kilometres between Melbourne and Brisbane, it is to link numerous regional centres and communities and urban areas, each with their own multiplicity of interest groups and stakeholders. It was necessary, he said, to make sure communities and business were heavily involved throughout the development of the project.

Calling the $9 billion in equity from the government “great support” for the project, he also outlined what that would mean in terms of engagement and partnership with the private sector, including in delineating the future procurement strategy of the freight line.

“We’re off to a good start. As of today,

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there’s $250 million worth of contracts in place with some of the largest engineering service providers in the country and that

will continue to grow,” Wankmuller said.

“We’re talking with the private sector, we’re listening on how we de-risk the

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

39

INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT

program, how we get the best contracts with Australian providers with all the competition that is out there.”

The clearest and most obvious form of partnership between the ARTC and the private sector is on the 126km section from Gowrie to Kagaru in Queensland, which will be delivered via a public private partnership (PPP). Expressions of interest (EOIs) for the PPP will be called upon later this year. Wankmuller indicated that the complexity of this section opened-up space for the innovative design and construction work that the private sector can provide.

“The amount of earthworks that have to be moved, the bridges that have to be built, the grade separations, the tunnels – this is a complicated piece of work and we are hoping to attract some good ideas from the private sector and benefit from innovation,” he said.

“We are certainly going to work with them to make sure that they get the right specifications that will allow them to be innovative.”

However, alongside this more direct form of private investment, Wankmuller was also keen to emphasise other more “indirect” modes of investment, many of which can arise in the very localities through which the corridor will run.

“I’ve only been in the job now 30 days, so the first 15 days have been spent in regional Australia talking with people, communities, businesses, councillors and

40

ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

mayors, identifying ways that they can benefit through their own investment: things like standing quarries, building new quarries, providing water supplies – a lot of water is going to be needed – and looking at pre-cast concrete options,” he explained.

“This is very important as it speaks to those wider economic benefits, not only for this project, but for the massive wave of infrastructure that is coming. These people can benefit from this.”

Wankmuller also stressed that the ARTC is committed to intensive, broadreaching, and long-term community consultation in the areas through which the Inland Rail corridor will be constructed.

“Our commitment is to do real community engagement and that means that not only do you engage, but you listen and, more importantly, you hear. When you show up and talk to people you have to understand what their problems are.

You have empathy for it and come up with mitigation procedures to help them.”

And, he explained to the audience, it is important that information regarding the project – such as environmental impact assessments (EISs) – are delivered to communities with speed and sensitivity.

“The reality is that not everyone is going to be happy and they have a right to know, so we have to give them that information as quickly as possible so that

they can make their own decisions.”

Moreover, the consultation process will be carried on throughout the whole project life-cycle, with the establishment of Community Consultative Committees (CCCs) for areas covering Inland Rail greenfield projects.

“Statutorily we could have just engaged through the EIS, but we’re putting this in place through to final design, into construction, into operations, so we get ongoing input from the community to make their lives a little easier in sometimes difficult circumstances,” he said.

“That involves understanding what construction impacts might have to the role of business and to look for ways to mitigate that. It includes ways to help them through the harvesting season in Australia.”

The committees – which will consist of up to 16 members – have been established to provide channels for communication and feedback between landholders, local businesses, residents and the Australian Rail Track Corporation. Chairs and members of the CCCs are formally appointed by the ARTC following an assessment of nominations by an independent assessor and the ARTC. Four CCCs have now been established in Queensland: in the Southern Darling Downs, the Inner Darling Downs, the Lockyer Valley, and the Scenic Rim. Wankmuller finished his presentation by outlining the importance of the commencing large-scale construction on the Inland Rail for generating enthusiasm about the project from both communities, the private sector, and the nation more broadly.

“Why are we going to get more construction going? This is about building credibility with the public.

They have to believe that this going to be built. They have to believe that this going to be built well,” he said.

“The more they see progress, the more they can see that people are listening, the more they can see something coming out of this that is going to benefit them, the more people are going to take up the offer of Inland Rail.”

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Rail – For a Better Future

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INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT

Lost on the path to prosperity: why lagging infrastructure spending is jeopardising our future Deloitte economist Chris Richardson says infrastructure spending has fallen significantly out of whack with population growth in Australia, and there’s a long way to go to fix it. David Loneragan reports.

L

EADING AUSTRALIAN economist Chris Richardson has claimed that a “disappointingly patchy” and “opportunistic” pattern of infrastructure spending is dangerously hampering the nation’s ability to rise to the challenges of and reap the opportunities in a revived and competitive global economy.

Speaking at the AFR Infrastructure Summit in Sydney in early June, Richardson – who is a partner with Deloitte Access Economics – sounded alternating notes of hope and despair as he presented both the

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

possibilities for future economic expansion and the imposing and ever-growing “gap” between this potential and the currentlyexisting state of affairs.

“We sit upon a continent of opportunity – and at a moment when that opportunity is at its greatest. Half the world is having an industrial revolution, and it wants what we have,” Richardson said. “Infrastructure is the path to prosperity, but we are not on that path.”

Richardson posited Australia’s infrastructure spending has not kept pace

with the rapid rate of population growth thanks to immigration, which currently sees around 380,000 people – equivalent to the population of Canberra – added every year.

Indeed, the rate of growth in most of Australia’s states exceeds that of other highly developed nations such as the US, the UK, France and Canada. And it is heavily concentrated in major cities, making Australia – excluding city-states like Singapore and Hong Kong – the most urbanised nation on the globe, and with the population of its two biggest cities, Sydney

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PHOTOGRAPHY: INFORMA AUSTRALIA

Chris Richardson is one of Australia’s leading economists.

How much infrastructure do we need?

Australia’s population growth has been rapid C A GR: 2 006-07 to 2 0 16-17 2.5%

2.0%

1.5%

1.0%

0.5%

0.0%

-0.5%

© 2018 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. All rights reserved.

Source: UN Population Prospects 2017, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Deloitte Access Economics.

How much infrastructure are we getting?

Major road and rail projects $ mi l lion 18,000 16,000

Foreca st

Northern Road Upgrade

NorthLink WA

M12 Motorway

Gateway North Upgrade

14,000

West Gate Tunnel

12,000

North East Link

Toowoomba Second Range Crossing

10,000

WestConnex

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS RICHARDSON, DELOITTE

8,000 6,000

Cross River Rail Hunter Expressway

Sydney Metro West

4,000 2,000 0 2012

Melbourne Metro SW rail link

2013

2014

2015

2016

Source: Deloitte Access Economics Investment Monitor publication.

www.railexpress.com.au

Sydney Metro City and Soutwest (Stage 2 of Sydney Metro)

Sydney Metro Northwest (Stage 1 of Sydney Metro)

Regional rail link

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

© 2018 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. All rights reserved.

and Melbourne, looking likely to exceed 7 million by 2060.

Referring to the findings of a report published by the Productivity Commission in 2013, Richardson said the infrastructure spend in the next 50 years must be five times what it was in economic terms over the past half-century if it is to match Australia’s demographic expansion: between 1960 and 2013, $8.2 trillion was invested in infrastructure; between 2013 and 2060 the amount invested will have to be roughly $37.5 trillion.

“Our population growth is exceptional in world standards. That means our infrastructure spending has to be at least exceptional. It’s not happening. And the gap between those two things, which has been marching on for a long time now, is continuing to march on.”

Richardson affirmed that he did not want to underplay the “magnificent spending moment” occurring in road and rail infrastructure across the nation’s cities, but said that this was nonetheless a much overdue catch up attempt following a long-term failure to address the shortfall in investment.

Following the ebbing of the mining boom and with it the reduction in private capital investment, the house-price boom in Australia’s major cities – with its attendant “bonanza” in stamp duties – has, for now, kept the economy afloat. Richardson described both the mining boom and the house prices boom as two phases of surging infrastructure spending. But, he claimed, these phases were nonetheless opportunistic and not based on thorough, long-term macro-economic planning. Investment in infrastructure – including rail and port infrastructure – surged with the resources sector’s expansion in response to China’s booming growth. With the peaking of the China boom and the concurrent decline of Australia’s resources sector, the Reserve Bank responded by cutting interest rates.

With the economy awash with cheap money, asset prices – especially house prices – surged, leading to a stream of revenue in the form of stamp duties, which, Richardson said, has been recycled in infrastructure spending.

But with house prices cooling and government revenues shrinking, Richardson said there is no next surge in public sector

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

43

INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT

How much infrastructure are we getting?

The GFC led to a stimulus spike, and now asset recycling and sky-high asset prices are funding a new wave of infrastructure

infrastructure spending in sight. And nor is a surge on the cards for the private sector – especially concerning, Richardson explained, at a time when there is global demand for Australian commodities.

While rising population growth is necessary to maintain the labour force that will enable the nation to meet this historic opportunity and challenge, Richardson told the audience, the response in infrastructure planning and investment has not been up to standard.

“

© 2018 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. All rights reserved.

How much infrastructure are we getting?

Engineering and the terms of trade Share of ec onomy

T erms of trade index: 2 0 15-16 =1 00

9%

160

8%

150 140

7%

130

6%

120 5% 110 4% 100 3%

90

2%

80

1%

70

60 0% 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 Real engineering construction to G DP ratio

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Deloitte Access Economics.

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

The terms of trade (RH axis) © 2018 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. All rights reserved.

”

“We have let ourselves slide for so long,” Richardson said. “Our infrastructure approach and policies need planning and commitment and action.”

Pointing to the link between Australia’s terms of trade – the ratio of its import prices and its export prices – and its national spend on engineering and infrastructure, Richardson said it was concerning that Australia was failing to adequately invest in these areas at a time when the global economy is now stabilising and performing better than it has done for some time.

“The world wants what we have, the world wants Australia to rise to this challenge; it wants the population of

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PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS RICHARDSON, DELOITTE

Source: AMP Capital

We sit upon a continent of opportunity – and at a moment when that opportunity is at its greatest.

Half the world is having an industrial revolution.

Interest – rates

the next move is likely to be up

Forecast to stay low for some time, but to average up to 2pp higher than today 20% 18% 16%

14% 12% 10% 8% 6%

4% 2% 0% 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 © 2018 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. All rights reserved.

Standard variable mortgage rates

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS RICHARDSON, DELOITTE

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia, Deloitte Access Economics.

workers and the capital they work with to provide to the world in a whole bunch of ways,” Richardson said.

“The world wants us to succeed and they are throwing money at us. But, by and large, we are not as a nation rising to this challenge.”

Time might soon be running out to exploit the favourable monetary conditions currently available to get infrastructure back on track, with the cost of capital at its lowest in 5,000 years of recorded economic history.

“If you want to rise to this challenge, the moment is now – or it was now. Slowly, the recovery after the GFC is happening, and the cost of capital globally is starting to rise,” Richardson warned.

“In Australia, that first interest rate rise may still be a year away, but in the future infrastructure is going to be more costly.”

It is, however, too easy, he said, to merely spend more on infrastructure, necessary though that may be. The hardest challenge will be improving infrastructure pricing, regulation, legislation, taxation, and privatisation – areas where political caprice, whim and opportunism are in abundance.

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“For infrastructure, we need brains as well as brawn: it’s not just about more, it’s about doing it better,” he said.

But the compounding effects of the ever-widening gap between increasing population growth and infrastructure spending are, he said, the poor outcomes evinced in government policy cycles: pricing, regulation and legislation in the infrastructure sector had been carried out poorly, while taxation policy had been ill-conceived and privatisations conducted badly.

When governments privatise infrastructure assets, he told the audience, they are frequently motivated above all to secure maximum sales prices rather than make efficiency gains.

The examples of the Port of Botany and the Port of Kembla were apposite, he said. For when the ports were privatised the NSW government included a crosspayment clause which required the Port of Newcastle to pay for each container it moved. Deloitte Access Economics modelling shows that if a new container terminal were built at the Port of Newcastle, the number of shipping

containers transported via Sydney’s transport networks would be cut by half a million. The sale clause therefore increased the asset price, but also thereby reduced the incentive for the Port to take the strain of Sydney’s road and rail links.

“If you only focus on maximising sales prices, then you get dumb decisions; if you set the wrong incentives, you get the wrong outcomes,” Richardson advised.

Further morbid symptoms were emerging, Richardson said, in the toxic political discourse around issues of infrastructure spending, taxation and immigration.

Infrastructure planning and spending, he said, was too responsive towards the peak demands of politics, with construction and investment occurring in areas where electorates are marginal swing-seats, rather than where it ought to be going: where it supports the overall economic and demographic growth of cities or where freight routes can be made more efficient.

The negative debates around company tax and foreign investment are also, he cautioned, potentially extremely damaging and harmful to ongoing prosperity. With Australia being a large continent with a relatively small population, there are, therefore, more infrastructure investment opportunities than are able to be financed, especially when those investment opportunities are capital-intensive. Foreign capital needs be to be encouraged to invest here, Richardson opined, and taxation policy needs to be implemented in a way that achieves this.

“Australia is 2 per cent of the world’s money, the other 98 per cent is outside this nation. If the world’s money comes here rather than elsewhere, then it works for us here, it spins off into all sorts of benefits.”

He was also especially concerned that good high immigration growth – which is necessary to meet Australia’s economic challenges – would soon come under further scrutiny and possibly under the weight of public pressure be reduced, while the central issue of infrastructure spending continued to be kicked down the road.

“That would be Australia failing to rise to an historic challenge and an historic opportunity,” Richardson said. “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

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INFRASTRUCTURE SUMMIT

Infrastructure Australia pushes Government to incentivise reforms Economic modelling by the Federal Government’s independent adviser Infrastructure Australia says the right infrastructure reforms could boost the national economy by $66 billion, and deliver better infrastructure in growing cities and regions, Oliver Probert writes.

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HE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT should incentivise states and territories to franchise public transport, and introduce road user charging, as part of a package of reforms to improve the nation’s infrastructure, Infrastructure Australia has said.

IA, the independent body advising governments on major projects, released its Making Reform Happen report on June 4, to coincide with the fourth annual National Infrastructure Summit.

The report says the Australian Government should reward states and territories with infrastructure funding, if they produce reforms an any of five key areas.

The introduction of road user charging, franchising public transport services, reforming land tax, reforming the urban water sector, and reforming the electricity markets are the areas identified in the report.

“If we don’t seize the historic opportunity in front of us, we could miss out on the significant impact national infrastructure reform could have on our future productivity and prosperity,” IA chair Julieanne Alroe said.

“Australia is undergoing a period of profound change – our population will grow to over 30 million people by 2031, our economy is in a state of transition,

“

This includes a greater focus on integrated land use planning at the jurisdictional level to achieve better planning outcomes for freight

”

PHOTOGRAPHY: INFORMA AUSTRALIA

Infrastructure Australia chair Julieanne Alroe speaking at the National Infrastructure Summit.

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

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and technology is changing the way we live and work.

“We need infrastructure and services that enhance the liveability of our cities and regions, strengthen our role as a global exporter, and support the transition to a more diversified economy.”

Alroe stressed the list is not exhaustive in terms of the reforms which could improve the nation’s infrastructure.

“Rather, this paper is intended to show what can be achieved through a welldesigned incentive program.

“An incentive-based approach recognises that although there are significant national benefits to be gained from infrastructure reform, it is state and territory governments that wear the implementation costs – as well as any short term political pain,” Alroe said.

“Incentive payments can help redress this imbalance between costs and impacts, and effectively drive outcomes that may not have come about otherwise.”

Asked about the report, deputy prime minister Michael McCormack said the Australian Government was keen to lean more on the states to push through infrastructure reforms.

“We have to incentivise the states and

territories to get things done, and we can’t do it on our own,” McCormack said. “We are in an era where there’s so much congestion in our capital cities, but also so much more regional connectivity required.”

Specifically addressing the idea of road pricing, McCormack said, “we’re having a look at pricing of roads,” adding that the growth of electric cars was putting more pressure on governments, as electric cars don’t contribute to roads via the fuel excise.

Shadow transport and infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese was more sceptical of the idea of directly incentivising reforms, saying the incentive is already there for states to have good planning, as states with good planning are more likely to have their projects approved by Infrastructure Australia.

“I’m not a great fan of franchising of all public transport,” he added.

The Australasian Railway Association said the Commonwealth Government should make the incentive payment scheme a top priority. ARA boss Danny Broad said incentive payments would encourage states and territories to adopt the recommendations of the recent

National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy.

“Providing incentives to jurisdictions to deliver on reforms is an important step towards ensuring there is meaningful change at the state and territory level with regard to initiatives outlined in the Strategy,” he said.

“This includes a greater focus on integrated land use planning at the jurisdictional level to achieve better planning outcomes for freight and adequate recognition of the social and economic benefits of rail.”

Broad noted the recently published National Freight and Supply Chain Priorities Final Report also recommended linking all new infrastructure funding and agreements, like the National Partnership Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure, to achieving freight outcomes in planning and decision making at all levels of government.

He said that paper’s recommendations, combined with the new Infrastructure Australia report, provide further evidence of widespread industry support for linking additional infrastructure funding to the delivery of reform outcomes.

Infrastructure Australia’s report wanted to encourage road user charging, among five other key reforms.

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RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

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CERTIFICATION & TRAINING

Apprentices to fill more roles in NSW The NSW Government has vowed to create thousands of apprenticeships on all future construction projects, after a successful trial on the Sydney Metro.

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REMIER GLADYS BEREJIKLIAN on June 7 said the NSW Government would ensure 20 per cent of trade roles on future construction projects in the state would be filled by apprentices.

“With the record $80 billion in infrastructure projects over the next four years, the NSW Government is in a unique position to support young people in acquiring the skills they need for the jobs of the future,” the premier said.

Given the planned construction program, Berejiklian said the new measure should create at least 4,000 apprentice positions on major projects over the next four years.

The announcement follows a trial of the program on five major projects, including Sydney Metro.

Speaking from one of the sites of the Sydney Metro works, transport minister Andrew Constance said the trial had successfully trained more than

300 apprentices.

“We have proven we can build world class infrastructure and train young workers who will go on to build the future roads and rail NSW needs,” Constance said.

“Since 2011, half a million jobs have been created in NSW, driven by the NSW Liberals & Nationals record investment in infrastructure. That is why we are backing thousands more people into great trade jobs and training.”

Mernda extension project smashes skills guarantee target Over 63,000 hours of work on Melbourne’s Mernda Rail Extension Project have been delivered by apprentices, trainees or engineering cadets, exceeding the target of 52,500 hours set by the state government.

PHOTOGRAPHY: LEVEL CROSSING REMOVAL AUTHORITY

U

NDER THE VICTORIAN Government’s Major Projects Skills Guarantee (MPSG), publicly funded works contracts valued at or over $20 million are required to use Victorian apprentices, trainees or engineering cadets for at least 10 per cent of the total estimated labour hours.

Greg Rafferty, a manager on the Mernda project, said the team’s performance showed the way forward in the construction industry. “We can be proud of our efforts in creating social change and contributing to a powerful legacy of skill and capacity uplift within the industry,” Rafferty said. “This really demonstrates what is possible when we put our hearts and minds into it.”

A total of 107 engineering cadets, trainees and apprentices have worked on the project over the past year, which includes the construction of three new

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A ballast regulator working the track for the new Mernda Rail Extension.

stations, three rail bridges and two underpasses, as well as a train stabling yard at the end of the line.

To help reach the MPSG target, a dedicated Jobs Hub for the Mernda Rail Extension Project was opened by the Victorian government. The Hub provided information and support for those seeking

work, including information regarding training and qualification requirements.

Moreover, it provided those with a disability, long-term unemployed individuals, and workers transitioning from the auto industry access to suitable employment service providers.

Subcontractors working on the Mernda project also adopted the target into their work packages.

“Ensuring we have apprentices, trainees and cadets employed on our projects is so important. This is just one way the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) is helping prepare the workforce for the unprecedented amount of work in the pipeline over the next 10 years and beyond,” said LXRA’s director of industry capability and inclusion Bradley Giddins.

“We’re really helping to set up careers and skillsets by getting the workforce ready for the future.”

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CERTIFICATION & TRAINING

More hands-on experience for the next generation of investigators 50

ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

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CQUniversity students have been getting a more hands-on look at rail accident scenarios, thanks to the addition of a disused train to the university’s forensic engineering facility in the second half of last year.

T

HREE TRAIN CARRIAGES and one locomotive were delivered to CQUniversity’s Bundaberg campus from QR Rail’s Heritage Museum at Ipswich in September 2017.

Geoff Dell, head of courses on CQUniversity’s Transport and Safety Sciences team, says the train’s addition to the university’s accident forensics laboratory, known as the Crash Lab, has transformed the kind of student experience the facility is able to offer.

Dell describes the Crash Lab as the cornerstone for the university’s suite of Certificate IV, Diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, Masters by research and PhD in safety science and investigation.

“At the Crash Lab, we are able to present students with realistic accident scenarios, in an environment free from the risks usually associated with live rail operations,” Dell said.

“While carrying out learning and assessment tasks, our students are able to focus entirely on the scenarios presented, without the need for protection officers and other running line safety issues normally associated

New equipment at CQUniversity’s Crash Lab is helping students learn key skills.

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“

We plan to gradually expand the facility with a more diverse collection of rail equipment to simulate an authentic ‘rail environment’

”

with investigations in the rail corridor.”

The locomotive and three carriages, which include a luggage car and two sleepers from Queensland Rail’s old Sunlander, have been set up on a purposebuilt 200 metre stretch of rail track that was previously installed at the Crash Lab. They have been put to work in their first nine months at the Crash Lab, where students are now getting hands-on forensic

The train has been added to the university’s accident forensics laboratory, known as the Crash Lab,

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CERTIFICATION & TRAINING

The locomotive and three carriages include a luggage car and two sleepers from Queensland Rail’s old Sunlander.

experience as a part of three courses offered by CQUniversity: • Certificate IV Rail Safety Investigation, which aims to provide students with the ability to undertake rail safety investigations in accordance to industry standards, rules and operational procedures; • Fundamentals of Rail Safety Investigation, a one-week, faceto-face course at the Crash Lab designed to provide rail industry workers with experience mapping accident scenes, interviewing witnesses, photographing a scene, collecting evidence, and providing an interim investigation report; and • Undertake a Derailment Investigation, another one-week, face-to-face course at the Crash Lab, which provides knowledge on how to prepare for a derailment investigation, how to gather evidence through methods like measuring track gauge, cant and cyclic tip, and more.

Dell says the trainset’s addition to the Crash Lab in 2017 is just the

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beginning of CQUniversity’s program to grow capabilities at the site.

“We plan to gradually expand the facility with a more diverse collection of rail equipment to simulate an authentic ‘rail

environment’,” Dell says. “The ongoing development will enable the creation of more diverse teaching situations, and ultimately will ensure expansion of the courses offered by CQU.”

The trains are being used across three courses offered by CQUniversity.

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, D E E N U .

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SIGNALLING

ONRSR partners with Queensland Rail SPAD taskforce Australia’s national safety regulator will work with Queensland Rail to tackle the increasing number of signals passed at danger across the state.

Queensland has seen an increased rate of signals passed at danger in recent years

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the safety of signalling at Normanby, through the installation of a permanent yellow signal to be installed at the location to reduce the likelihood of drivers misreading the signals over the curved section of track. This work is expected to be completed in October 2018.”

Future initiatives to be implemented include improvements to post-SPAD analysis and management, the establishment of mandatory competency assessments for drivers at 18-month intervals, and the use of historical SPAD investigation data to improve coaching and performance.

The government also expects that the European Train Control System (ETCS) – which features automated engineering controls that stop trains from moving beyond the limits of their authority – in Brisbane’s inner-city network from late 2019 onwards will effectively eliminate SPAD risk in the area.

“Overall SPAD rates remain low, however we want to take every precautionary measure available to us to prevent these incidents from occurring,” Bailey said.

“Dedicated resources are allocated to Queensland Rail’s SPAD Prevention Taskforce in order to accelerate the implementation of priority initiatives, based on detailed SPAD investigations, research, benchmarking, and industry best practice.”

“

The SPAD Taskforce has already progressed a number of initiatives including increased one on one engagement with train drivers

”

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PHOTOGRAPHY: RAIL GALLERY

T

HE OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL RAIL Safety Regulator (ONRSR) has said it will work with Queensland Rail’s Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD) Prevention Taskforce, and will provide advice and proposed actions in relation to SPAD prevention strategies.

A signal passed at danger is defined as an occurrence where a train passes a signal displaying a stop indication without the authority to do so.

There was a slight increase in the rate of SPADs on Queensland’s network between July 2017 to January 2018. However, the implementation of initiatives by the Prevention Taskforce since February 2018 has stabilised the trend: the SPAD rate per million train kilometres dropped from 2.53 in January to 2.40 in May. State transport minister Mark Bailey said the ONRSR would help the Taskforce build on the initiatives already in place to reduces SPADs. “The SPAD Taskforce has already progressed a number of initiatives including increased one-onone engagement with train drivers by management to ensure we’re communicating with staff the importance of SPAD awareness, and a new toolbox talk has been rolled out for network control officers to ensure they play their part in SPAD prevention,” Bailey said.

“Through regular reviews of signalling infrastructure and SPAD data, Queensland Rail also recently identified an opportunity to improve

Alstom secures Sydney Metro signalling, rail maintenance Rail manufacturer Alstom has confirmed it will maintain the automated trains and signalling system it is delivering for the Sydney Metro Northwest project for at least 15 years.

A

LSTOM, WHICH IS delivering 22 of its six-car trains and its Urbalis 400 Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system to the project, announced on July 11 it had signed a long-term rollingstock and signalling maintenance contract with the NSW Government.

The contract includes maintenance and cleaning of rollingstock, maintenance of point machines along the 36-kilometre train line, maintenance of the CBTC system, and operation and maintenance of the Sydney Metro Northwest depot.

“Alstom is delighted to be providing long term maintenance support to the iconic Sydney Metro project,” Alstom Australia and New Zealand managing

director Mark Coxon said. “The award of this contract further strengthens Alstom’s position in the railway maintenance sector in Australia.”

Alstom plans to employ more than 50 people on the contract, and is targeting a 5 per cent share of work done by apprentices. The company plans to get to work building the team soon, with Sydney Metro Northwest destined to be operational in the first half of next year.

Alstom says it will deploy its HealthHub maintenance platform on the project, which uses scanning and tracing technology as well as an automated diagnostics system to provide real-time information on the condition of assets.

Sydney Metro Northwest is a new rail

line linking several major growth areas in Sydney’s north west to Chatswood, where commuters will be able to travel to the Sydney CBD and other business and retail centres.

The signalling system Alstom is delivering to the project is designed to provide both Automatic Train Protection and Automatic Train Operation, and uses computer-based interlocking to control trains monitored from a control centre.

Sydney Metro will be the first passenger line in Australia to operate automated trains, and will run at a metrostyle, turn-up-and-go frequency. The line’s 13 stations are being built with platform screen doors, and level access between platform and train.

The new project includes 22 new Urbalis trains from French manufacturer Alstom. Photo: Alstom

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RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

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Rail Express is Australia’s authoritative business to business rail publication. Combining the resources of our respected journalism team and our unparalleled industry contacts and affiliations, Rail Express provides uniquely extensive and comprehensive coverage of breaking news and trends in key areas such as infrastructure, investment, government policy, regulatory issues, technical innovation as well as rail jobs and international news and views.

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TECHNOLOGY & IT

Passengers can use their smartphones to choose emptier carriages

Real-time train occupancy data to be shared with passengers New technology will allow passengers to seek out less crowded carriages, using Australian first technology that works out capacity based on carriage weight.

S

YDNEY TRAINS PASSENGERS CAN now see how full each Waratah train is, right down to the carriage, in a move NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says is an Australian first.

Sydney’s Waratah trainsets have been kitted out with technology to enable data which will inform more than 600,000 customer trips each day.

Using the average weight of a Sydney Trains passenger (a figure the Government hasn’t shared publicly), the weighing technology translates carriage data to travel apps like TripView, NextThere, Anytrip, TripGo and Transport for NSW’s Opal Travel App. “Since 2016, customers have had access to bus occupancy data to help choose the right service for them. Now train customers can see how full their train is before it arrives,” Berejiklian said.

“Transport is no longer just about infrastructure but also about embracing technology to provide the best services possible for our customers. Only a handful of transport networks around the world offer this type of service.”

Transport minister Andrew Constance said passengers were encouraged to actively use their smartphones to choose emptier carriages on their commute.

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“For customers who commute home from Wynyard to Penrith, for example, getting a seat can be a major factor in deciding which carriage to board,” he said.

“Letting customers know which services might be full or which carriages still have seats will make commuting choices easier and help ease congestion.”

NextThere’s developers, writing in an online blog post, said they’ve been testing the technology for some time and it’s shown to be “incredibly useful”.

“Passengers tend not to distribute evenly between train carriages, so armed with the knowledge of which ones are full and which ones are empty your chances of getting a seat on your commute just went way up,” NextThere’s developers wrote.

“Under each axle is an airbag with an air pressure meter attached – the psi reading translates to the kilogram weight of the carriage… as the doors close at each platform, the carriage weights are recorded and sent over 3G. The carriage weights get through to the app around 10-20 seconds later and we feed it through our algorithm to project seat availability.”

“

… your chances of getting a seat on your commute just went way up.

”

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TECHNOLOGY

Putting the AI in RAIL: The technology that gives drivers a pair of super eyes Australian firm 4Tel says artificial intelligence can help regional rail operators compete against road, even with driverless trucks on the horizon.

T

HE MEN AND WOMEN who drive freight trains up, down and across Australia’s long, remote regional railways are revered by many in the sector, and deservedly so. By all accounts they are consistently well-trained, hard-working, reliable, and efficient.

But imagine the perfect train driver. Never tired, never bored. Always ready to react to unexpected changes in the rail corridor. Able

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to sit at attention for hours, and brake just fractions of a second after something unusual presents itself in the corridor ahead.

Newcastle-based rail technology firm 4Tel is working with some of the region’s top academics to develop a technology to help drivers do just that. General manager of Communications and Electronics, Mark Wood, spoke with Rail Express about the work it is doing with Newcastle University,

studying the use of AI in rail safety applications.

Wood explained 4Tel’s technology uses an array of cameras and other devices to constantly monitor the environment in front of a moving train. The AI then analyses the data being fed to it, and whether it is different to what has been seen on past runs through that same environment, to consider whether there is a safety risk present.

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The technology can warn the train’s driver, and even be given the ability to automatically brake the train, if and when dangers present themselves.

This analysis is made possible by the significant advances in recent years of the type of processing hardware commonly found inside gaming computers. 4Tel is applying some of these advancements in processing power, and the hardware responsible, into the rail world.

Previously, Wood explained, the AI technology didn’t exist. Somewhat more recently, the AI did exist, but it simply wasn’t possible to fit the hardware required into a locomotive cabin.

Now the two fields of research have come together, and the processing power needed to conduct seriously hefty AI calculations can be fit into a device slightly larger than a shoebox.

“The beauty of our rail world is it’s very static,” Wood said. “We know where everything is, we have the configuration of what everything is, and we can put all that

The AI technology is intended to assist the driver, rather than make the trains autonomous.

into the system, to provide that additional situational awareness to the driver.”

4Tel’s technology uses a standard video camera, infrared thermal imaging cameras, LIDAR, and radar technology.

“These sensors work in combination to detect the environment the driver is travelling through, and provide enhanced information, in all-weather and lighting situations, to the drivers.

“But what we can also do with that static information is feed that into the AI to allow it to give a direct comparison between what it’s seeing, and what – for that environment – is normal.”

An infrared camera is in many ways more useful than a standard video camera in these applications. While video cameras are useful in clear conditions when the sun is high in the sky, infrared vision is unencumbered by bad weather, bad lighting, and even conditions where people and vehicles are obstructed by materials like sheeting, plants and so on.

Familiarity not always your friend

Wood told Rail Express that 4Tel’s technology can not only provide some backup for newer drivers less familiar with their route, but can also help avoid some of the pitfalls seen among drivers who have become extremely familiar with their route.

“One of the big risk mitigations railway operators use is to ensure a driver is experienced and qualified in that specific area of the network,” Wood explained.

“But it’s no different to driving a car on the same route time and time again.

Familiarity can cause you to lose some situational awareness.

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“It can lead you to let your guard down a bit.

“The beauty of this technology, is it is a set of eyes that doesn’t ever get bored. It doesn’t rely on familiarity to perform. It uses its own set of eyes to help the driver in those circumstances where situational awareness can be lacking: over-familiarity, fatigue, inclement weather conditions.”

While the technology might seem like something that could one day drive a train itself, Wood believes that application is too difficult – at the moment – without totally isolating the rail corridor from the rest of the world.

“If you look at what they’re doing for the Sydney Metro, where they’re going to run autonomous vehicles, that corridor is completely closed off. You can’t do that in a regional area, it’s just not financially viable,” said Wood. “So the current goal is not to create a driverless train. Right now the focus is to assist the driver; to make the process of driving not autonomous, just more automatic.”

Wood expects that in time, technology will facilitate completely autonomous trains even in dynamic regional environments.

But for now, the technology has its place making the existing railways safer.

“We have to start to use this technology to find operational efficiencies, because the road industry will certainly do the same,” he said. “Trucks will become autonomous along the lines of what cars are doing. And if we don’t adopt that technology within rail, we will lose many of the competitive advantages we have with roads and trucks. It’s realistically only a matter of time.”

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TECHNOLOGY & IT The Opal card is used on an average of 13 million trips a week, with more than 3.7 million cards in circulation.

2 billion trips taken on Opal cards since 2012 The NSW government has praised the success of the Opal card, after it was announced approximately 2 billion trips have been made by public transport users since the electronic ticketing system was introduced in December 2012. David Loneragan reports.

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H E OPAL CARD SYSTEM BEGAN AS a trial on a single ferry route at Neutral Bay during December more than five years ago, and was subsequently expanded across the public transport network, completely replacing paper tickets in August 2016.

“There are now more than 3.7 million Opal cards being used to complete more than 56 million trips a month and an average of 13 million trips a week,” the NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said at Wynyard Station this past May. “Now, in 2018, Opal geographically is the world’s largest electronic ticketing system, covering 40,000 square kilometres, 310 train stations, 44 wharves, 23 light rail stops and 39,599 bus stops.”

The government promoted the benefits of the transfer discount, the weekly travel reward and other incentives that have been introduced with the Opal system.

Approximately $160 million has reportedly been returned to passengers via the transfer discount – in which adult Opal card users receive a $2 discount for every transfer between transport modes in the process of a single journey – while pensioners using Opal Gold are, collectively, estimated to save $33 million annually.

According to the state transport minister, these savings, and the maintenance of Opal pricing at the rate of inflation, show that the Opal system is achieving what it was designed to do: put the commuter first.

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

“Since Opal’s introduction in 2012, average Opal fares have not risen above CPI [consumer price index]. While we’ve made plenty of improvements to public transport and are investing record amounts in transport infrastructure, we also focused on keeping fares affordable,” Constance said.

The government’s reluctance to raise the price of transport fares goes against the advice of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, which suggested in 2016 that they be increased by an average of 4.2 per cent annually over three years.

However, according to the Labor opposition, the government’s narrative neglected to mention the rise in average Opal fares by 10 per cent since the phasing out of paper tickets from 2016. “[Constance] needs to be honest in what he does in future with Opal fares. People should have certainty about what they can expect,” Labor’s transport spokeswoman Jodi McKay was reported as saying.

Constance said that the electronic system had allowed Transport for NSW to accrue valuable trip information and data that allowed for improved planning for transport systems.

“Since 2011 we have introduced almost 30,000 additional weekly public transport services and we have been able to design these services to suit our customers travel patterns,” he said.

“

Now, in 2018, Opal… is the world’s largest electronic ticketing system

”

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SIGNALLING

The future of LTE in modern signalling systems Technology specialist MCS Digital talks about the transition to LTE as a platform for mission-critical communications, including signalling, in the rail sector.

PHOTOGRAPHY: MCS DIGITAL / TELTRONIC

M

MCS Digital and manufacturer Teltronic aims to tailor TETRA, LTE or combined TETRA+LTE solutions for network operators.

ODERN TRANSPORT systems rely on real-time communications for several key operations: critical voice and data communications help schedule and monitor vehicles around the network, while signalling coordinates these operations.

Less crucial systems like CCTV and passenger information also need a reliable communications network.

“TETRA is becoming the new standard for critical communications in Australia (and most of the world) when the previous widespread use was of GSM-R,” MCS Digital business development manager Sam Lister explained to Rail Express.

“Traditionally, communication based train signalling operations have used GSM-R (low bandwidth) or WiFi (high bandwidth), however these have notable drawbacks.

“While train signalling operations have been achieved recently over TETRA radio — for example, PowerTrunk’s PTC integration with FENOCO Railways in Colombia or Teltronic’s ETCS integation with Kazakhstan Railways — future signalling operations require more bandwidth to perform their operations, hence LTE may be required.”

Teltronic is currently working with major signalling providers towards the certification of LTE use for signalling (i.e. CBTC or

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ETCS over LTE-R or LTE-M).

While the industry’s transition to LTE is taking place, MCS Digital aims to provide complete TETRA, LTE, or combined TETRA+LTE systems for transportation projects in Australia, with turnkey and fully customised options on offer.

“In July 2018, the second ETSI Mission Critical PTT plugtests achieved a 92% success rate for voice, video and data transmission. Until the LTE standards and LTE products mature, TETRA will continue to be the go to choice for critical communications in the transportation sector for the forseeable future,” Lister said.

“Teltronic’s TETRA+LTE hybrid infrastructure, however, has the potential today to deliver a transition to broadband solutions until the industry is ready for full adoption, then voice, data and video will also start to be adopted on LTE.” As LTE becomes more common for mission critical communications, it will also begin to replace the wireless platforms currently in use for communications like CCTV and passenger information, which currently use commercial 3G/4G networks, WiFi, and proprietary solutions.

Australia is a particularly exciting

place to be using LTE as a private network platform: while spectrum availability is a major hurdle for operators around the world, in Australia this is less of an issue.

“Australia is at the forefront of the worldwide stage in the demand for LTE projects as spectrum for transportation projects is more available here due to the possible reuse of 1.8GHz bands currently in use by rail operators for the GSM-R systems,” Lister said.

MCS Digital’s technologies and solutions are designed to be tailored to the specific functional requirements of each network. The company has specialised in the design, delivery and support of mission-critical communications for almost four decades, working in Australia and New Zealand for a range of industries.

In 2015, MCS Digital was awarded the two-way radio system integration for Sydney Metro Northwest, and is engaged

by UGL Engineering to provide design, validation, manufacture, installation and commissioning services for the TETRA digital radio system supporting Sydney Metro Operations and Maintenance with Voice and Data applications.

Contact: www.mcsdigital.com.au

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

61

FREIGHT RAIL

Bigger wagons on rail for sugar season haul A sugar haulage deal between Pacific National and Wilmar will use large new wagons.

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ACIFIC NATIONAL IS USING NEW high-capacity wagons to more efficiently transport sugar and molasses, with the major rail freight operator hoping to reap the benefits of this year’s harvest in North Queensland.

Pacific National signed a contract with Wilmar Sugar Australia in mid-2017 for the haulage of sugar to Queensland’s ports, marking the freight operator’s first foray into the state’s sugar sector.

The rail operator has invested $50 million to build new high-capacity wagons to operate along the Burdekin-Townsville line.

A total of 88 new custom-designed bulk wagons, and 50 new flat-bed wagons will support the haulage of Wilmar’s sugar and molasses on the line.

Approximately 25 per cent larger than average, Pacific National hopes the larger-capacity wagons will keep rail in front of road for sugar transportation in the region.

Wilmar has five sugar mills in the region, and

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

rail is the company’s preferred method of sugar transportation, Aurizon, had previously held the haulage contract with Wilmar, which came to an end in December 2017.

The new agreement with Pacific National was signed in mid 2017, and commenced in June 2018, with the freight operator creating 48 new train driver, operational and administration jobs in the Townsville and Mackay regions to respond to the annual freight task.

Pacific National says it has also invested roughly 20,000 hours of training into the contract. The 22-week sugar season, which started in June, sees an average of 1.4 million tonnes of produce transported each year.

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RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

63

FREIGHT RAIL

Winter crop: Wheat & barley volumes up, smaller commodities down Australia’s Department of Agriculture anticipates a slight decline in volumes for this year’s winter crop.

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RODUCTION OF WHEAT and barley are set to rise in the coming 2018/19 winter crop, but volumes of less common commodities like canola and chickpeas are set to drop, according to the latest winter crop report from the Department of Agriculture.

The department’s June Crop Report suggests overall winter crop production will decline ever so slightly to 37.7 million tonnes in the 2018/19 crop year, which refers to the 12 months ending March 31.

This would be down a little from the estimated winter crop production in 2017/18, which the Department has calculated at 37.8 million tonnes.

Relatively stable production between the two seasons will be driven by an increase in barley and wheat production, and a decrease in canola and chickpea production.

Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds, executive director of the Department of Agriculture’s statistics division, said the mixed outlook for winter crops was the result of lower than average

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

autumn rainfall, which constrained farmers’ planting intentions.

“The total area planted to winter crops is forecast to decrease by 4 per

cent to 21 million hectares,” HatfieldDodds said. “This includes a drop in area planted to canola, chickpeas and lentils.”

Australian winter crop production WA

Vic

SA

NSW

Qld

41.7

56.7 45.7 37.9

34.4 35.3

08/09

09/10

10/11

11/12

12/13

41.9

13/14

39.2 37.7

14/15

15/16

37.8 37.7

16/17

17/18* 18/19**

Figures in million tonnes. *ABARES estimate. **ABARES forecast.

Crop year refers to 12 months to March 31.

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Area planted to barley is forecast to increase 10 per cent to 4.3 million hectares, and this will drive a small production increase of 3 per cent to 9.2 million tonnes. Wheat production is also forecast to grow 3 per cent, to 22 million tonnes.

Meanwhile canola production is forecast to fall 16 per cent to 3.1 million tonnes, and chickpea production is set to drop a significant 40 per cent to 616,000 tonnes.

Australia’s oats production is forecast to remain relatively unchanged, at 1.1 million tonnes.

Hatfield-Dodds said sufficient and timely winter rainfall would be critically important for crop development, as lower layer soil moisture at the end of autumn was recorded very much below average across most cropping regions.

However, the latest BoM analysis suggests winter rainfall between June and August 2018 is likely to be around average in cropping regions in Western Australia, but below average in most other cropping regions.

The Department of Agriculture’s analysis is more positive than that of agribusiness bank Rabobank, which recently noted very low soil moisture levels across Australia would curb yield prospects, and could limit further plantings.

Rabobank’s analysis forecasts the total winter crop will be just 36.5 million tonnes, more than 2 million tonnes lower than what the Government is forecasting.

“High-end yield prospects have been removed, certainly for canola, but increasingly for wheat and barley with average yields, and in some cases less-than-average yields considered likely,” Rabobank senior grains and oilseeds analyst Cheryl Kalisch Gordon said.

Kalisch said the wheat crop would come in between 18 and 28 million tonnes, depending on yields and further planting, which would depend on further rainfall patterns.

“If we see a wheat crop of 23 million tonnes, we could see Australian wheat exports fall to their lowest level in nine years at 15.5 million tonnes,” Kalisch said.

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Planting area by crop year Figures in million hectares

17/18 (estimate)

16/17 14

18/19 (forecast)

12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Wheat

Barley

Canola

Chickpeas

Production by crop year Figures in million tonnes

17/18 (estimate)

16/17 32

18/19 (forecast)

28 24 20 16 12 8 4 0

Wheat

Barley

Canola

Chickpeas

Sources: ABARES, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Pulse Australia Crop year refers to 12 months to March 31.

RAIL EXPRESS | ISSUE 4 2018

65

FREIGHT RAIL

ARTC’s Hunter maintenance rolls on in April and June shutdowns Australian Rail Track Corporation crews installed new and improved turnouts in the Hunter Valley, and delivered over 100 other projects across the crucial rail network, during a pair of maintenance shutdowns in April and June.

PHOTOGRAPHTY: CATSB

T

URNOUTS WERE THE FOCUS OF a planned maintenance shutdown in April, which saw Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) crews using purposedesigned equipment for track panel installation in difficult-to-access, busy locations, like Maitland.

“The team also trialled the use of underbearer pads at one of the turnouts with the aim of dampening the dynamic forces of passing trains, helping to extend the lifecycle of the turnout’s complex and expensive componentry,” ARTC Hunter Valley group executive Wayne Johnson explained.

A broader package of works was delivered just over a month later, over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend at the start of June.

More than 1,200 ARTC staff and contractors were deployed for an intensive, 87hour maintenance program from June 8 to June 12, with over 100 projects aimed at boosting the rail network’s performance and reliability.

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ISSUE 4 2018 | RAIL EXPRESS

Essential works included track resurfacing and tamping, bridge repairs, re-railing, rail grinding, track reconditioning, signal works and other corridor maintenance tasks.

“We align these works with other rail maintenance scheduled across NSW to minimise overall impacts on rail customers, and the ability to deliver these when there are fewer trains running means we can get the most amount of work done, as safely and efficiently as possible,” Johnson said. Crews performed under-bridge maintenance work where the rail line crosses the New England Highway in Muswellbrook. Traffic was restricted on the road as crews worked above.

Elsewhere, further piling works took place in preparation for a bridge replacement at Singleton, a significant stretch of track was reconditioned adjacent to Tarro Station, and more reconditioning work took place in Hexham. The next major maintenance shutdown is scheduled between July 31 and August 2.

“

… we can get the most amount of work done, as safely and efficiently as possible.

”

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