AusRAIL 2023 Recap

"Trains!" a colleague quips over morning tea, “Trains just go forwards and back. They’re on tracks as well, so they don't even steer! It can’t be that hard." I offer him a wry smile in return, having just shared my excitement over a new job offer from Queensland Rail. I could understand where he was coming from; wheels on tracks have been a cornerstone of rail transport since the ancient Greeks were using wooden rails and wagons to mine coal and ore. However, as I learned at this year’s AusRAIL 2023 conference, despite the long and rich history of rail there remains an enormously complex interaction of factors to railway operations. This is something we are still working to understand, and innovate, in 2023. Perhaps it is the ubiquity of rail that belies a much deeper complexity; because?there's a lot more to trains than just forward and back on a track.

I was fortunate this year to be awarded a scholarship to AusRAIL, with my attendance sponsored by the Australasian Railway Association. With munificent permission from my manager, I found myself in Sydney alongside over 5,000 rail professionals from Australia, New Zealand and beyond to attend various exhibits and see more than 100 speakers over three days. While there were many fantastic sessions and insights across those action-packed days, I will summarise my 3 major highlights: 1) there are exciting rail projects shaping Australia’s future, 2) there are new evolutions in rail design and engineering, and 3) there is a strong case for a reliable and sustainable rail network alongside evolving regulations.

Highlight #1: Rail Projects Shaping Australia’s Future

“Competition brings out great answers, collaboration will bring out better answers.”

- Treaven Martinus, CEO and Founder, Martinus Rail

Alongside panels on light rail, interoperability, and contractors, the conference brimmed with a strong sense of excitement over the future of major rail projects in Australia, with big impacts for both infrastructure and rolling stock to advance the future of Australian Rail.

During the conference, rail industry leaders shared details and progress on the major rail projects currently shaping Australia. Peter Regan, CEO of Sydney Metro, discussed the achievements and challenges of Australia's most expensive public transport project Sydney Metro, which aims to connect Sydney’s Northwest, West and Southwest with fast, reliable ‘turn-up-and-go’ metro services and fully accessible stations by 2030. Graeme Newton, CEO of Cross River Rail, shed light on the major project in the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic host city of Brisbane, with a new 10.2 km rail line and 5.9 km of twin tunnels running under the Brisbane River and CBD, four new underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street, alongside new trains and signalling. Nicole Stoddart, CEO of Rail Projects Victoria, delved into the Metro Tunnel project which includes the construction of twin 9 km rail tunnels between South Kensington and South Yarra and five impressive looking new underground stations featuring feature world-class artwork and urban renewal.

Michael Hopkins, CEO and Commissioner at the National Transport Commission, also spoke on the National Rail Action Plan. The plan is part of a historic agreement that will improve rail’s competitiveness, boost national productivity, and improve connections between cities, regions, and ports. Hopkins said the plan aims to create a more seamless, productive, and safe national rail network through the shared use of technologies, a national approach to skills and training, and by managing key rail interfaces so train control and signalling systems from different networks can talk to each other. It will transform Australia’s rail system by aligning new digital technology, standards, and skills training to make rail more efficient. One important goal is to create more nationally recognised credentials for rail workers so they can work anywhere, not just on the network they trained on.

Highlight #2: New Evolutions in Rail Design and Engineering

“I don’t think solving these problems will be easy or quick, and most worthy endeavours are not.”

- Jacqui Walters, National Rail Manufacturing Advocate

Networking with other scholarship winners, mostly engineers, was where I personally gained the most insights during the conference. I was surprised that even with our modern metal behemoths barrelling down the corridor, there is a constant state of evolution and innovation across the whole supply chain for rail.

I expanded upon my basic knowledge of train wheel flanges, wheel tapering angles and even bogeys, by learning about how these components are so intricately linked to everything from infrastructure design to daily operations. How the train drives sinusoidally along curves in the track impacting the allowable radius of curves on our railroads, whereas exaggerated wheel conicity can impact on the self-centring of the wheel set and cause ‘hunting behaviour’ posing derailment risk. With increasingly sophisticated systems even the seemingly simple act of a signal changing from red to green is not just a visual cue; it's a result of the complex interplay between track circuits and interlocking mechanisms – detecting trains on areas of track and ensuring that conflicting signals cannot be displayed simultaneously, contributing to the overall safety and efficiency of railway operations.

There is even innovation on the rails themselves. A diversity in rail shapes, and the potential for rail deformation are subjects of continuous research, with minor changes to the profile of train wheels and rail shapes yielding substantial benefits; from reducing wear, to improving fuel efficiency, extending the life of the infrastructure, and even providing smoother and more stable rail conditions. Considering Australia is moving thousands of tonnes per engine, even the tiniest details can add up to enormous differences in efficiency.

From synthetic erosion control blankets, to control of work systems applied to signalling operations, no-software cybersecurity tools, advancements in door control systems and beyond, there were many exhibitors looking to display their latest ideas to industry. These exhibitors were met by the government at AusRAIL to discuss opportunities, as well.

Senator Tim Ayres, the Hon. Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing in the Albanese Labor Government, reiterated the Government’s commitment to fostering rail manufacturing growth in Australia during his plenary speech. We also heard from the newly appointed Jacqui Walters, National Rail Manufacturing Advocate and Chair of the new Rail Industry Innovation Council, to help grow a sustainable rail manufacturing industry in Australia with a focus on improving coordination of state and territory procurement of rail rolling stock.

Highlight #3: A Strong Case for a Reliable and Sustainable Rail Network alongside Evolving Regulations

“Linking communities and transporting millions of people?is not an easy task for any rail organisation. Across the entire supply chain, from design and procurement to delivery, operations, and maintenance, digital technology will be a key enabler for Net Zero.”

-?Mark Lusis, Global Decarbonisation & Sustainability Skills Lead, Arup

It’s not by chance that safety and a continuous improvement mindset are hallmarks of the rail industry. This mindset arises directly from the historical context of rail and is an industry-wide response to various pressures, such as working with aging rail infrastructure, and escalating industry demands. Sustainability, safety, and increasing regulations were a strong theme across AusRAIL 2023, with a number of speakers discussing proposed benefits to people, business, and the communities we serve and connect.

Ian Porter, Strategic Advisor at Net Zero and Department of Infrastructure, spoke about the Transport and Infrastructure Net Zero Roadmap, a plan by the Australian Government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 43% below 2005 levels by 2030, and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Rail is already an efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport – not just through a low rolling resistance and higher capacity for moving goods and people, but also with lower emissions per passenger/kilometre, and reduced traffic congestion compared to other transport modes. Porter said that technological advancements, such as emission-free technology and electrification, will play a crucial role in achieving the roadmap's objectives.

Stephen Howe, Director Engineering Solutions and Innovation at the Level Crossing Removal Project, discussed the integration of adaptive technologies in preventing train obstructions and intruder collisions, emphasising the comparison between the road and rail sectors, as part of Melbourne's level crossing removal project. Howe suggested drawing inspiration from solutions in airports and road vehicles to develop active countermeasures in the rail environment. In one striking example, a suggestion was to use compressed air to push animals and people away from moving trains and thus remove or lessen the need for biowashing—a method that had not been empirically tested before but had a good case for experimentation. Additionally, he called for the establishment of design standards for rollingstock in Australia specifically addressing pedestrian collisions, like ANCAP for road vehicles.

Lachlan O’Neil, Principal Inspector from SafeWork NSW, spoke about changes in legislation clarifying responsibilities of rail organisations towards psychosocial risk management, and increasing enforcement signal the need to address the psychological well-being of rail workers. In my view, things can always be made safer by spending more resources on design and construction, or resources can be saved by decreasing a rail structure's or rollingstock’s strength, durability, and redundancy. Likewise for the people who work in rail, things can always be made safer by spending more to ensure we have adequate resourcing and capability, skills development, and creating human-centred procedures and jobs, or costs can be reduced by cutting programs and reducing headcount. Every part of rail comes with inherent risks, and rail organisations must strike a balance between costs and risks, which we do by using data to determine how safe is safe enough. They key is to investigate and understand what controls are ‘worth it’, to put numbers to the probability of failure, and the resulting consequences, in context.?

One example of a human-centred program was presented by Dr. Amy Chung and Anthony Nicholson from Sydney Trains, who presented on their work refreshing a just culture framework. They introduced the Fair Decision Framework (FDF), designed for fair and consistent assessment of safety incidents and conduct matters. The framework was divided into different pathways, across different stages and implementation included addressing awareness, application support, reviews, feedback, and integration into safety management systems (SMS) and HR policies, with online support services and union collaboration ensuring consistent application. The overall process also had the benefit of identifying and addressing gaps in the investigation process.

To wrap up my experience at AusRAIL, I was incredibly humbled and grateful for the scholarship from the Australasian Railway Association, having networked with many across the industry and brought plenty of merch back to my team in Brisbane. From the transformative and ongoing rail projects in Australia, to the continuous innovation and evolution in rail design and engineering, and the industry's unwavering commitment to efficiency, safety, and sustainability – it’s clear that there's a lot more to trains than just forwards and back on a track.