Rail embraces environmental stewardship as an important part of its corporate commitment and makes significant investment every year in the pursuit of innovation and new methodologies with the goal of reducing its environmental impact.

Ever increasing household costs and concerns for the environment are reversing the transportation trends away from road and back to Rail. In fact, while Rail carried more than a billion tonnes of freight and makes more than 685 million passengers per year, it is responsible for only 3.5% of transportation sector-related GHG emissions - far less than any other mode of land transportation. The superior environmental performance is a result of rail’s significant investment in its infrastructure and services.

Facts and Figures

Passenger

• Road travel produce more than 40% more carbon pollution than rail Travel for each kilometre travelled by a passenger.
• Every additional rail journey reduces carbon emission costs by around 2 cent so if 1000 people switched their daily commute from road to rail, this would reduce costs from carbon emissions by 11,000 per year.

Freight

• Rail freight causes up to 19 times less emissions than road freight.
• Rail freight is up to 23 times more energy efficient than road freight.
• Every tonne kilometre of freight moved from road to rail results in a reduction of carbon pollution costs of around 0.21 cents.

Key Documents

• Transforming Rail - A Key Element in Australia's Low Pollution Future
• The True Value of Rail

The Australasian Railway Association represents major rail contractors in Australia and New Zealand. Advocating on behalf of these companies is the Rail Contractors Group.

Rail Contractors Group

Formed in 2014, the RCG represents the interests of companies who build new infrastructure for the Australian and New Zealand Rail industry. These projects include track construction, tunnels, stations, signalling and electrification of railway networks. In addition to the domestic rail infrastructure construction these companies successfully tender for and deliver work all around the globe.

RCG Terms of Reference

The RCG Terms of Reference can be found  here. 

RCG members

Current members of the contractors group are as follows:

• Malcolm Tinkler, McConnell Dowell (Chair)
• Richard Stewart,  John Holland Group (Deputy Chair)
• Michele Golda, Ansaldo STS
• David Robotham, Laing O’Rourke
• Andy Hunter, CPB Contractors
• Julian Sharp, Leighton Contractors
• Paul Feris, Lend Lease
• Nabeel Sadaka, Downer Infrastructure
• Sean Bonham, Coleman Rail
• Bob Herbert, ARA
• Danny Broad, ARA
• Rhianne Jory, ARA

Vision

The RCG’s vision is to align the interests of major contractors through proactive advocacy to:

• build a pipeline of opportunities that endure in the longer term;

• enhance the environment and regulatory framework in which contractors operate; and

• establish best practice in project procurement, risk allocation, skills development, safety and construction innovation.

Strategy and Priorities

The RCG has developed its Strategy and Priorities 2015 - 2017. Please find the RCG Strategy, ‘Three Year Strategic Plan’ here.

Joining the RCG

Interested parties wishing to join the RCG please contact Rhianne Jory, General Manager Industry and Programs via rjory@ara.net.au or on 02 62704504.

The Rail Industry Group (RIG) is a newly formed ARA group comprised of the former Rail Manufacturers Group (RMG) and the Rail Suppliers Network Australasia (RSNA). The aim of combining the two groups is to more accurately represent the whole supply chain when addressing common issues.

The RIG represents the interests of rolling stock manufacturers and suppliers for the Australian and New Zealand Rail industry, advocating for their interests and the importance of rail to the Australian economy.

RIG Terms of Reference

The RIG Terms of Reference are currently being developed and will be available here on completion.

RIG members

Current members of the RIG are as follows:

• Phillip Johns, UGL (Chair)
• Ross Spicer, Downer Rail (Alternate Chair)
• Alan Beacham, UGL
• Tim Bentley, Downer Rail
• René Lalande, Bombardier
• Andy Spink, Bombardier
• Paul Bennet, Siemens Ltd
• Bernard Joyce, Alstom
• Torben Fink-Jensen, Alstom
• Lindsay Reid, Comsteel
• Stephen Cantwell, Bradken
• Harry Hanegraaf, Faiveley Transport Australia
• Michael McLellan, Knorr-Bremse
• James McLeod, OEM Technology Solutions
• Bill Bunton, Nova Systems
• Alan Ross, A & K Ross Associates Pty Ltd
• Bryan Nye, Australasian Railway Association
• Naomi Frauenfelder, Australasian Railway Association (secretariat and program manager)

Strategy and Priorities

The RIG has recently developed its Strategy and Priorities for 2015. Please find RIG Strategy, ‘Rail: Growing the Australian Economy’ here.

Joining the RIG

Interested parties wishing to join the RIG please contact Rhianne Jory via rjory@ara.net.au or on 02 62704504.

Harmonising the rail industry through progressive improvement, not delayed perfection

The Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) is responsible for developing and managing a series of documents classified as the 'Australia Code of Practice'. These are industry standards, rules, codes of practice, guidelines and handbooks for the Australian rail industry.

Accredited by Standards Australia as one of its Standards Development Organisations, all standards produced by the RISSB are published as Australian Standards, which have a national application in Australia.

A not-for-profit organisation, the RISSB is funded by the members of the rail industry and the Australian Government.

Currently, there are seven functional areas which aim to achieve harmonisation in the rail industry. These areas include safety, operations, rollingstock, infrastructure, wheel rail interface, train control systems and railway level crossing safety.

For more information about the RISSB's standards, guidelines, codes of practice and rules and procedures, please visit the RISSB website at www.rissb.com.au.

Rail Safety Vision

Through close work with members and the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR), the ARA has developed the Rail Industry’s first Safety Vision, which includes methodologies for ONRSR cost recovery and policies around drugs and alcohol testing. 

Rail safety is a shared responsibility between many stakeholders. For the rail industry, mitigating safety risks as far as is reasonably practicable is and always will be the highest priority.

The industry sees the current situation more on the regulatory and compliance side of co-regulation and would like to work with ONRSR to move towards and potentially past the co-regulatory place on the continuum.

The industry wants to become the champion of rail safety and build on a collaborative and proactive relationship with the ONRSR to develop mutually agreed safety strategies and associated work plans.

Read the ARA's Rail Safety Vision here.

Links

• Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB)
• Rail Safety Culture Toolkit
• National Rail Safety Strategy
• Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator

Working Together to Save Lives

TrackSAFE is a registered Harm Prevention Charity established by the Australian rail industry in March 2012.

TrackSAFE was created by the ARA and UGL to endeavour to reduce suicide, trespass and level crossing incidents on the rail network, in doing so beginning to mitigate the trauma caused to train drivers and other rail employees resulting from exposure to one of these incidents. 

TrackSAFE is funded entirely by the rail industry with a Board of Directors drawn from CEOs and senior rail representatives including the unions. Former Deputy Prime Minister and well-known rail advocate, the Hon. Tim Fischer AC is the TrackSAFE Patron. 

Excitingly in October 2013 TrackSAFE New Zealand was launched (formerly the Chris Cairns Foundation), a great achievement for rail safety across Australasia!

Education is a key focus of TrackSAFE and as such, the first ever Australian curriculum-based rail safety education resources were launched in 2013. Be on the Safe Side provides teachers with learning resources to teach engaging student-centred lessons within various Australian Curriculum Learning Areas (e.g. English) with a train and track safety theme.

TrackSAFE Website

For more information on TrackSAFE including initiatives and projects www.tracksafefoundation.com.au

Get Involved

For more information or to get involved, please contact Executive Director, Naomi Frauenfelder via nfrauenfelder@ara.net.au or on 02 6270 4506.

Submissions

• Joint ARA and TrackSAFE submission to NTC on the Review of the Australian Road Rules (23-08-13)0.3 MB (PDF)

Media Releases

• Rail industry applauds its great achievers (10-07-15)0.22 MB (PDF)
• Save the date Australasian Rail Industry Awards 2015 Date and Venue Announced (08-12-14)0.12 MB (PDF)
• Great achievers in rail recognised at annual awards event (18-07-14)0.16 MB (PDF)
• More…

Publications

• ARA Quarterly Update Edition 14 (09-12-14)3.22 MB (PDF)
• ARA Quarterly Update Edition 12 (05-06-14)2.17 MB (PDF)
• ARA Quaterly Update Edition 11 (05-03-14)2.98 MB (PDF)
• More…

In 2013, heavy and light rail operations in Australia provided 850.3 million passenger trips. On a weekly basis, this is equal to 16.4 million passenger trips or 2.3 million people travelling by train each day of the year.
 
Providing an alternative to the car, rail’s key role is weekday commuting. Heavy and light passenger rail services are the dominant transport choice for commuters in Australian cities travelling to and from work in the AM and PM periods. Sydney has the largest journey-to-work market of the rail networks, transporting 46 per cent of Sydneysiders who work in the city centre.
 

In executing its remit, the ARA relies on strong relationships across the rail industry. The affiliate organisations listed represent the diverse ways in which the ARA collaborates in a manner that enhances the industry.

In this section you will find a suite of information on a variety of issues affecting all sectors of the rail industry.

The Australasian Railway Association represents major rail contractors in Australia and New Zealand. Advocating on behalf of these companies is the Rail Contractors Group.

The ARA is involved in a range of rail safety policy issues, primarily dealing with the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR).Key areas are:

Industry engagement

The rail industry continues to be fully engaged in the ONRSR reform process. The Safety Policy Working Group looks at high level policy issues and industry is represented on a range of ONRSR groups including the ONRSR CEO Industry Reference Group and smaller groups established to provide input to specific issues such as ONRSR costs, the review of drugs and alcohol legislation and a fatigue management review. Membership of these groups is organised by the ARA and is selected to ensure all relevant sectors are represented.

National Rail Safety Law (RSNL)

The final draft legislation underpinning the National Rail Safety Regulator became law in South Australia as the “host” state for the NRSR on 1 May 2012. The legislation is being progressively passed in jurisdictions. The ARA is pushing for national consistency through all jurisdictions adopting the RSNL. The ARA is also involved (with members) on the NTC RSNL Maintenance Group. This group provides feedback to NTC on proposed changes to the RSNL.

National Rail Safety Investigator

Industry continues to engage with the ATSB, primarily through the industry led Safety Managers Group.

One Industry

The ARA and RISSB are working with Safety Managers to develop a “one industry” approach. This complements the industry’s call for one regulator, one investigator and one law. Working as one industry will mean consistent application of legislation, rules, standards, guidelines and codes of practice across the industry, providing timely and accurate data, ensuring rail safety worker competencies are harmonised across the industry and ensuring there is open communication within industry and externally to key stakeholders,

Want to know more?

For more information please contact Phil Allan, Chief Operating Officer via pallan@ara.net.au, on 02 6270 4507 or visit the National Rail Safety Regulator website www.onrsr.com.au

Heritage Rail in Australia

Australia’s rail history goes back more than 160 years, before Federation. The first steam train ran between Melbourne and Port Melbourne in 1854 and ignited the rapid independent development of steam railways by the colonies. After initially importing equipment for these systems, by the 1880’s, the majority of track and rolling stock was locally made. By Federation in 1901, all States, except Western Australia were linked by rail, operating on approximately 20,000km of track however, the independent development of the railways resulted in the use of different railway gauges (width of track) which continues around Australia today.

Steam locomotives were solely used until the 1950’s when diesel-electric locomotives began to take over. Steam locomotives were completely withdrawn from commercial operations in the 1970’s but remained for tourism purposes. Before the advent of diesel-electric locomotives, during their century of operation, steam railways enabled the agricultural and industrial development of the country, the growth of our major cities and provided the birthplace of many country communities.

Today, more than 75 steam railways and street tramways continue to operate around Australia. On average, more than 630,000 day trips or visits are made to Heritage Rail operations around the country annually. The preservation of these heritage railways and street tramways provide a means of conserving, educating and demonstrating rail’s cultural significance to Australian history and society. 

Volunteer or visit a heritage railway today

The multiple heritage steam rail operations that exist and operate today rely on volunteers. New members are encouraged and always welcome.

The voluntary nature of heritage steam railways and street tramways provides significant social benefits to the Australian community, enabling people to work together to maintain an important part of Australia’s history.  The commitment of individuals to work as teams and offer their own time as volunteers, is generally coordinated through not-for-profit organisations.  These volunteers are trained and become professionals in their own right, learning and maintaining skills to operate, maintain and rebuild rolling stock, track and bridges.

Most organisations operate only at weekends and during holiday periods, providing steam services on exclusive track and sometimes operating on commercial networks. In addition, there are various heritage groups involved in providing comprehensive rail museums with operable rolling stock, research, publications, static preservation of vehicles and artefacts that may in future become involved in operations.

To get involved or for information on heritage railways around Australia, visit www.greatrailexperiencesaustralia.com.au.

This website has been prepared by the Association of Tourist and Heritage Rail, Australia who represent the sector nationally and are a member of the ARA.

The ARA’s passenger rail portfolio is led by the Passenger Transport Group (PTG), an Executive Committee that reports directly to the ARA Board.

Comprised of Chief Executives and Managing Directors of passenger rail operators around Australia and New Zealand, the PTG includes representation from all regional, urban and metro heavy rail systems and light rail networks around Australasia.

Current members of the PTG are as follows:

• Howard Collins, Sydney Trains  (Chair)
• Emma Thomas, Capital Metro
• Anne Alford, Dept. of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, South Australia
• Benedicte Colin, Keolis Downer
• David Shepherd, KiwiRail Passenger
• Andrew Lezala, MTM
• Rob Mason, NSW Trains
• Mark Burgess, Public Transport Authority of Western Australia
• Kevin Wright, Queensland Rail
• Martin Kearney, Transdev Auckland
• Peter Lodge, Transdev Australasia
• Gary Liddle, V/Line
• Nicolas Gindt, Yarra Trams
• Danny Broad, ARA
• Emma Woods, ARA

Vision

The PTG has developed a vision for passenger rail.

“Aligning the interests of passenger rail operators through pro-active advocacy that:

• Builds a visible, long term pipeline of infrastructure improvements including new passenger rail systems, new lines, stations, rollingstock and amenities;
• Ensures continued investment in passenger rail projects by all levels of government;
• Enhances safety through a co-regulatory model, and;
• Establishes operational best practice in order to minimise costs and maximise customer experience.”

Strategy

To achieve the above vision, the PTG has developed an accompanying strategy. The strategy focuses on six key platforms; safety, technology, funding and investment, asset management, information sharing and accessibility and integration. Through the PTG, the ARA will work to deliver the actions outlined in this strategy between 2016 and 2018 to achieve the vision of the PTG.

To view the PTG’s passenger rail strategy in full, click here. To view a two-page overview of the strategy, click here.

More information

For more information on the PTG, please contact Emma Woods, General Manager Passenger and Member Services via ewoods@ara.net.au or 02 6270 4512.

The Rail Industry Worker program is a management system that aims to establish a cohesive, national approach to competency management for contractors working in rail.  The optimal goals of this initiative are to minimise the risk of untrained personnel working on the network and enhance safety for both our passengers and our people.

The program commenced as an initiative of the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) and RailCorp (now Transport for New South Wales) and has evolved to create a foundation for a program that was transferrable to other organisations and across the industry.

About the System

More Information

For more information, latest news and to register online visit www.railindustryworker.com.au.

Alternatively, please contact Project Officer, Kimberly Castle via kcastle@ara.net.au or on 02 6270 4503.

Industry Inventory Management Initiative

Working together in Rail

The ARA is working with GS1 Australia and participating organisations on a rail industry inventory management program aimed at reducing costs and improving the quality of materials management processes.

Standardising the way materials in the rail industry supply chain are identified and marked will bring industry wide efficiencies for all stakeholders. It will provide the critical foundation for electronic data capture and the ability to simplify the exchange of information across operators, manufacturers, suppliers and contractors. The ARA has established a working group involving operators and suppliers who have agreed to a collaborative industry approach to improving inbound supply chain processes.

You can find out more about the program here and further information on the GS1 approach to standards can be found in the following video:

To ensure we best engage with and represent our 130 plus member organisations, we split rail into four sectors; passenger, freight, contractors and suppliers.

Each of these sectors is led by an Executive Committee that reports to our Board and has developed their own strategies and implementation plans to guide our priorities.  The diagram below illustrates this approach.

More Information

For more information on these portfolios or Executive Committees, click through as required:

• Passenger Transport Group
• Freight Transport Group
• Rail Contractors Group
• Rail Industry Group

To discuss these groups or seek more information, please contact our office via ara@ara.net.au.

Rail is entering an exciting period as a result of unprecedented investment and expansion. This transformation provides rail with the unique opportunity to embrace change and improve the gender diversity of our workforce.

Currently, passenger operators are at differing stages of the gender diversity journey. As a whole, the industry has an ageing and male-dominated workforce but shares a strong desire to actively improve the gender balance throughout rail. The significant growth facing the industry provides the perfect leverage to initiate this change.  The timing is right.

To initiate a national plan, the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) convened a one-day workshop, bringing together passenger rail representatives and ARA-member consultants as the Women in Rail Advisory Committee (the committee). During this workshop the committee detailed existing diversity and inclusion programs, brainstormed options for a national approach to improving  rail’s gender imbalance, while sharing an enthusiasm to act. The recommendations from this workshop are outlined in the Women in Rail Strategy.

To view the Women in Rail Strategy, click here.  

The strategy has been approved by the Passenger Transport Group. In the first instance, the industry will progress recommendations one and four; branding and promotion of the industry and the development of a national framework to assist organisations on their gender diversity journey.

More Information

For more information, please contact Emma Woods via ewoods@ara.net.au or 02 6270 4512.

In 2013, heavy and light rail operations in Australia provided 850.3 million passenger trips. On a weekly basis, this is equal to 16.4 million passenger trips or 2.3 million people travelling by train each day of the year.
 
Providing an alternative to the car, rail’s key role is weekday commuting. Heavy and light passenger rail services are the dominant transport choice for commuters in Australian cities travelling to and from work in the AM and PM periods. Sydney has the largest journey-to-work market of the rail networks, transporting 46 per cent of Sydneysiders who work in the city centre.
 

In executing its remit, the ARA relies on strong relationships across the rail industry. The affiliate organisations listed represent the diverse ways in which the ARA collaborates in a manner that enhances the industry.

The Australasian Railway Association represents major rail contractors in Australia and New Zealand. Advocating on behalf of these companies is the Rail Contractors Group.

The ARA is involved in a range of rail safety policy issues, primarily dealing with the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR). Key areas are:

Industry Engagement

The rail industry continues to be fully engaged in the ONRSR reform process. The Safety Policy Working Group looks at high level policy issues and industry is represented on a range of ONRSR groups including the ONRSR CEO Industry Reference Group and smaller groups established to provide input to specific issues such as ONRSR costs, the review of drugs and alcohol legislation and a fatigue management review. Membership of these groups is organised by the ARA and is selected to ensure all relevant sectors are represented.

National Rail Safety Law (RSNL)

The final draft legislation underpinning the National Rail Safety Regulator became law in South Australia as the “host” state for the NRSR on 1 May 2012. The legislation is being progressively passed in jurisdictions. The ARA is pushing for national consistency through all jurisdictions adopting the RSNL. The ARA is also involved (with members) on the NTC RSNL Maintenance Group. This group provides feedback to NTC on proposed changes to the RSNL.

National Rail Safety Investigator

Industry continues to engage with the ATSB, primarily through the industry led Safety Managers Group.

One Industry

The ARA and RISSB are working with Safety Managers to develop a “one industry” approach. This complements the industry’s call for one regulator, one investigator and one law. Working as one industry will mean consistent application of legislation, rules, standards, guidelines and codes of practice across the industry, providing timely and accurate data, ensuring rail safety worker competencies are harmonised across the industry and ensuring there is open communication within industry and externally to key stakeholders.

More Information

For more information please contact Phil Allan, Chief Operating Officer via pallan@ara.net.au, on 02 6270 4507 or visit the National Rail Safety Regulator website www.onrsr.com.au.