Dear Readers
In recent weeks much as been said about the impact of COVID-19 on the railway industry.
Some of the most insightful articles I have come across on the subject have been written by world-renowned transport expert Christian Wolmar. To read the articles yourself go to https://www.christianwolmar.co.uk/articles/
We have 4x exciting Jobs of the Week this week. In Abu Dhabi, our client is looking for a Senior Quality Manager (prefer Emiratis) and in New Zealand, we are looking for a Technical Stores Person and a Train Maintenance Technician. For the positions in New Zealand, our client will only consider New Zealand based candidates due to the current border restrictions in place. Also, we are looking for a Solutions Architect to work in Singapore.
Regards
Ceri Taylor
Editor
This Week’s Headlines
24 May 2020. UK. Transport network to get funding for Covid-19 protection measures
Roads, railways, buses and trams are to receive a £283m funding package to improve public safety and protect services, the transport secretary has announced.
Source: The Guardian
24 May 2020. UK. Isle of Wight railway branch lines reinstatement a step closer
The Government have selected the Isle of Wight as one of the areas they are funding further investigation of the reinstatement of closed railway branch lines.
Source: On the Wight
22 May 220. Australia. Laing O’Rourke team wins NSW rail contract
A joint venture of Laing O’Rourke and KBR has won a contract worth about AU$300m for rail upgrades in New South Wales (NSW).
Source: The Construction Index
21 May 2020. Czech Republic. Government increases rail investment budget
The Czech Republic government has increased the investment budget for infrastructure manager SZ by Koruna 3.5bn to Koruna 46.9bn for 2020.
Source: International Railway Journal
20 May 2020. UK. Old Oak Common HS2 station approved
The planning application for what HS2 Ltd says will be ‘the largest new railway station ever built in the UK’ has been approved by Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corp,.
Source: Railway Gazette
20 May 2020. New Zealand. Funding secured for Wellington regional trains study
Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils have secured NZ$5m in funding from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to pursue a detailed business case and commence procurement for regional trains.
Jobs of the Week
Senior Quality Manager (preferably Emirati) Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Job ID#: 12994
Discipline: Quality
Position Type: Contract
Job Description
Our client is seeking a Senior Quality Manager (preferably Emirati) to develop and manage a world class quality assurance system to ensure set quality standards and objectives are met at all times within administration systems, operations and during the execution of projects as per established protocols.
Responsibilities:
- Establish business performance management systems to ensure achievement of business strategy and corporate performance indicators, which are aligned with Company Vision, Mission, Values and Business Plans.
- Hold regular meetings with the Board nominated committees to review progress against plans and discuss important issues requiring top management and/or Board
- Advise the Board on any significant risks including unpredictable/unforeseen events/issues as necessary in order to address unresolved matters
- Ensure the effective utilization of resources to deliver the output of the strategic plan
- Hold regular meetings with the senior management team to review progress and discuss important matters requiring top management attention
Job Requirements
Mandatory: Bachelors' degree in relevant field
Preferable: Post graduate degree
Mandatory:
- Certified Lead Auditor ISO 9001
- PMP certification
Preferable: A minimum of 8 years of relevant experience
Contact: Jackie Hendry (jackie@railpersonnel.com)
Technical Stores Person Auckland, New Zealand
Job ID#: 12993
Discipline: Administration
Position Type: Permanent
Job Description
Our client is a leader in the design, manufacture, maintenance and supply of equipment and components for railway systems. In Auckland, they are delivering and maintaining the electric trains on the Auckland passenger network. They are currently looking for a Technical Stores Person to be responsible for conducting a range of physical and record-keeping tasks to support the accurate and efficient operation of the EMU parts store at Wiri depot.
This position reports to the Logistic and Purchasing Coordinator and this role will operate on a rotating shift.
As a Technical Stores Person your responsibilities will include:
* Assist maintenance team. This includes handling material and tooling required for maintenance daily tasks.
* Transferring and recording stock transactions in the inventory management system.
* Receipting and distributing inwards goods, transferring them to the appropriate location.
* Ensure materials and consumables stock levels are maintained to the appropriate level in the warehouse.
Job Requirements
Due to current border restrictions, candidates must be based in New Zealand in order to be considered for this role.
To be successful you will need:
* To be flexible to work 24/7 shift work - 12 hour rotating shifts (Day shift 6am to 6pm and also night shift 6pm to 6am).
* Clean driver’s license,
* Capable of routinely lifting goods up to 15kg,
* Have previous experience involving record keeping/data entry and experience in a warehouse environment
* Ability to work in a team and autonomously.
* Pass our pre-employment medical including a drug test
* Forklift license and overhead crane certificate is preferred but not essential
* Microsoft Excel: Intermediate level
Contact: Renee Wade (renee@railpersonnel.com)
Train Maintenance Technician Auckland, New Zealand
Job ID#: 12997
Discipline: Mechanical
Position Type: Permanent
Job Description
Our client was charged with building Auckland's new electric trains and now they are responsible for the maintenance and servicing of the electric trains.
The trains were designed just for Auckland and consist of state of the art technology.
Maintaining Auckland's trains takes a range of skills, from mechanical to electrical and they are currently seeking a Train Maintenance Technician to carry out preventive and corrective maintenance on all of the trains" systems (mechanical, electrical and electronic).
Job Requirements
If you are currently based in New Zealand and have a background in the maintenance of heavy machinery with strong computer skills, this might be the role for you. The client will provide all of the tools and training needed to perform the wide variety of tasks needed to keep Auckland's trains running smoothly.
The competitive remuneration package includes laundered uniforms, medical insurance, frequent training opportunities and long service leave for all employees.
Our client operates 24/7 so you will need to be flexible to work shifts and note that there can be additional remuneration for nights, weekends and any over-time worked on top of your base salary.
Contact: Renee Wade (renee@railpersonnel.com)
Job ID#: 12999
Discipline: Business Intelligence
Position Type: Permanent
Job Description
Our client has been a leader in transport solutions for more than 160 years, and is constantly innovating its portfolio in its core areas of rolling stock, rail automation and electrification, turnkey systems, intelligent traffic systems as well as related services.
They are looking for someone to take on the role of Solution Architect based in Singapore.
The Solution Architect will drive the development and implementation of data driven solutions on the Rail Enterprise Asset Management System.
He or she will be responsible to
* Design, describe and manage the solution in relation to a specific use case and need to translate business requirements into a technical specification.
* Actively drive the application integration-development of the Rail Enterprise Asset Management System and ensure the successfully implementation
* Translation of business requirements into solution concepts in closed alignment with the Business Analysts, Domain Experts, Data Scientist and Developers to ensure overall consistency of integration design and development
* Ownership of the solution architecture development lifecycle for the Rail Enterprise Asset Management System
* Oversight and management of the implementation of the target architecture
* Management of stakeholder expectations and requirements
Job Requirements
* 8-10 years of proficiency in integration solution architecture and development roles
* Full life cycle experience in the field of software development
* Experience of software development methodologies and structured approaches to system development
* Strong Experience in Big Data Technologies like Hadoop, MapReduce, Kafka, HBase, Cassandra, Hive, Presto und Spark
* Technical experience and/or knowledge in the following areas: Business Intelligence, Data Governance, Data Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence
Contact: David Hyland (davidh@railpersonnel.com)
Rail News
24 May 2020. UK. Transport network to get funding for Covid-19 protection measures
Roads, railways, buses and trams are to receive a £283m funding package to improve public safety and protect services, the transport secretary has announced. Grant Shapps said the funding, which includes £29m for trams and light rail, would increase both frequency and capacity of services while ensuring there is enough space on vehicles to allow for social distancing. The money will be spent on making adjustments to vehicles, signage, deep cleaning and the provision of hand sanitiser. In addition, 3,400 people, including British Transport police officers and Network Rail staff, have been deployed at stations to make sure passengers follow the physical distancing guidance put in place. Light rail funding will also support services in Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Tyne and Wear and the West Midlands. A personalised information service has also been introduced to inform people about disruption and crowding on services.
Source: The Guardian
24 May 2020. UK. Isle of Wight railway branch lines reinstatement a step closer
The Government have selected the Isle of Wight as one of the areas they are funding further investigation of the reinstatement of closed railway branch lines. The old railway lines to Ventnor and Newport could be reopened as part of ambitious plans to restore routes lost to the Beeching cuts. The Isle of Wight was name-checked in Downing Street briefing as transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced ten successful bids to the government’s ‘Restoring Your Railway ‘Ideas Fund’. It means the Island will receive a share of £500,000 to develop exciting proposals to reopen lost railway lines. Department for Transport officials will now work with the council to agree the focus of the work and the funding which will be required, and on what timescales.
Source: On the Wight
22 May 220. Australia. Laing O’Rourke team wins NSW rail contract
A joint venture of Laing O’Rourke and KBR has won a contract worth about AU$300m for rail upgrades in New South Wales (NSW). A similar contract has been awarded to John Holland and Jacobs. The work for the NSW government involves modernising and upgrading infrastructure on the rail network and will create 550 new jobs. Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the scheme will deliver essential upgrades to rail infrastructure including stabling yards, signalling, track, station platforms and power supply at key locations between Central, the T8 Airport Line tunnel and the South Coast. The Next Rail partnership comprising John Holland and Jacobs will deliver all projects from Central to Hurstville, while the Transport for Tomorrow partnership comprising Laing O’Rourke and KBR will deliver all projects between Mortdale and Kiama. Construction for the upgrades will begin in the middle of this year for completion in advance of service improvements that are planned for 2022.
Source: The Construction Index
21 May 2020. Czech Republic. Government increases rail investment budget
The Czech Republic government has increased the investment budget for infrastructure manager SZ by Koruna 3.5bn to Koruna 46.9bn ($US 1.9bn) for 2020. SZ has prepared investment projects worth more than Koruna 24.2bn this year, which is Koruna 4.6bn more than in 2019. SZ says despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, it has invested almost Koruna 6.9bn up to 30 April, which is 28% of the annual budget. By comparison, SZ had only invested 22.5% of the total budget during the first four months of 2019. The additional funding will be used for track repairs and maintenance and work on station buildings.
Source: International Railway Journal
20 May 2020. UK. Old Oak Common HS2 station approved
The planning application for what HS2 Ltd says will be ‘the largest new railway station ever built in the UK’ has been approved by Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corp, which is leading regeneration of the former railway and industrial site at Old Oak Common in west London. The design of the station has been led by engineering consultancy WSP with architectural support from WilkinsonEyre. The station is designed to meet the BREEAM standard for buildings that reduce energy usage and materials waste, and minimise their environmental impact. The station is expected to become one of the busiest in the country, used by up to 250 000 passengers/day. It will have an 850 m long station box, with six platforms for high speed services and eight for conventional services on the Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express and Great Western routes. A joint venture of Balfour Beatty, Vinci and Systra was awarded the construction contract in September 2019 and is set to begin work on-site in June.
Source: Railway Gazette
20 May 2020. New Zealand. Funding secured for Wellington regional trains study
Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils have secured NZ$5m in funding from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to pursue a detailed business case, and commence procurement for regional trains. Waka Kotahi is fully funding the project which will enable the councils to complete a detailed business case, and undertake the procurement of the new trains which are expected to cost approximately NZ$300m and bring greater capacity and frequency to the inter-regional network. Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils will now continue detailed investigations, including market assessments to better understand options, risks and costs, in a fast changing technology environment before completing the detail business case and undertaking the procurement process for new trains.
Source: Scoop
19 May 2020. UK. HS2 launches vote to name TBMs
HS2 has launched a national vote to pick the names of the first of 10 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that will excavate more than 56km of tunnel on the first phase of the new high speed railway between London and the West Midlands. Tradition dictates that in order to keep the tunnellers safe underground. TBMs are given a female name before they are launched. The names are: Cecilia – named after Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, the Astronomer and Astrophysicist born in Buckinghamshire who became Chair of Astronomy at Harvard University in the United State; Florence – named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing and Marie – named after Marie Curie, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the first person and the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice. The TBMs will be operated by HS2’s main works contractor, Align JV – a joint venture formed of three companies: Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick.
Source: Tunnelling Journal
19 May 2020. France Alstom delivers the 300th Coradia Polyvalent for Régiolis
Alstom has delivered the 300th Coradia Polyvalent train for Régiolis in the Occitanie region. After 6 years of operation, the total delivered fleet of Coradia Polyvalent trains has covered more than 107 million kilometres with a level of reliability and availability in line with the expectations of SNCF Voyageurs and the French Regions. With their modular architecture, the Coradia Polyvalent trains can be adapted to the requirements of each public transport authority as well as to the different types of operation - suburban, regional and intercity. The trains, which can travel at 160 km/h, are available in three lengths (56, 72 or 110 metres) and offers optimal comfort to passengers, Coradia Polyvalent trains are both ecological and economical thanks to their low energy consumption and reduced maintenance costs. Operation in multiple units of up to four trains makes it possible to adapt flexibly to dense traffic or peaks of up to 1,000 passengers.
Source: Alstom
19 May 2020. India. Alstom’s first Prima electric locomotive to IR begins operation
The first of the 12000-horsepower, Prima T8 electric locomotives has been put into commercial service by Indian Railways (IR). Built by Alstom and certified by the Ministry of Railways and Commissioner of Railway Safety/RDSO, the electric locomotives – known locally by the designation WAG-12 – are the most powerful locomotives to run on Indian rails. The 2015 contract will see a total of 800 locomotives built for Indian Railways. The e-locos will allow faster and safer movement of heavy freight trains, capable of hauling 6000 tonnes at a top speed of 120 km/h. Planned for deployment on Dedicated Freight Corridors (they will increase the average speed of freight trains in India by approximately 25 km/h. Equipped with Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) propulsion technology, the e-locos will also allow considerable savings in energy consumption thanks to the use of regenerative braking. In line with the Make-in-India mandate, all the 800 Prima locomotives are being manufactured locally.
Source: Alstom
19 May 2020. Australia. ARTC to replace rail bridges in Muswellbrook
Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is set to spend A$58m on a works package to replace three existing rail bridges in Muswellbrook, NSW. ARTC Group Executive Hunter Valley Wayne Johnson said the bridges would be replaced due to their age and condition and the upgrades are essential to operating a safe and reliable rail network. Mr Johnson said the project would provide a solid economic boost for the Muswellbrook area, with up to 200 people working on it at various stages over the next two years. ARTC has engaged Laing O'Rourke as the principal contractor for detailed design and construction and will commence next month and continue until June 2022.
Source: Hunter Valley News
18 May 2020. UK. MPs' scathing new report slams HS2
The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee claims the management of HS2 has gone “badly off course,” and has demanded that the government gives regular accurate and open updates on the problems the project is facing, together with progress on developing appropriate skills and capabilities needed the deliver the project. The committee’s scathing report found that the Department for Transport (Daft) permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly and HS2 Ltd executives’ appearance before the committee as recently as March 2020 raised questions about the previous picture, provided by the witnesses, of the project’s health. The report found that the DfT and HS2 Ltd were aware of the scale of the project’s cost and schedule overruns as early as October 2018. In March 2019, HS2 Ltd formally advised the DfT that it would not be able to deliver Phase One of the programme on time or within the available funding. However, says the report, the permanent secretary did not make this clear when she appeared before the previous committee in October 2018 and May 2019, even when asked specific questions about the programme’s delivery timeline and budget.
Source: Infrastructure Intelligence
18 May 2020. Turkey. First domestic freight train goes through Marmaray Tunnel
The first domestic freight train has passed through the Marmaray rail tunnel linking Europe to Asia under the Bosporus in Istanbul. The train comprised 16 wagons carrying 32 containers of plastic raw materials, which were being transported 524 km from Gaziantep in southeast Turkey to Çorlu in the European part of the country. Minister of Transport Adil Karaismailoğlu said freight services through the tunnel would replace the existing rail and ferry route between via the ports of Derince and Tekirdağ, significantly cutting costs. Karaismailoğlu said that up to 25,000 containers per year were expected to pass from Asia to Europe through the Marmaray tunnel, the key stage in the ‘middle corridor’ rail route between China and Europe.
Source: Railway Gazette
18 May 2020. Australia. Cross River Rail tunnelling begins in Brisbane
Queensland’s Cross River Rail project has commenced tunnelling at the site of one of Brisbane’s new train stations. The Road Header at Roma St has been assembled at the bottom of an 18-metre-deep shaft and will excavate approximately 50 tonnes of rock and soil per hour. The tunnelling site is covered by an enormous ‘acoustic shed’ designed to minimise noise and contain dust, while demolition of the Hotel Jen building immediately adjacent is also progressing with floors being removed at a rate of one per week. Demolition will then move on to one of Brisbane’s least loved buildings, the Brisbane Transit Centre.
Source: Infrastructure Magazine
14 May 2020. Germany. Bombardier Flexity trams authorised for Düsseldorf network
Bombardier Transportation has received authorisation for their Flexity trams to begin operation in the Düsseldorf and Duisburg network. This means that Rheinbahn can now start using the trams for passenger service within the Düsseldorf metropolitan area. Bombardier will deliver a total of 59 newly developed Flexity high-floor trams to Rheinbahn in Düsseldorf. Around 1,000 Flexity trams from Bombardier operate in 42 German cities and over 5,000 trams have been ordered or are already in revenue service in cities around the world.
Source: Bombardier Transportation
13 May 2020. UK. Work starts on construction phase of Feltham Depot
Engineering works at South Western Railway’s (SWR) flagship £60m Feltham depot have entered the next major phase ahead of the Class 701 train roll-out. The initial phase of vital new cabling and track connections have recently taken place, and work is set to continue over the next few months to fully connect the eastern and western parts of Feltham to the mainline infrastructure, in time for the arrival of the new trains. The depot will securely stable 10 ten-car Class 701 trains, when the fleet is phased-in over the next few years, and provide modern facilities for SWR’s drivers, guards, and train presentation teams to clean and maintain each train every night. Specialist servicing and train washing equipment will also be installed on site. The project received funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) to install technology which automates shunting to provide a safer working environment and help quickly stable trains during significant periods of disruption. Built on the old Feltham marshalling yard in South West London, the investment brings a third of the 11 acre site back into use following its closure in the late 1960s.
Source: Global Railway Review
12 May 2020. India. Train services resume after nearly two months
The Indian Railways has resumed passenger train operations nearly two months after services were stopped due to the nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of Covid-19. The railways opened bookings for passenger services with 15 trains a day connecting Delhi to Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and other big cities. The Railways ministry said that reservations were issued to more than 54,000 passengers. The Railways has made Arogya Setu mobile application, which helps in tracking the spread of the virus, mandatory for passengers who want to board the trains. Rail, road and air services were suspended in March to stop Covid-19 infection to spread into the country’s interior, but the case numbers have risen daily. However, officials say the spread of the disease was largely contained due to the stringent restrictions.
Source: Hindustan Times
11 May 2020. Australia. Rail sector and Federal Government to develop ATMS
The Federal Government has invested A$50m to support the rail sector to develop and implement an Advanced Train Management System (ATMS). Leading Australian rail freight companies will establish an oversight group to provide a single, direct, industry-led forum to investigate the introduction and roll-out of the system. The ATMS is being developed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation and technology partner Lockheed Martin. Following extensive development and testing over the past ten years, the Australian-developed train management technology is now operational between Port Augusta and Whyalla. Custom-engineered and tested under Australian conditions, it has proven both its safety and capability required for a staged deployment across the wider national interstate rail network operated by ARTC. The nine major rail freight businesses in Australia have identified the ATMS as the priority train control project to advance industry as a whole.
Source: Infrastructure Magazine
