Dear Readers
The Malaysian Rail Academy (MyRA) has produced many skilled workers who can manage rail technology in Malaysia and is committed to providing educational training and human capital development in railway-related services. It is also research-centric apart from offering academic opportunities through comprehensive programmers with its academic board. MyRA offers more than 600 technical subjects and have trained over 50,000 people since 1973. It has 48 staff with 15 in-house trainers and over 12 acres of facilities including a hostel and sports facilities. Virtually at myra.ktmb.com.my we have over 1000 free e-learning modules on soft skills to make it a complete rail educational journey.
MyRA has recently launched a new website and You Tube channel and for details, please visit: https://myra.ktmb.com.my/myra/
We have 2x exciting Jobs of the Week this week. In Taiwan, we are looking for a QS Manager and in Hong Kong we are looking for a System Assurance Consultant.
Best Regards
Rail Personnel
This Week's Headlines
10 June 2022. Australia. NSW commits to Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2
The New South Wales government has confirmed A$602·4m of funding to enable the start of detailed planning and preliminary works for Stage 2 of the Parramatta Light Rail project in western Sydney. Tracklaying was recently completed for the 12 km, 16-stop Stage 1 connecting Westmead to the Parramatta CBD, Camellia and Carlingford.
Source: Metro Report International
9 June 2022. Philippines. Manila South Commuter Railway financing packages approved
The Asian Development Bank has approved a US$4·3bn loan package to finance construction of the South Commuter Railway between Manila and Calamba. Future services will offer a journey time of around half the 2½ h taken by road.
Source: Railway Gazette International
8 June 2022. Turkey. Turkey kicks off work on new high-speed line and freight connection
The Turkish ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and local authorities held a so-called first rail welding ceremony earlier on Wednesday for a new high-speed line and freight connection across the European part of the country.
Source: RailTech.com
Jobs of the Week
Job ID#: 13473
Discipline: Civil
Position Type: Contract
Language: Mandarin, English
Job Description:
Our client is looking for a QS Manager to be responsible for a project to ensure our project cost remain within budget. They provide cost and material estimates, draw up projected budgets, and work alongside a team, noting any design changes and their effect on cost.
In particular,
1) Conducting feasibility studies to estimate materials, time, and labour costs.
2) Preparing, negotiating, and analyzing costs for main contract.
3) Preparing, negotiating, and analyzing costs for subcontract and/ or suppliers costs and contracts.
4) Coordination of work effort liaising with Engineer dept. and Construction dept.
5) Dealing with a range of legal and contractual issues.
6) Valuing completed work and arranging for payments.
7) Main contract is English and subcontract is mandarin so that both language skill are required for duties.
Job Requirements
-Candidate must possess at least Diploma in Quantity Surveyor or Civil Engineering or equivalent
-Experience in Civil or related field
-Minimum 6 years working experience in the related field
Contact: Patricia Hsiao (patricia@railpersonnel.com)
System Assurance Consultant, Hong Kong
Job ID#: 13472
Discipline: Systems
Position Type: Permanent
Language: English
Job Description:
Our client is seeking a System Assurance Consultant to work and be based in either Singapore or Hong Kong.
As a consultant, our client is expecting this person to support the South East Asia region, covering Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and other new markets. Working as a System Assurance Consultant, this person will meet and develop relationships with client project and programme managers and, in many cases, act as the client"s main point of contact for project delivery.
Key Responsibilities:
* Deliver safety engineering for a wide range of signaling and infrastructure projects to ensure compliance with relevant standards.
* Reporting to the Principal Consultant, manage the system assurance framework to achieve the Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety(RAMS) objectives.
* Manage risk assessments for specific discipline areas, being able to self-sufficiently plan, run and write up risk workshops.
* Support business development and write proposals. In doing so, identify potential risks, devise method statements, specify clear acceptance criteria, and generate resource and cost estimates.
* Manage and deliver smaller projects, working with clients to understand their objectives and desired outcomes for each project and taking direction from the Project Director when required.
* In doing so, ensure that the scope of work and time budgets are clear, monitored, and managed and that risks to delivering to quality, on time, and within budget against acceptance criteria are anticipated and managed.
* For larger projects, take ownership of specific work packages and, as part of a team, deliver these to quality, time and budget.
* Ensure overall client satisfaction targets are met throughout the project lifecycle.
* Liaise with clients, project stakeholders and other industry participants.
Job Requirements
* 5 to 10 years practical experience as a Systems Assurance Consultant or similar related discipline within Rail
* Degree or equivalent technical qualification, with experience in a relevant engineering discipline.
* Preferably possess a railway signaling or relevant background, experience in auditing/assessing is preferred
* Capability with tools and techniques such as FMECA, FTA-ETA would be beneficial.
* Has good subject knowledge and awareness and capabilities in specific areas of a certain topic. Possess significant practical design/application experience and am able to work independently on projects with little or even without a guide.
* Systems Assurance engineering experience - ability to decompose a system context from project documentation, read and understand standards and understand key elements/interfaces.
* Ability to work in a consultancy environment including the need for flexibility and client satisfaction. This includes understanding client needs and issues, developing requirements and solutions, managing client expectations, and delivering high-quality outputs.
* The candidate should possess at least one of the following topics/subsystems/equipment:
- Train Control and Protection Systems for traditional or high-speed line railway, for example, ETCS or CTCS, including Trackside - RBC, TCC, LEU, Balise, etc., and Trainborne - EVC, SDU, BTM, STM, etc.
- Train Control and Protection Systems for metro line, for example, CBTC, including Trackside - ZC, DSU, LEU, Balise, etc., and Trainborne - EVC, SDU, BTM, etc.
- Interlocking and Train / Vehicle Detection, including Computer Based Interlocking, Track circuits, Axle counters, etc.
- Signalling Safety Platform, Track circuits, Axle counters, etc.
Contact: Renee Wade (renee@railpersonnel.com)
Rail News
10 June 2022. Australia. NSW commits to Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2
The New South Wales government has confirmed A$602·4m of funding to enable the start of detailed planning and preliminary works for Stage 2 of the Parramatta Light Rail project in western Sydney. Tracklaying was recently completed for the 12 km, 16-stop Stage 1 connecting Westmead to the Parramatta CBD, Camellia and Carlingford. This route is scheduled to open in 2023. Stage 2 will be a 10 km branch with 15 stops linking central Parramatta to Ermington, Melrose Park, Wentworth Point, Sydney Olympic Park and the Carter Street Precinct. It will connect with the future Sydney Metro West and rail services at Parramatta and Sydney Olympic Park, and with ferry services at Rydalmere and Sydney Olympic Park.
Source: Metro Report International
10 June 2022. Australia. Metro Trains receives endorsement as employer of choice for women
Metro Trains Melbourne has been endorsed by Work180, highlighting its work to support and empower women and naming it as an employer of choice. Metro is only one of 260 businesses globally that have received an endorsement to join Work180’s platform. Work180 is a global jobs network that provides women with an easy way of identifying workplaces they can trust, reaching nine million women worldwide. Employers looking to be endorsed by Work180 are screened against a set of 20 criteria to demonstrate that the organisation is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. Some of the criteria includes being transparent with benefits, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and constantly striving for continuous improvement.
Source: Infrastructure Magazine
9 June 2022. Philippines. Manila South Commuter Railway financing packages approved
The Asian Development Bank has approved a US$4·3bn loan package to finance construction of the South Commuter Railway between Manila and Calamba. Future services will offer a journey time of around half the 2½ h taken by road. The US$1·75bn first tranche is to be made available by ADB this year, with the second and third tranches in 2024 and 2026. This will finance the civil works for the 54·6 km double-track 1 435 mm gauge electrified line between Blumentritt and Calamba, the 18 stations, depot buildings and a connecting tunnel to allow the operation of direct trains from Calamba to stations on the future Metro Manila Subway.
Source: Railway Gazette International
8 June 2022. Australia. US locomotives rebuilt for Australia
Wabtec is supplying a fleet of modernised diesel locomotives to an Australian customer for the first time, with a contract to rebuild 28 second-hand diesel locomotives for delivery to Fortescue Metals Group over two years. The locos are being rebuilt to the AC44C6M specification at Wabtec’s Fort Worth site in Texas. The work includes installing a refurbished engine, new electrical cabinets, a new design of high-efficiency radiator and radiator cab, an upgraded control system to remove obsolescence, and AC traction motors with individual axle control.
Source: Railway Gazette International
8 June 2022. Turkey. Turkey kicks off work on new high-speed line and freight connection
The Turkish ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and local authorities held a so-called first rail welding ceremony earlier on Wednesday for a new high-speed line and freight connection across the European part of the country. The new high-speed line will connect the towns of Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ to the existing line originating at Istanbul’s Halkalı station. For freight trains, the project means a direct connection between Halkalı and Kapıkule, the border gate to both Greece and Bulgaria.
Source: RailTech.com
7 June 2022. United Kingdom. UK railway passenger numbers recover to 90 percent of pre-Covid levels
In May, UK railway passenger numbers reached a high of 92 percent of pre-Covid levels, new statistics of the Department for Transport (DfT) reveal. The Railway Industry Association (RIA) hailed the new figures on Tuesday. Towards the end of May, passenger number in the UK were hovering between 86 and 92 percent of pre-Covid levels. “These figures show that people are returning to rail in ever greater numbers”, RIA said. “This is not just leisure travel coming back – commuter travel, including Mondays and Fridays, has been steadily increasing too’, the association added.
Source: RailTech.com
7 June 2022. United Kingdom. First train runs using the new digital signalling on Northern City Line
The testing of the new digital signalling on the Northern City Line has commenced with the running of the first Great Northern train between Finsbury Park and Moorgate under the new system. The testing is carried out with a Great Northern Class 717 train and marks an important milestone in the Government funded East Coast Digital Programme, which will ultimately see traditional signals removed from the tracks along this route. Digital signalling reduces delays and enables a more reliable service for passengers.
Source: Rail UK
7 June 2022. France. Paris metro Line 12 extension opens after frozen construction technique
An unusual technique using liquid nitrogen was used during the construction of a 2 km extension of Paris metro Line 12 from Auberviliers Front Populaire to Aimé Césaire and Mairie d’Auberviliers, which opened on May 31. The line passes through sandy and damp soil with a shallow water table 4 m below the surface. Contractor Vinci used liquid nitrogen to freeze the spandrels of the stations, which form the junction between the tunnel and the platforms and are subject to water infiltration, in order to obtain a shield of frozen earth 1·8 m thick to reinforce the mechanical strength and impermeability of the wet ground during the construction work.
Source: Metro Report International
7 June 2022. Australia. Parramatta Light Rail receives $600 million in state commitment
The continuation of stage two of the Parramatta Light Rail in the Western Sydney project is moving forward after the New South Wales government committed $602.4 million to start the project. The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) CEO, Caroline Wilkie, said it was pleasing to see the crucial Western Sydney project would proceed to start works and commence a detailed planning process. Parramatta Light Rail Stage 1 will connect Westmead to Carlingford via the Parramatta CBD and Camellia with a two-way track spanning 12km and is expected to open in 2023.
Source: Infrastructure Magazine
3 June 2022. New Zealand. Auckland Light Rail board appointed
Dame Fran Wilde has been appointed as Chair of the board being established to oversee the Auckland Light Rail project. Due to begin work on June 1, the board will succeed the Establishment Unit Board which guided development of the Indicative Business Case. ‘Dame Fran is a highly experienced director who has served as a Cabinet minister, mayor, and in senior governance roles on many significant central and local government as well as private sector boards’, explained Minister of Transport Michael Wood on May 24.
Source: Metro Report International
2 June 2022. Asia. Third India – Bangladesh passenger train launched
A third India to Bangladesh passenger train was launched on June 1, as cross-border services resumed following a two-year break caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The diesel hauled Mital Express runs twice a week on a 595 km route from New Jalpaiguri in India to Dhaka in Bangladesh. It uses the 10 km cross-border link between Haldibari and Chilahati which reopened to freight services last year, but plans for a passenger service were put on hold because of the pandemic.
Source: Railway Gazette International
