GENERAL NEWS

Membership Increases To 111

As of this week, RISSB's membership stands at 111 with a number of major engineering companies and suppliers coming on board in the past month.

A big welcome to one of our newest members - Aurecon.

Aurecon is an engineering, design, and advisory company, but not as you know it. We’ve reimagined engineering.  In 2020, the Australian Financial Review named Aurecon Australasia’s most innovative company and most innovative professional services company. Its clients’ ideas and aspirations drive all that it does. It works alongside them like no other firm to co-create clever, innovative solutions to some of the world’s most complex challenges, adding value across the project lifecycle through deep technical and advisory expertise. Aurecon’s transport experts have shown their passion on countless rail and mass transit projects in many parts of the world, across heavy haul, freight, passenger and metro networks.

www.aurecongroup.com 

Next Members Only Onboarding Session on 9 June

RISSB holds monthly onboarding sessions  to help our members get maximum value from their RISSB membership. Our next onboarding webinar will be held on Wednesday, 9 June 2021 at 1PM.

We’ll be taking attendees on a walkthrough of our website and introducing the full suite of tools (Australian Standards and other industry leading publications) available to download and use. Facilitated by Jesse Baker (RISSB’s General Manager Innovation and Major Projects) and Phil Allan (General Manager Strategy and Stakeholder Relations) the walkthroughs (including Q & As) usually last for 30 minutes with plenty of time for you to ask, and for RISSB  to answer, any questions you or your team may have.

If you'd like to attend, please click on this link.

Take Up Survey 

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we regularly turn to our stakeholders to discover what’s important to them and gather meaningful opinions, comments and feedback about our business performance and our products and services.  Our 2020 take up survey results were as follows:
•    There is an extremely high level of take-up of RISSB products in the rail industry. According to the online survey,  90.91 per cent of respondents indicated they use RISSB products in some way.
•    RISSB products are extremely influential in the rail industry. 
•    There is a high level of utilisation of RISSB services in Australia’s rail industry. In the online survey, all 44 of the stakeholders who participated – 100 per cent – indicated their companies/organisations utilise RISSB services.

Our next take up survey will be conducted in 2022.

Victoria's Rolling Stock MasterClass Webinar

Ben Phyland, Head of Rolling Stock Development at the Department of Transport will be joining us next Tuesday, 1 June at 12PM (AEST) to talk about Victoria's rolling stock program.

Join us if you would like to hear more about: 
* All new trains and trams that are currently in development and will arrive on the network in the next few years
* The technology the Department of Transport is adopting for its next vehicles to modernise fleets and change the passenger experience
* The local supply chain – where are trains and trams constructed?

This event is free and open to anyone who would like to attend.

Secure your spot by clicking on this link to secure your spot. 

PUBLICATIONS

AS 1085.17 Railway Track Material Steel Sleepers

The Development Group met last week to review comments received through public consultation. The Standard is on target to be published in July 2021. RISSB would like to take this opportunity to thank the Development Group members for their active participation and diligence in reviewing this Standard.

Guideline: Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM)

This RAM Guideline (developed to meet the needs of the Australian rail industry) has attracted a high level of interest and involvement from industry. The Guideline uses applicable standards available internationally to address Australian requirements. The development of this Guideline is in its final stages and has undergone an independent review. The Development Group will meet next week to finalise content, and it is expected that the Guideline will be available in July 2021. 

AS 7642 Turnouts and Special Track Works

The Development Group met for the first time late last month to consider the areas that required review. The relevant updates are now being considered in a preliminary draft, which will be reviewed by the Development Group in the coming weeks.  The reviewed Standard is expected to be published at the end of 2021. 

AS 7659 Point Locking, Point Drives, and Point Detection

This Standard has been reviewed based on the public feedback received and is now in the final stages of approvals. At this stage its expected that AS 7659 will be published in early July. 

AS 7636 Railway Structures

A number of review meetings have been held over the past 2 months, with the Development Group doing some great work updating and improving this important Standard. It is hoped that the Standard will be ready for public review in July. 

Code of Practice – Safety Critical Communications

This important Code closed to public comment last week, with a number of suggested amendments proposed. The Development Group worked through these this week with the goal of finalising the Code.

The Code is currently on track to be made available for use by July this year.

Open Calls For Public Consultation

AS 7601.1 Light Rail And Road Interfaces Part 1: Management of Light Rail Vehicle Movement

EVENTS AND PROGRAMS

SPAD/LRTAE Forum Postponed

The 3rd SPAD/LRTAE forum to be held at CQUniversity in Melbourne on 29 and 30 June 2021 has been postponed until at least September 2021. More details will be provided in the near future.