2019 – November – Loriente – The Signalling Industry from the eyes of a Track & Civil Engineer

Nathan Loriente
BEng Civil Engineering (Honours)
Metro Trains Melbourne
This paper discusses the strong points & areas of improvement for the signalling industry in Australasia, as perceived by this Track & Civil specialist. As a Track & Civil Railway Engineer working deeply within the Signalling world it has been a rare opportunity to understand in depth the railway system as a whole, and how railway operators can more effectively plan their maintenance & renewals to achieve best-for-business track & signalling outcomes. The paper touches on several areas from the point of view of a Track & Civil Engineer including:

The signalling skills shortage challenge – training, succession planning, finding the balance between knowledge, experience, and the urgent need for more resources.
The industry’s readiness for the ‘new era’ of automatic train operation, the increasing need for network communications skills, and are we doing enough to plug this gap?
Condition assessments in line with ISO55001 best practices – where does Signalling sit compared to other disciplines? What technologies can we put in place to improve?
The leadership challenge – balancing the requirement for people management & leadership skills against the dependence on technical knowledge and expertise.
The importance of early involvement from Signals stakeholders in the development of mega projects.
Tips and tricks for railway operators to ensure Track maintenance & renewals plans target the most effective reliability improvement programs, and how they can use a joint ‘Track & Signals’ approach to increase the life-cycle of Signalling assets.