REGISTER

Jason Tan Bach of Eng (Elec.), Bach of Com (Management, HRM)

Electrical Engineer (Public Transport Authority)

The availability of railcars and the ability to meet the growth in public transport patrons in Western Australia over the long term has been an important topic of discussion in the past few years. While the mechanical and even the traction systems of the railcars may live to their design life, the technology of the auxiliary control and communications equipment on board will become obsolete. This paper discusses the 'RAPID' project that the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia embarked on in order to completely overhaul the communications systems on board their existing 15 year old fleet of Electric Multiple Units. It demonstrates how the project was able to quickly modernise the aging look, feel and control of the railcars with state of the art technology and functionality, allowing the railcars to be available for use to the extent of, and even beyond, their design life.