Keeping the future of rail on track
02 August 2019
Rail
is essential for a modern, multi-modal and interconnected
transport
network.
As cities expand, suburbs sprawl, and environments are impacted by more
people, more cars and more roads, rail is taking the stage as a safe,
sustainable and attractive means of mass transit and freight.
Here, two of our leaders discuss key issues, trends and opportunities to
make everyday better in rail: Claire Booth Jones,
Technical Director - Transport Infrastructure, and Katharina
Gerstmann, Principal - Transport Infrastructure
NSW.
Q1 – You each have more than 20 years’ global rail experience - what is it that makes you so passionate about the industry?
Claire Booth Jones:
I love the complexity and challenge of rail projects, and all the
different technical and social drivers that come into play; the need to
be operationally efficient, safe, accessible, sustainable and of course,
enjoyable for customers. Stations are real community hubs and centres in
so many cities around the world.
While working in Hong Kong on some of the Lantau and airport railway
stations, and with
City Rail Link NZ for many years, I developed a
passion for underground rail. There is all the complexity of surface
rail, with the additional challenges that come with large numbers of
people moving below ground.
Katharina Gerstmann: What I love is the dynamism and
size of the industry. Rail employs over 100,000 people in more than 170
different companies across Australia and New Zealand. It is an industry
that contributes billions of dollars to the Australasian economy, and
that keeps things moving and connected.
Q2 - How does the New Zealand and Australian rail environment compare to that of Europe and Asia?
Claire: Obvious
differences are in the number of people using the systems and the
sophistication of existing infrastructure. New Zealand rail has suffered
from under-investment for a long time, and people are not in the habit
of turning to rail to travel.
Although
Auckland Transport is celebrating 100 million public transport
trips in the last year, it’s still common for Aucklanders to jump in the
car without a second thought. Imagine that translated to Hong Kong or
London, and what it would do to the city!
Katharina: Alongside differences in scale, complexity, and
population density, Europe also tends to have greater acceptance and
civic pride in public transport systems.
Take the new Gotthard-Base-Tunnel; a 57km rail tunnel connecting
Switzerland and Italy with a highspeed line. Not only is it the longest
railway and deepest traffic tunnel in the world, but the railway line
can be used by freight traffic at night and highspeed trains at 250kph
during the day.
A memorable moment working on the project was when Swiss people voted
for a tax increase in 2007 to help fund it. Their attitude and support
towards rail transport is second-to-none in the world, something others
can learn from.
Pictured: Claire Booth Jones, Beca Technical Director – Transport Infrastructure
Q3 – What is multi-modal transport all about, and why is effective integration so important?
Claire: From
origin to destination, not all journeys can be made using one mode of
transport. Passengers only have limited patience with the disruption of
changing modes – so it has to be made easy, frequent and convenient.
Rail forms the transport spine that carries large volumes of people and
needs arterial connections via bicycles, buses, and scooters to reach
beyond the bounds of walking distance from a station. Stations
themselves ideally need to be spread out so they have a reasonable
catchment area, and so trains are not stopping too often.
If you don’t live within walking, cycling (or scooting) distance of a
station, you need to connect by another transport means, such as ride
sharing, so let’s plan for that to be seamless.
Katharina: Rail transport, though vital, is only one
contributor to the effective running of businesses, industries and
communities.
To make rail transport a success, transport planners need to consider a
range of factors for both current and future demand: interaction of the
rail transport network and land use; performance of the various
transport systems; and demand management and behavioural change, to name
a few.
Integrated transport planning is required to bring this all together,
and achieve the best solutions for people, communities, cities and
funders.
Examples of this can be seen in work
Beca is involved in, in New South
Wales, with the Transport Access Program. This is an initiative to
provide a better experience for public transport customers by delivering
accessible, modern, secure and integrated infrastructure.
We make sure stations are accessible to people with a disability,
limited mobility and parents with prams. We provide modern interchanges
that support a better connected network, and allow seamless transfers
between all modes for all customers.
Q4 – What’s needed to take the global rail industry into the
next decade?
Katharina: Rail
and other mass transit systems need a long-term vision and plan, with
buy-in and support across community and political boundaries. Rail
projects are lengthy and expensive to build upfront, although cheaper
and more sustainable in the long run.
As an example of long-term thinking, the planning horizon for the
1,748km
High Speed Rail Network between
Brisbane,
Sydney,
Canberra and
Melbourne would likely extend to 2055 and not be fully operational until
2070.
To achieve public buy-in to this type of planning, we need to ensure a
consistently great user experience for all customers, regardless of
which transport mode they choose to use.
Claire: Yes, we definitely need vision and planning for
the long-term. We also really need to consider our changing environments
and the pressures and impacts of climate change. Think rises in sea
level, flooding and severe weather; and how this will affect the flows
and movement of people within and between countries and cities.
We need to build resilience into our networks and provide alternative
options should we need them. We should not assume that existing
infrastructure is going to function in future decades and that we can
simply add to it.
Beyond our changing world, we also need to consider changes in
lifestyles, and how, where and when people work. Will people still be
getting up and travelling to city centre offices at the same time every
morning? When we look at the pace of change over the last fifty years,
it is entirely possible people will be living very different lives in
future.
Pictured: Katharina Gerstmann, Beca Principal - Transport Infrastructure NSW.
Q5 - How is technology and innovation having an impact?
Katharina:
Compared with other transport modes, railway technology might seem to be
progressing as slowly as an 80s-era suburban commuter service, rattling
and screeching its way from one station to another.
Automotive technology, by contrast, seems to change constantly. In the
past decade GPS, hybrids, parking sensors, keyless entry and other
innovations have flourished. And in the aviation industry, we’ve seen
rapid advances in in-flight entertainment and communication, fancy
flat-bed seats and quieter, more efficient engines.
However, this comparison is not entirely fair, as there is no shortage
of new ideas steadily making their way out onto the track - in Australia
and around the world. Better technologies are delivering everything from
improved traction, braking and route planning to trains designed to
glide on air at 500kph. There are schemes to transfer electrical energy
from braking trains into the local power grid, and even more radical
plans for ‘moving platforms’ that dock with high-speed trains.
So really, rail and mass transit is a very exciting space, and an area
likely to see even more dramatic advances in coming years.
Claire: Technology is having a huge impact on the
global rail industry, however much of it is hidden behind the scenes or
taken for granted.
Advances in wireless technology, together with personalised customer
information systems, such as variable digital signage and text
messaging, is being used to communicate real-time travel data and assist
in managing emergency scenarios. Facial recognition technology can be
employed by advanced CCTV systems to improve security, and be linked
directly to rail communication or signalling systems.
Ticketless systems are being trialled by Transport for London on their
Underground using bank cards and potentially smartphones. In Tokyo this
has been around since 2001, with Suica and Pasmo cards used as to pay
for everything from tickets to snacks and shopping.
Harvesting the data collected via ticketing information or smartphones
also gives us greater insight into how customers use systems – ensuring
safer, smoother and better-connected journeys.
Alternative ways of powering trains are also being explored, such as the
use of battery technology and hydrogen.
Virtual reality and
BIM are increasingly commonplace rail design tools,
with fully 3D models created to view and navigate spaces we have
created. These models can link to those that show how people move
through at rush hour, to model peak flows and emergency scenarios.
Q6 - What are some key rail trends to keep an eye on?
Claire: As
populations grow and shift we need to provide people with a safe,
resilient and sustainable transport network that increases connectivity
between urban and regional centres.
Alternative fuel sources for freight as well as passenger transportation
will reduce carbon emissions, predictive maintenance technologies assist
pre-empting failures building resilience, wireless technologies reduce
the need for expensive and vulnerable cabling.
These are a few specific technical advances. But the development of an
approved long-term plan - 30 year plus - for rail transport, providing a
stable and predictable pipeline of work and allowing specialist skills
to be developed and maintained in the New Zealand industry, is essential
to market efficiency and economic growth.
Katharina: To look forward, it’s also important to look
back. For the past century, transportation has fuelled the world’s
economy by enabling the movement of people, goods, ideas and resources.
Yet in recent decades, road and air have dominated many nations’
transportation investments to the disadvantage of the most sustainable
solution – rail. Investing in rail stimulates economies while reducing
carbon emissions and urban congestion.
Things are changing though, with greater awareness of climate change and
sustainable best practice, and of new and innovative uses of technology.
There is also a greater consciousness today of the links and
inter-dependencies of transportation and economic growth, and the need
for networks to be more inclusive and accessible.
--ENDS--
Source: Beca - www.beca.com
Contact: N/A
External Links:
https://www.beca.com/what-we-do/markets/transport-and-infrastructure/rail
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-booth-jones-a80a3325/
https://au.linkedin.com/in/katharinagerstmann
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