22 Apr 2025

AS 7660 Radio Communication in the Rail Corridor

The closing date for nominations – Monday 5 May 2025

The Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) is seeking nominations to join a Development Group to review AS 7660 Radio Communication in the Rail Corridor.

How will this help the rail industry? 

Safety critical communications is one of ONRSR’s National Priorities. This Standard and the RISSB CoP Safety Critical Communications are designed to support Rail Transport Operators (RTOs) provide the critical safety performance standards required.

By specifying requirements for wireless communication between Network Controllers, train crews, and personnel working in the rail corridor, this standard improves coordination across multiple operators and infrastructure managers.

AS 7660 defines requirements for radio communication systems to:

  • mitigate risks associated with identified hazards
  • support compliance with the Rail Safety National Law
  • establish consistent national requirements for rolling stock equipment
  • clarify the roles of Rail Infrastructure Managers and Rolling Stock Operators in managing mobile communication systems.

About

The purpose of this review is to confirm that AS 7660:2017 – Radio Communication in the Rail Corridor continues to support the Australian rail industry in providing consistent and reliable communication protocols within rail corridors. This review will address that following areas:

  • Function – the communication system is accessible to user and the information is conveyed and managed safely and effectively.
  • Design – the communication system functionality supports the rail infrastructure and network rules and is considerate of the whole system life cycle, human factor, system integration, security and interface interoperability.
  • Performance – the communication system are reliable and available to deliver the required safety performance in normal and degraded operations.

Additionally, this targeted review will consider alignment with the CoP Safety Critical Communications.

Time commitment

Development Group membership is voluntary and requires the support of your organisation to attend and contribute. There will be 5 meetings held between May and September 2025. Further information on the responsibilities of a Development Group member can be obtained from the RISSB Website.

How to contribute

Stakeholders and interested parties are invited to submit nominations for Subject Matter Experts to join this Development Group to contribute to the overall depth and quality of the product. Click on the options below to either:

The closing date for nominations is Monday 5 May 2025. 

As the rail industry’s accredited Standards Development Organisation (SDO), RISSB continues to collaborate with government, rail operators and industry leaders to improve the efficiency and harmonisation of the Australia and New Zealand’s rail network, ensuring national interoperability, safety and sustainability into the future.