02 Nov 2016

RISSB Communique – Australian Network Rules and Procedures (ANRP)

In November 2015 the RISSB Board discussed the need for a review of the ANRP to understand how benefits have been gained by industry member organisations and what the future requirements may be.

As a result of this, in April 2016 an independent review of the ANRP was undertaken by Dr. Garry Marling of the Marling Group. The report provided 22 recommendations which were subsequently accepted by the RISSB Board in June 2016 and approved for implementation in September 2016.

The key aim of the recommendations is to expand the current ANRP suite of rules, and progress to industry accepted rail operation rules and associated supporting documents based on an agreed set of fundamental principles.

This work will provide the Australian Rail Industry with a complete set of rules that allows for a good practice application and standardisation to assist in the safe and efficient transport of people, goods and materials. The rules will remain industry member owned and managed by RISSB as they are currently.

The future management of the rules is critical in its success and therefore a model to include the ongoing maintenance, communication of the publications, performance measures and ongoing support is essential. This will form an element of the improvements to coincide with the expansion of the rules.

The key areas where RISSB will focus during the work program will be:

  • Incorporating further rules to cover rail operations and alignment to specific roles within rail operations
  • Refining the content to ensure rules meet the intent of a set of rail operation principles
  • Introduce working instruction manuals for freight and heavy haul operations
  • Improvements in the structure of the layout and format of the documents taking into account the end user
  • Improving the accessibility for RISSB members and enhancing the communication methods
  • Reviewing the use of technology within rail to ensure that it is captured in the rules and associated documents
  • Developing additional supporting documents and materials to assist members in the training and application within their organisation

RISSB considers the ANRP as a core program that provides the industry with opportunity in the harmonisation of national rail operations rules. RISSB will continue to improve the rules and support the industry through the continued working collaboration and relationships it has with members and the industry.

The final report can be found on the RISSB website following the link below:

https://www.rissb.com.au/rissb-anrp-review-report-ver-1-0-final-2/

If you require any further information, please contact Russ Evans, RISSB Manager Operations and Train Control on revans@rissb.com.au