Edition 73 August 2024 

INSIDE THIS EDITION

+ CEO message
+ RISSB publishes its 2024/25 Work Plan
+ Improving the safety of train compartments in Korea
+ Adelaide Undertake a Derailment Investigation course
+ Member Spotlight

CEO MESSAGE

Every year, Rail Safety Week comes around and shines a spotlight on the importance of safety on and around our railways. The terrible incident on a passenger platform in Sydney a couple of weeks ago is a sobering reminder of the ongoing focus and effort required to continue to improve safety on our railways.

Ongoing commuter safety relies on those interacting with the rail environment, both pedestrians, passengers and drivers, to play an active role in keeping safe near trains. Rail safety is multifaceted, and all of us together have a joint responsibility to try and reduce risk and make the best change we can.

Together, we have an enormous task to continue to improve safety across our rail network. At RISSB, we will continue to work towards optimising the safety benchmark for the Australian rail network through the development of our supporting Standards, Codes, and Guidelines. We will continue to work closely with all of industry to ensure our products are fit for purpose and represent best practice.

For this year’s RISSB Rail Safety Awards, we received over 50 nominations from organisations and individuals across the rail sector, showcasing the industry’s high expectations and commitment to safety with some incredible initiatives and the continuous push for improving rail safety in our country.

We encourage everyone to find time this week for a minute of silence to remember and honour those that have died or been injured on the rail network. To find out more about how you can support Rail Safety Week, including community activities and digital assets, click here.

Damien White
RISSB CEO

GENERAL NEWS

RISSB publishes its 2024/25 Work Plan

Today we released our 2024/25 Work Plan, including 30 projects that will assist the rail industry to be more productive, safer and more sustainable.

The work that RISSB undertakes is valuable. We add further value by enabling industry to realise tangible benefits from the adoption of RISSB’s products. That’s why this year, there is an increased focus in supporting the adoption and implementation.

We continue to refine the way our Work Plan is formulated from a robust set of criteria including feedback from members, stakeholders and government engagement, key safety risks from RISSB’s Australian Rail Risks Model (ARRM), national interests and regulatory priorities, major incident investigations outcomes and RISSB product usage statistics. The list of projects is a mixture of the development of new Standards, and the targeted review of existing products.

As always, we invite industry feedback on our Plan, particularly ideas that can assist in improving product adoption and benefit realisation. Please email us on info@rissb.com.au.

Look out for the calls we make throughout the year for participation in Development Groups and Public Consultation submissions as part of the standards development process.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT ON
Downer

Downer EDI Rail are a leading provider of rollingstock asset management services in Australia, with expertise in delivering whole-of-life asset management support.

Downer EDI Rail have been a participating member of RISSB since 2015.

This month, Downer announced that the 70th and final High Capacity Metro Train (HCMT) entered passenger service, marking the completion of the largest single order of trains in Victoria’s history.

The HCMTs are not only the most inclusive and accessible trains on Victoria’s network, they are also the first new train design in nearly 20 years, have 20% more capacity than any other train and are the only ones to have High Capacity Signalling to support Metro Tunnel when it opens.

Find out more here.