Members of our team have extensive experience in all areas within Metro Trains Melbourne from Site Access requests to major signalling infrastructure deployments through to design submission and stakeholder management.
Real-time Position of Trains Tracking System (RTPOTs)
This project was created out of a Coroners court report for an incident that occurred in 2017. Metro needed to track trains better so that they could get emergency services to incidents quicker.
Our team successfully developed and implemented the Real-time Position of Trains (RTPOTS) tracking system across the Metro rail network.
The RTPOTS project ran for 12 months and was delivered on time and on budget. The solution allows MTM to track trains within 5 meters of their current location.
This capability supports the triaging of critical incidents on the rail network and enables MTM to provide the Emergency Services (ESTA) with near pinpoint train locations.
Glenville Pedestrian and Signalling Crossing upgrade
We worked closely with the team at MTM to upgrade the safety critical pedestrian crossing located on Glenville Street (near Hampton Railway Station). The area was made to be more accessible to people of all abilities.
The local community had lobbied for many years to have the crossing reviewed and upgraded. They expressed that due to the passive nature of the track crossings it was dangerous for elderly people and people with disabilities.
We were involved in defining the scope of the project, pricing of the signalling and pedestrian crossing safety gates, and for the supply and installation of PediSTRAIL rubber matting.
We leveraged upon our relationships with suppliers in the rail industry and were able to avoid long lead times in the procurement of the safety critical equipment. The suppliers were able to have the products delivered and installed onsite, after hours, and without any train disruptions.
The revamp was part of the Victorian Level Crossing Project that sort to remove 400 of Victoria’s most safety critical crossings in Metro areas, as well as 600 other regional pedestrian crossings.
High Capacity Metro Train (HCMT) RFID Tags
As part of the larger high capacity train project, Metro needed a system that would allow their trains to stop at platforms with precision and allow all passenger doors to open safely.
The solution also needed to determine which side of the platform the train was on so that it could open the correct side doors mainly due to the extended length of the new trains.
Evolution Rail consortium with Downer EDI designed a high-level solution that required RFID tags to be placed on railway sleepers at specific points prior to the station platforms. Our task was to implement their vision at a granular level, on a complex rail network, and with multiple internal engineering teams.
We performed site surveys at each train station that the HCMT affected, obtained the RFID tags and installed them onto the train tracks.
Several types of internal approvals were mandatory prior to the installation of the solution such as Management of Change, Engineering change and update to Signalling designs (i.e. SAP and Track designs).
A challenge of the project was not only to be able to mount the RFID tags securely onto the tracks, we also needed to be able to fine tune their positioning.
We designed a mount that was secure and configurable with the assistance of the manufacturer, Pandrol. We had the mounts manufactured (by Pandrol) to Australian Standards.
Multiple fastening types were needed. E-CLIPs were used on the AT-Grade sleepers, Vossloh in the City Loop, and specialised mounting brackets for the Sky Rail.
The Government provided a HCMT simulator for driver training, but it wasn’t available for all drivers due to the timing of project activities. As a stop gap measure, we managed the development and implementation of a driver awareness application. The application allowed drivers to familiarize themselves with the new High Capacity Metro Trains and elevate any IR issues that may have risen from the overall project deployment time frames.
Other Projects completed at MTM
- HCMT Beacons / RFID tags
- Rollingstock Department - ‘Comeng Trains‘ internal CAB cameras replacement of obsolescence camera (bespoke manufactured for MTM)
- MTP - Metro Tunnel Project, supplied software for Tunnel designers with ongoing maintenance (IBWave & Nemo)
- MTP - Metro Tunnel Project, supplied POC equipment for the trial of the concepts with CBTC and DTRS coverage in the new dual Tunnels and 5 New underground Stations.
- HCMT ‘Train Driver’ Awareness mobile App
- RTPoTs – Real Time Position of Trains tracking software
- Pedestrian Crossings – Supply of signalling equipment, gates, magnetic latches, PedeSTRAIL rubber track crossing and on-site installation of components
- DTRS Tower relocation – Flinders street Station & Flemington
- VicPOL/PSO Blackspot coverage upgrade program with Motorola ESTA’s support network. 9x Stations comms upgrade of equipment, Dali wireless box, UPS, coverage antennas, cabeling.
- Metrol Train TCMS Control secondary site POC – installation of all critical signalling systems, DTRS portable comms, and creation of secondary micro Control room at 700 Collins St building.
- TCMS Urgent Remediation of Signalling Systems – supply of servers, monitors, EBay obsolete HW for older systems integration.