Individuals and organisations from the Australasian rail industry were last night recognised for their outstanding achievements and innovations in rail at the Australasian Rail Industry Awards, sponsored by Laing O’Rourke.
Held at Sydney’s Four Seasons Hotel, the sold out Awards event saw winners recognised by their peers and acknowledged as the best in their field across a broad range of categories.
ARA Acting Chief Operating Officer, Phil Allan, said he was incredibly encouraged by the amount of talent in rail recognised at the event, across a broad range of professions and sectors of the industry.
“I would like to congratulate all of the winners on their outstanding achievements and for contributing to the prosperity of the industry, said Mr Allan.
“It is wonderful to see such impressive developments taking place in core areas of the industry such as Safety, Innovation & Technology, Workforce Diversity and Employee Engagement.
“The winner of the Innovation and Technology category for example, TTG Transportation Technology, was acknowledged for their innovative product Energymiser®, an invention that reduces energy consumption, environmental emissions and maintenance costs, while improving on-time running and rail capacity.
“It is encouraging to see an Australian supplier providing a world-leading solution to local and international operators and be acknowledged for this impressive work by their peers in the industry.
“Melbourne train operator, Metro took out the Workforce Diversity category for their efforts in increasing female participation amongst train drivers.
“In 2009 the level of female participation in the train driving grade was stagnant at around 2.7 per cent, or just 16 females out of a total driver base of 570. Metro now has achieved its goal of a 50/50 gender split with 50.6 percent female trainee train drivers, representing an overall increase of 32 per cent over the last five years of operation.
“Rail is going through a renaissance in Australia and New Zealand, with state governments boosting their funding for public transport infrastructure, key components like diversity and safety at the forefront of corporate strategies and new innovations and technologies being applied across the network creating greater efficiency, productivity and reliability in both freight and passenger sectors.
“I look forward to a bright future for rail, which is only made possible by the passion and commitment of those acknowledged last night,” concluded Mr Allan.
Former ARA CEO, Bryan Nye OAM, was also acknowledged on the night for his twelve years’ service to the rail industry. Presenting him his Award was CEO of NSW TrainLink Rob Mason along with CEO of Metro Andrew Lezala and Deputy Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, Lyn O’Connell.
Supporting the event along with the ARA is the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers, the Permanent Way Institution, the Railway Technical Society of Australasia, the Rail Track Association Australia and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union.
List of winners:
- Business Sustainability – Transport for NSW
- Career Achievement – John Langron, Sydney Trains
- Corporate - Transport for NSW, Waratah Train PPP Project
- Customer Service - Queensland Rail
- Employee Engagement – Keolis Downer
- Frank Franklyn Young Rail Specialist – Hassan Boussi, Sydney Trains
- Individual - Paul D’Alessio, Metro Trains Melbourne
- Innovation & Technology - TTG Transportation Technology
- Permanent Way Institution Young Achiever - Mark Xerri, Parsons Brinckerhoff
- Safety – Downer
- Suppliers Export Achievement - TTG Transportation Technology
- Systems Engineering – Noel Burton, Siemens NZ
- TrackSAFE Foundation – Metro Trains Melbourne
- Workforce Diversity - Metro Trains Melbourne
- Young Rail Engineer - Calvin Li, Metro Trains Melbourne
- Young Rail Professional – Daniel Chaplin, Downer Rail
