Day One, Wednesday 4 June, 2008
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08.30 | Registration and welcome coffee
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08.50 | Opening remarks and welcome from chair
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| BUILDING AUSTRALIA’S RAIL FUTURE |
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09.00 | Ministerial keynote: Securing the future: Sydney’s North West Metro
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Building on what we have and planning for the future
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The current status of planned new projects and extensions
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The investment strategies for the future developments
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Social and economic benefits of building a first-class metro system
John Watkins, Deputy Premier and Minister for Transport, NSW Government
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09.30 | Rail's role in trade and trade and export opportunities
• Recent developments and current operations
• Rail’s role in trade and export opportunities
• Assessing Federal and State government policies towards rail
• Evaluating future growth for movement of freight on Australian railways
• Future challenges and opportunities
Simon Ormsby, General Manager Commercial, Australian Rail Track Corporation
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10.00 | Establishing an East Coast freight corridor
• Separating freight and passenger rail lines
• Coastal corridor intercity freight projections
• Hume and Pacific Highway competitive factors
• Current rail track condition and alignment
• The cost and benefits of a ‘fit for purpose’ Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane railway
Dr Philip Laird, Principal Fellow Faculty of Informatics, University of Wollongong
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10.30 | Speed Networking
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11.00 | Morning coffee
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11.30 | The role of rail in meeting the environmental challenge
• Understanding the real Issues
• The environmental challenge
• Meeting the challenge
• Challenges present opportunities
• Understanding our impacts
• Taking a more strategic approach
Christopher Collier, General Manager Environment, RailCorp
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| FINANCING RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT |
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12.00 | Outlook for rail infrastructure construction in Australia
• Analysis of the rail sector by state, by main activity and by funding source
• The drivers of infrastructure construction and how these will evolve moving forward
• Outlook for construction and investment by state
• Risks to this outlook – both positive and negative
Damon Roast, Group Economist, BIS Shrapnel
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12.30 | Lunch
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| RAIL SAFETY & STANDARDS |
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13.30 | Case study:
Learnings and lessons from deploying the Level Crossing Assessment Model in Victoria
• Implementing the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model (ALCAM) in Victoria
• Defining the stakeholder benefits
• Success or failure depends upon road authorities embracing ALCAM and
• liaison with rail authorities
• Further reducing rail crossing fatalities/accidents
• Addressing suicides on Victoria’s rail network
Terry Spicer, Manager Operations & Emergency Management, Safety and Asset Management Branch, Public Transport Division, Victorian Department of Infrastructure
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14.00 | Harmonising standards to foster greater efficiency, reliability and safety
• The adverse effects of inconsistencies between different State-based railways
• ‘Optimal’ physical and regulatory harmonization
• The primary cost to industry: time lost by railway operators and reduced industry safety management
• inconsistent regulations resulting in lead managers to be reactive to safety rather than proactive
• Learning from overseas models where regulatory structures with clearer regulatory boundaries and fewer regulatory overlaps require less effort in achieving and maintaining regulatory harmonisation
Carolyn Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Independent Transport Safety and Reliability Regulator NSW
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| THE FREIGHT RAIL IMPERATIVE |
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14.30 | From paddock to plate: future-proofing rail’s role in grain supply chains
• Contextualising grain supply chains from farm to port
• Controlling post-farm transport costs in an increasingly tough agricultural environment
• Assessing current limitations of rail freight supply chains for grain growers
• Identifying areas for rail infrastructure investment and the importance of preserving country rail links
• AusLink 2: what’s in it for us?
• Crystal balling future freight movement of agricultural produce in Australia
Richard Clark, Senior Vice President, NSW Farmers’ Association
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15.00 | The Demand for new coal chain capacity in the North Bowen Basin
• Life after the O’Donnell report
• Current and proposed coal rail infrastructure upgrades in the North Bowen Basin
• Economic impacts of infrastructure inaction
• Big-picture lessons for other rail supply chains
Michael Gray, General Manager Open-Cut Development & Infrastructure, Macarthur Coal
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15.30 | Afternoon coffee
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16.00 | Making intermodal terminals work
- Defining demand drivers at intermodal terminals
- Significance of extending scope of traditional revenue generators
- Assessing rail system constraints and impediments
- The role of Government in intermodal terminal developments
Mende Gorgievski, Senior Consultant, Meyrick and Associates
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16.30 | Panel discussion:
Approaching intermodal development: challenges, issues and priorities
• The need for infrastructure capacity assessment and thorough stakeholder consultation
• Developing affordable and efficient intermodal access arrangements
• Cost of short haul rail and other service measures crucial for intermodal development
• Creating a checklist for intermodal terminal development
Neil Matthews, Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Design
Richard Clark, Senior Vice President, NSW Farmers’ Association
Michael Gray, General Manager Open-Cut Development & Infrastructure, Macarthur Coal
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17.10 | Comments from chair and close of conference day one
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17.20 | Networking drinks
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Day Two, Thursday 5 June, 2008
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08.30 | Registration and welcome coffee
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08.50 | Opening remarks and welcome address from chair
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| MANAGING & DEVELOPING RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE |
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09.00 | Keynote presentation:
Redefining Queensland Rail as a nationally capable transport company
• Identifying and prioritising factors crucial in QR’s ability to build national freight capability and volume across the five mainland states
• Sharpening commercial and customer focus to and targeting volume increases across the transport sector and in tandem with continuing economic and resource sector growth
• Benefits afforded from integrating east and west coast bulk freight operations
• The importance of maintaining a strong operating cash flow to facilitate a crucial $1.5 billion capital investment program
• Ensuring high fiscal performance to underpin national expansion and rail infrastructure development
Lance Hockridge, Chief Executive Officer, QR Limited
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09.40 | Private sector perspectives on rail infrastructure
• Defining the private sector’s role in Australian rail infrastructure
• Evaluating current demands for further investment in rail infrastructure
• Factors guiding infrastructure outcomes
• The impact of operational and political risk on investment
• Assessing current and preferred procurement processes
• Challenges and opportunities moving forward
Garry Bowditch, Executive Director, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia
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10.15 | Morning coffee
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| DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION IN PASSENGER RAIL |
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10.45 | Urban rail in Australia: capacity constraints or poor service planning?
• Australia’s urban rail systems are lightly-patronised by international standards
• Most ‘capacity problems’ stem from poor service planning and design
• How world’s-best urban rail systems arrange their services
• World’s-best service planning requires world’s-best governance and management
Dr Paul Mees, Senior Lecturer in Transport and Land Use Planning, University of Melbourne
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11.15 | Rolling out multi-project urban rail infrastructure reform
• Background, context and rationale of the South East Queensland Infrastructure Program
• Identifying region specific rail infrastructure projects: Western Corridor, Greater Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coast rail projects updates
• Southern Infrastructure Corridor – Queensland’s missing rail link?
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11.45 | Priorities for passenger rail infrastructure development around Australia
• Key challenges for metropolitan rail networks
• Policy dilemma – capacity or coverage?
• Priority projects around Australia
• Making existing infrastructure more efficient
• Federal Government – how it can be part of the solution
Liam McKay, National Manger Transport, Tourism and Transport Forum Australia
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12.15 | Lunch
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13.15 | Roundtable discussions
Roundtable 1: Urban rail’s role in combating climate change and oil dependency
Dr Garry Glazebrook, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney
Roundtable 2: Assessing infrastructure investment opportunities
Garry Bowditch, Executive Director, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia
Roundtable 3: Managing complex infrastructure projects
Andy Taylor, Group General Manager Passenger Services, QR Limited
Roundtable 4: Feasibility of route options for delivering the East Coast rail freight corridor
Dr Philip Laird, Research Fellow and Associate Professor, Faculty of Informatics, University of Wollongong
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| TECHNOLOGY & IT |
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14.00 | Case study:
Smart connection: how mobility changed the Dutch Rail business model
• Why are European rail providers adopting mobility transformation?
• Industry trends towards ‘multi service’ and ‘multi operator’
• Sharing best practice and avoiding mobility pitfalls
• Monetising your assets: how to get telcos to invest in your wireless infrastructure
• Vision: rail providers as the next mobile operators
Pieter Zylstra, Managing Director, Zylstrategy
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14.30 | Innovations in rail track performance and cost-effective track upgrading principles
• The case for change: issues surrounding ballast and rail-track degradation
• Creating a research and real-world testing framework to deliver significantly reduced maintenance costs, improved rail safety transportation and less quarry waste
• Global interest in home-grown rail-track innovation
• Taking Rail CRC’s technology to a global commercial arena
Buddhima Indraratna, Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Wollongong
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15.00 | Afternoon coffee
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| PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT |
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16.00 | Jumping on board: upskilling rail workers for today and tomorrow
- Addressing knowledge and skills gaps as a matter of priority to achieve positive outcomes for the organisation and the individual
- Ensuring QR’s state-wide civil infrastructure workforce is competent, commercially-focused and competitive
- Reflecting the bigger picture: how workforce development is a vital component of the QR culture and essential to its long-term sustainability
Lindy Freeman, Workforce Development Manager, QR Limited
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16.30 | Comments from chair and close of conference
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