Australia’s rail industry is at a pivotal moment; with over $13.2 billion earmarked for the next four years for national rail projects under the Government’s Infrastructure Investment Program, and significant commitments to improve resilience, efficiency, and accessibility, the need for a unified approach to rail standards has never been greater. The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) is leading efforts to harmonise operations across the country, aiming to address longstanding inefficiencies caused by fragmented systems and diverse regional practice (The Australasian Railway Association).
The standardisation initiative seeks to create a seamless rail network where infrastructure, technology, and processes work cohesively, ensuring better safety, improved reliability, and enhanced passenger experiences. This vision, however, faces challenges such as labour shortages, rising costs, and the complexity of retrofitting older infrastructure to meet new standards.
In this context, companies like KeTech, a leader in rail technology, have a critical role to play. With expertise in real-time data systems, operational safety tools, and passenger-focused technologies, KeTech offers solutions that align perfectly with the goals of Australia’s rail transformation. By bridging gaps between legacy equipment and new technologies and enhancing network interoperability, KeTech’s innovations can help drive Australia’s rail network toward its vision of a seamless, efficient rail system.
What is happening?
Australia’s rail network isn’t a single unified system but a collection of 29 distinct networks, shaped by its origins as separate state-based systems. Spanning approximately 51,000 kilometres of track and involving around 197 accredited operators, it’s a vast and complex environment. This fragmentation can present challenges for current and prospective rail freight and passenger operators. Many journeys, especially those outside suburban services, cross multiple networks with differing standards, codes, rule books, and other technical and operational characteristics, making implementing new innovative technologies more complicated.
The Australasian Railway Association’s (ARA) national standardisation initiative focuses on harmonising these rail standards across Australia to address inefficiencies and support a safer, more innovative rail industry. The initiative seeks to improve interoperability in order to streamline the 29 separate rail networks into a cohesive system, enabling connectivity between systems for more efficient operations and improved passenger experience. Other areas the initiative is seeking to improve across the network include the better adaption of innovative technology for national benefit rather than development occurring in silos in pockets of the network and decarbonisation of the Australian rail network, acting as a catalyst to drive the shift from road to rail.
These goals align with KeTech’s expertise in real-time information systems and intelligent rail solutions, offering opportunities to contribute technologies that support harmonised communication, passenger information, and operational interoperability across Australia’s rail networks. Over half of UK Train Operators choose KeTech’s technology due to its expertise of retrofitting the old to meet new standards and expectations; the flexibility in it its modular software architecture allows both new and existing systems to interact and share data through inputs and outputs, helping operators and passengers to make better informed decisions.
The preferred pathway to harmonisation of the network is the Gradualist, Mandatory Pathway, with full results anticipated 25 to 30+ years after implementation. While 30 years may seem far off, there are technologies that can be implemented that can improve interoperability and have direct positive impacts on multiple areas listed within the report. For example, UK Train Operators using KeTech’s technology have reported significant enhancements to passenger experience within just 12 months of implementation. The absence of national rail standards has long been a significant issue in Australia, creating operational inefficiencies, increased costs, and passenger dissatisfaction. Some key challenges identified by the ARA caused by the lack of uniformity include issues for Train Operators, Passengers and rail workers.
The need for standardisation
State-based regulations create barriers to seamless rail operations and inefficiencies for Train Operators, both Freight and Passenger across Australia as systems must adapt to different signalling, track gauge and safety process which slows down passenger and goods movement across borders. This fragmentation can also cause economic fragmentation, limiting economies of scale and discouraging investment in innovation.
From a passenger perspective, the lack of standardisation negatively affects their experience through inconsistent information throughout their journey, this can complicate journeys and cause confusion and overall travel dissatisfaction. The lack of consistency of information may cause dissatisfaction amongst most passengers, but for passengers with disabilities, these regional differences in station and on train can actually be a barrier to using the rail network.
An ARA report in 2022 identified the lack of standardisation across Australian rail is a contributing factor to the skills crisis in the rail industry. The current lack of uniform products means rail workers often experience barriers when attempting to move between jurisdictions. In most cases, they must retrain to meet local standards, this is time consuming and often a disincentive; this ultimately results in failure to optimise the available labour market to fill skills shortages and gaps. Addressing these challenges through a harmonised rail system would not only streamline operations but also foster innovation, improve passenger satisfaction, and reduce the skills gap across Australia. The ARA’s National Rail Standards Harmonisation Strategy is a critical step toward achieving these outcomes, and innovative solutions offered by KeTech can help bring this vision into reality.
Technology that fits
To improve interpretability there is a need to eliminate duplicate data and remove silos, to enable a seamless flow of information across regional and state boundaries. For instance, Connected Driver Advisory Systems (C-DAS) exemplifies this capability. C-DAS provides real-time in-cab driver advice to meet the timetable, optimise fuel usage and reduce operational costs. The system continuously recalculates and delivers real-time updates and advice to the driver based on actual driving behaviour, timetable and the larger rail environment ensuring both carbon and cost savings.
KeTech’s C-DAS supports operational continuity in mixed environments. In the UK, where Network Rail’s digital traffic management system rollout is incomplete, C-DAS can seamlessly transition between these areas and traditional signalling. This ensures uninterrupted communication and performance throughout a journey, demonstrating how KeTech’s products meet the demands of standardisation by offering intelligent interoperability solutions in the rail environment.
As the rules and regulations gradually start to be standardised across States, the technology systems used need to adapt. To overcome these challenges, systems need to be flexible and modular so that major changes are not required as processes evolve.
In Australia’s search for consistency and efficiency, as the move towards a more standardised rail network happens, there becomes a need for technology that provides an even bigger picture across the different states. Tools such as Remote Condition Monitoring (RCM) are fast becoming a desirable maintenance tool to simplify rail operations through identifying potential issues before they become a problem – and with over 51,000 kilometres of track in Australia, spotting faults early and automatically scheduling maintenance at the right time can play a huge role in ensuring the network runs smoothly.
Australia is actively exploring ways to encourage public transport use, with Queensland currently trialling an initiative offering journeys on various public transport modes for just 50 cents. To help facilitate an increase in ridership, access to travel and means to pay need to be standardised using smart technology such as tap in with a payment card being ubiquitously available across modes.
Challenges and Opportunities
Australia’s journey toward a unified rail network brings unique challenges, but these obstacles also create opportunities for innovation and progress. It is these opportunities that has driven KeTech to focus research and adaptation of its capabilities to address those challenges. With over 25 years of experience in the rail industry, evolving business change with technology.
The traditional approach of replacing legacy equipment entirely can be costly, time-consuming and can cause disruption to services due to the length of time installation can take. KeTech’s approach is different, our experts have extensive knowledge and experience in both software and electronics allowing us to offer a smarter alternative. KeTech not only design new intelligent systems but also transform older legacy systems, redesigning and retrofitting key components to bring older systems up to modern standards, which is also more cost effective too. This approach turns existing infrastructure into data driven systems, and extends systems beyond their life, and ensures that serviceable elements of legacy systems are integrated into modern operations efficiently.
The ARA Harmonisation of Rail Standards report highlights that customised, tailored, bespoke rail systems are desirable in Australia. This has now been identified as an economic barrier to scaling tailored solutions and having standardised systems across the Australian rail network. However, an alternative approach is available. KeTech are specialists in software, that’s where the real magic happens, between modular architecture and hardware agnostic software, KeTech delivers tailored solutions through its overarching Universal Information System (UIS). The UIS is a centralised data processing and management environment that has been designed in a modular fashion to adapt as rail operations change. Within the UIS architecture, sub systems are connected as modular and configurable elements. For example, Passenger Information System (PIS) that meet unique branding, operational, and regional requirements without sacrificing scalability.
The elements of customisable, tailored and bespoke are resolved by way of the configurable and adaptable business rules and data interfaces within UIS. This approach enables all subsystems can be both flexible and scalable whilst still conforming to higher level standards.
The flexibility of UIS means that the system can evolve and adapt with you over time. As Australia gradually moves to a more standardised network, KeTech’s systems can fill the gap, and the features can support each phase of the harmonisation. In the UK, KeTech works with several train operators and often the systems implemented have progressed in line with changing operational processes and franchising models.
Also outlined in the report is that innovation across the Australian rail network is often isolated and occurs in pockets. This can lead to issues, such as uneven levels of service and efficiency across the network and as mentioned earlier can lead to passenger confusion and barriers to travel for passengers, especially with accessibility needs. It is important to have a technology architecture that supports the development of innovation by being highly configurable and adaptable, which is a core philosophy of the KeTech UIS.
An open invitation to challenge us
National rail standards are essential for Australia’s future. They offer the promise of a more efficient, accessible and sustainable rail network. By addressing current issues, improving passenger experiences, and encouraging people to choose rail over cars, the harmonisation of Australian rail standards paints an exciting picture of what the future could hold for operators and passengers.
KeTech invites collaboration with the Australian rail industry and government to explore solutions and shape the future of Australia’s rail network.
Our proven track record paired with a collaborative approach has enabled us to solve some of the most complex challenges in the UK (arguably one of the most complex rail industries in the world).
We are driven by solving real world problems in the rail industry, we invite you to share your challenges with us. If you are a key stakeholder in Australian transport and wish to explore possibilities, please email paul.warren@ketech.com.