RISSB’s National Rail Turnouts Workshop in Canberra this November brought together a wealth of industry knowledge and experience. Download our summary of the Q&A session on maintenance issues for turnouts featuring: Toby Horstead, Senior Asset Planning Coordinator, Civil & Stations, Asset Planning & Programming, RailCorp; John Furness, Manager Standards, ARTC; Steve Johnson, Manager Strategic Projects, Rhomberg Rail Australia; Michael Green, Infrastructure Operations Manager, Metro Trains Melbourne and Warwick Kinscher, General Manager, Vossloh Cogifer Australia

1. Maintenance and
Asset Management Q&A
National Rail Turnouts Workshop
November 2012, Canberra
Toby Horstead, Senior Asset Planning Coordinator, Civil & Stations, Asset Planning &
Programming, RailCorp
John Furness, Manager Standards, ARTC
Steve Johnson, Manager Strategic Projects, Rhomberg Rail Australia
Michael Green, Infrastructure Operations Manager, Metro Trains Melbourne
Warwick Kinscher, General Manager, Vossloh Cogifer Australia

2. Lessons from recent renewal works
Key themes to emerge:
• Asset simplication and rationalisation: The growing trend towards
reducing the asset to improve times and customer outcomes
• Prefabrication: The advantages of installing pre-manufactured assets
and reducing the risks to both asset and workplace health & safety of
on-site handling. Manufacturers have the better environment,
equipment and skills to handle components
• Case studies to follow: recent MTM and Railcorp works

3. Case study: MTM
• Process - generally prefabrication with components lifted in with
loaders and forks
• Access – work trains were used at Glen Waverley but most of
renewals material were delivered on site by road
• Future works – In the last 12months MTM has approved 3 major
rationalisation sites of complicated t/os. Most recent rationalisation –
South Kensington where 14 t/os were approved for removal
• MTM philosophy of metrolising Melbourne – MTM heading down the
path where there will be a service that starts at the far end of one of the
12 rail corridors, comes into the city via the underground and goes back
out on the some spoke.
• Goal is to become a 5 railway group where each group has
dedicated rollingstock, workshop and routes

4. Case study: RailCorp – Ashfield Junction
• Timeframe – It been a long 10yr process from when issues at Ashfield
were identified and the trial commenced. In that time, there were a
number of attempts and different configurations considered. The trial
itself, “from go to whoa” took a year
• Traction for trial- Assets were at the end of lifecycle and causing
problems
• Results of trial – Customer outcome was there which is promising for
future rationalisation plans

5. Technical issues explored and explained
• Hunting - This is usually not initiated at the t/o but further down
the track, ie at some other discontinuity of track (eg a culvert or
level crossing). Hunting then continues through the t/o
• Grinding – Depends on type and location of t/o
• BHP for example will tend to start the grinding of a swing-nose t/o
behind the blade and go straight through as they don’t have to
worry about obstructions such as guard rails.
• A point of crossing or hand grinder is used in most cases because
of the obstruction that can be involved. For example, in a fixed-
nose crossing, there may be obstructions from the switch blades,
guard rails and operating gear

6. • Manufacture of concrete bearers – there are generally two
methods used in Australia and the UK. One methods involves
concrete bearers manufactured on individual bearer plates while
the other involves a long line process.
• Austrak manufactures its concrete bearers in a single continuous
beam that is demoulded and then cut into individual bearers.
Distinct tooling/lids that define each bearer are placed into the
bed mould prior to casting.

7. Maintenance lessons:
• “Be careful what you wish for sometimes”
• Remember to put something in that isn’t “very difficult to come
back & fix”
• “It’s important for the below rail guys to define what the
infrastructure’s going to be like for the above rail guys (and girls)”
• Manufacturer’s recommendations: Communication between
owner’s and manufacturers could be improved so that
manufacturers are consulted for maintenance issues rather than
simply relying on the owner’s experience of the network. This
issue also highlights the move towards a more reliability centered
maintenance regime, especially given the wide range of t/os in
most networks

8. Standards development
• The development process: Which standards are prioritised
for funding?
• According to John Furness, Chairman or RISSB’s Infrastructure
Standing Committee, priority is given to key interface issues
incl:
• Uniform gauge
• Uniform standards of speed versus geometry
• Uniform methods for calculating clearance, limits & standards

9. Access to & participation in
Standards development
• RISSB standards are developed by industry for industry
• RISSB Standards are free to industry members of the ARA and RISSB.
Information on becoming a RISSB member is available online at:
www.rissb.com.au/site/member_register.php
• RISSB Membership also gives you access to the RISSB’s Development
groups. The work of developing and managing Standards, Codes of
Practice, Rules and Guidelines for the rail industry is divided among six
RISSB committees. Visit the following link for details of each
committee’s scope of responsibilities, current development activities and
published documents (standards, guidelines etc) -
www.rissb.com.au/site/products.php

10. Resources for further industry information:
• Deutsche Bahn http://www.deutschebahn.com/en/start.html
• Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail
• Rail CRC - ww.railcrc.cqu.edu.au
• CRC for Rail Innovation - www.railcrc.net.au
• RISSB & ARA events - www.railconferences.com/rail-conferences
Industry Associations:
• RISSB - www.rissb.com.au
• RTSA - The Railway Technical Society of Australasia – www.rtsa.com.au
• PWI - Permanent Way Institution - www.pwinsw.org.au
• RTAA - The Rail Track Association Australia - www.rtaa.org.au