Victorian Rail Timetable Assurance and Operational Readiness

Client:

Victorian Department of Transport & Planning (DTP)

Location:

VIC, Australia

Project lifecycle stage:

Assurance and Optimisation

Project value:

Confidential

Duration:

2020 – ongoing

At a glance

With significant changes planned across Victoria's public transport network, it is essential for Government, the community, and transport users that major timetable changes for Victoria's Metropolitan, regional rail and Melbourne's tram networks have been quality assured in terms of operational readiness and operability.

Objectives

The metropolitan and regional train and tram networks provide the core of the public transport system in Victoria. The Victorian Government has undertaking major changes to the network with new rail routes as part of the Melbourne Metro Tunnel, numerous level crossing removals and capacity improvements to key regional network corridors including Gippsland, Ballarat and Geelong. To support these projects during the Delivery phase and ensure successful commissioning and operational readiness, major network wide timetable changes are required. This required the Victorian Government to have its timetables and associated operational, infrastructure fleet, staff and passenger information plans, assured and prepared for operational readiness.

Our services

SmedTech was engaged along with our partner firm on this engagement EY, by the Victorian Government to deliver comprehensive reviews of technical documentation for the purpose of assessing the level of readiness by rail operators to deliver new timetables. Requiring a comprehensive process to be undertaken to assess all aspects of timetable development, including fleet availability, infrastructure capacity and readiness, resourcing, passenger information and other key delivery components. In this role, we:

Led the assurance process which included comprehensive technical sessions with rail operators.
Prepared checklists, reports and assessments covering all aspects of operation and service delivery including resources, fleet, maintenance capacity, infrastructure and customer service and passenger information.
Made recommendations for corrective actions and outlined specific rectifying activities that needed to be undertaken to ensure readiness to the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) as an overall rating/confidence of readiness.

Our impact

SmedTech successfully completed the first reviews in 2020 including Victoria's first major Greenfields statewide, and Melbourne-wide timetable updates in January 2021. This review ensured that rail timetables could be delivered with a high degree of reliability, performance, and considering capacity to meet customer expectations and demand. Our work was well received by DTP, resulting in confidence in the recommendations put forward and allowing for necessary improvements in timetable readiness such that SmedTech undertook the operational readiness assessment for the $15 billion Metro Tunnel Project, the largest in Victoria's rail history in readiness for its full opening incorporating a whole of network timetable change in February 2026.