The Sydney Trains Rail Operations Centre is a AU$276 million (£141) scheme designed to ensure that all facets of the train network are controlled from a single location, with new technology to manage train movements and customer safety.
“This new centre will ultimately improve train reliability for customers and when there are delays, information will be communicated much more quickly,” said New South Wales minister for transport and infrastructure Andrew Constance. “This is a massive commitment to a transformational project that will help ensure Sydney Trains can continue to improve the service it provides to customers.”
Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said the organisation’s performance has been held back in recent years by outdated technology and having to respond manually to incidents. “At the moment we manage the trains and tracks, respond to incidents, communicate with customers and monitor their safety from different locations and in different ways,” he said. “One example is that during an incident, there are multiple phone calls made between the person reporting the incident, the person who controls the trains, another party in charge of fixing the fault and the response team in the field.
The new centre will mean all parties are informed the moment the issue is reported. They will all be in the same location, receiving more information, and so can ensure the best response to get customers moving again, he said.
The Sydney Trains network control facility is set to open in 2018.
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