Railway Digest Magazine February 2025 Back Issue

Ellenbrook Rising
Ellenbrook is an important residential and commercial suburb about 25km north-east of Perth CBD. It has been served by Transperth bus services since its early days, but with the ongoing growth of the area, tenders for planning of a railway were called in 2018, construction legislation passed in 2020 and the contract for construction awarded in October that year. Sunday 8 December 2024 was the official opening day of the line, and Railway Digest’s Perth correspondent, David Whiteford was there to enjoy the festivities.

Parramatta Light Rail begins operations
The second half of 2024 has gone down as a particularly significant period in the story of Sydney region public transport. Since August we have seen the first stage of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest (CSW) opened, the commissioning of Sydney Trains’ New Intercity Fleet (NIF) Mariyung trains, and the delivery to Sydney of the first of NSW’s new Regional Rail Civity hybrid fleet. Then, in the early morning of Friday 20 December 2024, came the long-awaited opening of the Parramatta Light Rail, as Owen Roberts reports.

ARTC “pauses” Advanced Train Management System
Confirming industry rumours during 2024, Australia Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) CEO, Wayne Johnson announced at AusRAIL 2024 on the Gold Coast that the Corporation was “pausing” further development of its Advanced Train Management System (ATMS) which was first announced in its 2002/03 annual report. With the National Transport Commission currently assessing a European Train Control System (ETCS) technology pathway for Australia across the National network, John Hoyle looks at the interesting history of ARTC’s bespoke train management system.