A new report has set out a roadmap for the future of rail manufacturing and technology in Australia.
The report identified three key priority areas for technological development and export opportunity: materials and manufacturing, monitoring and management, and power and propulsion.
It also made several strategic recommendations including the establishment of a rail development agency, a national rail policy, a single safety and standards body, and a “rail industry champion”.
“On track to 2040” was developed by ANU Edge, the CRC for Rail Innovation, the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing, and Strategic Connections Group.
The report identified a range of reasons to plan for the future of the rail industry.
“There are the obvious factors such as increasing population pressures, congestion in cities and the need to move more people around. But there’s also the interest in high speed rail, with the opportunity to connect the eastern capitals, and now with the mining industry, there’s a huge need to move bulk resources from the interior of Australia to the ports, where we can send it overseas,” project leader Dr Matthew Doolan said.
Read more at Australian National University