QR training hundreds of new drivers to avoid another epic rail fail

3 months ago 21

It’s been almost a decade since hundreds of train services were cancelled after the opening of a new rail line, with the saga culminating in revelations that Queensland Rail did not have enough drivers.

With Cross River Rail launching by 2029 – a new 10.2 kilometre rail line, including four new underground stations – Queensland Rail is working to train hundreds of new staff to avoid a repeat.

Following in the footsteps of 67 new drivers last financial year, Laurina Neumann is a few months into her training.

Trainee driver Laurina Neumann in one of Queensland Rail’s train simulators.

Neumann did not grow up wanting to be a train driver, but was looking for a career change from teaching and aviation.

“I’m not a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday office kind of person, so when I looked into the railway, it grabbed my attention,” she said.

“You need to be dedicated. When I get home after work, I’m studying and going over everything I’ve learnt.

“It is like learning an entirely new language. You’re learning new systems, new equipment, how trains and railways operate – there’s a lot to it.”

Queensland Rail now has 716 drivers and 768 guards in supply across the south-east Queensland network – a big jump from December 2016, when there were fewer than 500 drivers.

The Redcliffe Peninsula Line opened with much fanfare in October that year. But only a few weeks later, 167 services were cancelled, with another 261 canned on Christmas Day.

Candidates go through a comprehensive recruitment and selection process, including psychometric and psychomotor tests.

If selected, their training includes 1400 hours of classroom theory on rail safety, signalling systems, and emergency procedures; simulator training; and time on the controls of a real train without passengers for on-track experience with tutor drivers.

The train simulator, seen from the outside, can also simulate the movement of a train travelling and braking.

They study a complex network comprising 850 kilometres of track, 2000 signals and 152 stations.

In the simulator – which can be an NGR (New Generation Rollingstock), IMU (Interurban multiple units) or other train on a virtual network that mirrors the real thing, right down to the whistle signals and passengers – trainees learn how to react safely and instinctively when the unexpected happens.

Service delivery training manager Mitch Strathie said Queensland Rail received many applications, but the assessment was rigorous, and they only took the “best of the best”.

“A lot of people grow up wanting to be a train driver from the time they’re a kid,” he said.

Asked whether AI could drive Brisbane’s trains, Strathie said that was a long time away.

“We have potential trespassers in the corridor, we have weather events, we have level crossings that we interact with – the driver needs to be alert 100 per cent of the time – and at this stage, there’s just no technological solution that can do that,” he said.

Strachan recommended recruitment be opened to external applicants, including people with no previous rail experience, to accelerate a train crew surplus.

Queensland Rail does now recruit externally, but often fills roles internally, including with station customer service officers and train guards.

“This way, new drivers coming through the ranks have already spent time immersing themselves in the world of trains,” a spokeswoman said.

“This also means competitive internal pathways for career development at Queensland Rail.”

With just a few years until Cross River Rail launches, a Queensland Rail spokeswoman said the organisation was ensuring it had the workforce ready for the new line.

“We are working really closely with the Department of Transport and Main Roads to support its planning and delivery of these key projects, which includes determining future train crew requirements,” she said.

Tutor driver Dave Ramsay joined Queensland Rail as a guard, did the driver training program in 2020, and now teaches the next generation of drivers.

Ramsay said when driving a train, everything might be the same 99 per cent of the time.

“It’s that 1 per cent of the time when it’s something different, and you have to react to it ... it’s like that hyper-focus type of job, where distraction is our number one enemy,” he said.

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