FIRST FOUR LEVEL CROSSINGS TO GO

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1 Edition 20 \\ 22 May 2015 INFRASTRUCTURE DELIVERS AT OFFICER The Infrastructure Team completed more than $1.7 million of works in 54 hours. Read more on page 3. FIRST FOUR LEVEL CROSSINGS TO GO The Andrews Labor Government has awarded the contract for the removal of the first four level crossings on the Melbourne train network, with construction expected to begin within weeks. On Tuesday this week, Premier Daniel Andrews announced a John Holland and KBR consortium would remove level crossings and rebuild stations at: Centre Road, Bentleigh North Road, Ormond McKinnon Road, McKinnon Burke Road, Glen Iris At each location, the rail line will be lowered under the road, with Bentleigh, Ormond, McKinnon and Gardiner stations to be rebuilt providing street level access down to the platforms. Significant consultation has already taken place at Burke Road with construction expected to kick off in the coming weeks. Community engagement will be carried out at Centre, North and McKinnon roads over the coming months, with construction to start later this year. Consultation began this week with an information booth at Bentleigh Station on Wednesday, where interested locals were More on page 2... Page 1

2 From page 1... invited to discuss the project with team members. The projects are expected to create more than 350 jobs, with the full $524 million government package to be completed by Metro CEO, Andrew Lezala, attended the announcement and Edition 20 \\ 22 May 2015 Contract awarded for first four level crossing removals welcomed the news that works would begin so quickly. Level crossings are one of the greatest hindrances on our network, Andrew said. Accidents on level crossings cause huge delays for the train network, and drivers often take risks resulting in near misses, traumatising our drivers. Conversely, delays on our network result in delays on the road due to level crossings operating continuously. Removing these hindrances will be of great benefit to both our customers and motorists. The Labor Government provided $2.4 billion in the Victorian Budget for the removal of level crossings in its first term. Page 2

3 Edition 20 \\ 22 May 2015 Infrastructure delivers significant renewals to Officer From page 1... Last weekend, our Infrastructure Team completed a significant and impressive renewals delivery on the Pakenham Line. Works included: Undercutting works on mud holes Major works on the South Gippsland Highway and Station Street level crossings Substation upgrades at Narre Warren, Officer and Hallam The renewal of contact wire runs between Dandenong and Pakenham. The 54-hour occupation saw $750,000 being spent on mud hole repairs using a new undercutting method, $300,000 on the level crossing works, $600,000 on rerailing, $25,000 on the substation upgrade and $60,000 on contact wire run renewals. Five teams were in action over the two-day blockbuster: Overhead Power Team, Sub-Stations Team, Eastern Track Maintenance Team, Track Renewals Team and our Signalling team. Metro s Infrastructure Operations Manager, Peter Munro, visited a number of sites in action on Saturday and commended the team. The Infrastructure team did a sterling job of completing so much work within a short period of time, Peter said. The Track Renewals team alone completed an astonishing 4,455 meters of re-railing, 905 meters of ballast undercutting and 23.5kilometres of tamping. The team at Officer should be congratulated for recognising that the station car park was in very bad shape, and decided to resurface it while on site opportunistically. A great initiative well done. A big thank you to our Signals team for successfully supporting the delivery of the program and ensuring that our signalling system was restored with no issues on Monday morning. I observed a number of sites in action and was really impressed by the Performance at the Limit principles that are starting to be implemented throughout Infrastructure. The Infrastructure Team continues to get better and better at delivering huge programs of works like this, and everyone involved should be proud of the work completed. Page 3

4 Metro has collaborated with RMIT University to establish a Metro Chair in RMIT s School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering. It has been tentatively named Metro Chair in Asset Management of Railway Infrastructure. The Chair will lead strategic and practical research in the asset management of railway infrastructure managed by Metro across the three specific residual life research projects, namely: Edition 20 \\ 22 May 2015 Engineering award presentation Overhead Structures MURL (Melbourne Underground Rail Loop) Flinders Street Viaduct. Associated with this Chair is the annual Metro Prize for the best first-year student in Civil Engineering, which was won in its inaugural year of 2014 by Jarrod Lowe. Jarrod was presented with the prize by Metro s Director of Engineering and Asset Management, Paul O Halloran, at a ceremony held in RMIT s Storey Hall on Thursday 14 May. Congratulations on your prize, Jarrod! Travellers Aid Refurbishment Metro donated $40,000 to Travellers Aid to refurbish their Flinders Street Station office. Funding allowed the organisation to paint the office, install silver panelling on the walls (to protect it from marks made by wheelchairs, mobility devices, bicycles etc.), split system air conditioner, electric doors at the entrance and an electronic door on the disabled toilet. These much needed changes have transformed the office to become a more comfortable space for Travellers Aid s clients and staff. The electronic doors at the front help to moderate the temperature of the office especially on very hot and cold days. The electronic door on the toilet allows clients to now use the facility without assistance. Feedback from regular customers and first time users of the space has been overwhelmingly positive with more people utilising the office space and toilet facilities thanks to these upgrades. Jodie Bateman, Service Coordinator at Travellers Aids Flinders Street Station office, praised Metro staff at the station for consistently supporting their clients. She said Metro staff were extremely helpful in directing passengers to Travellers Aid s Southern Cross station office while the Flinders Street office was closed for renovations. Jodie Bateman and Karen Lovell from Travellers Aid Australia outside their newly renovated Flinders Street station office. Jodie Bateman Service Coordinator operates new electronic toilet door. Page 4

5 Edition 20 \\ 22 May 2015 Infrastructure teams up with Department of Environment to remove infected trees A crew of contractors led by Katrina Lewis and Greg Curtis from Infrastructure Track Delivery recently removed approximately 100 infected trees from Jordanville last month during the Glen Waverley occupation. The trees removed were infected with Giant Pine Scale (GPS): an insect that survives by sucking the sap of pine, fir and spruce trees, which has recently been found both in Australia and along the railway reserve at Jordanville for the first time. Trees impacted by large populations of GPS suffer severe dehydration and dieback of branches, and will eventually die. The trees were removed, mulched on site and sprayed to stop cross-contamination of the large scale to uninfected areas. In partnership with the Department of Environment and Primary Industries, a group of workers surveyed the rail reserve between Jordanville and Glen Waverley and found no further infected trees. To protect Australia s $1 billion softwood plantation industry, DEPI encourage members of the public to report any suspected detections of GPS by: Phoning the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline on (toll free ing with photos of the suspected pest, together with a contact phone number and the peset s location to plant.protection@ecodev.vic.gov.au GPS produces a distinctive white, cotton-like wax secretion. The adult scale can be up to 12mm in length. Look out for black sooty mold which may grow on the large amounts of honeydew produced by the insects as they feed on plant sap. With compliments I would like to express my appreciation of the actions of the train driver of the 4.32pm train from Middle Footscray to the city on Thursday 16 April and the customer service officers who attended the incident. My wife tripped and fell on the station and was lying on the pavement with blood flowing from her forehead and a fractured humorous. The train driver saw the accident and came to inquire, was concerned and was able to request an ambulance. A customer service officer appeared and rendered assistance as well. Bob Mathers gave us advice for which we are grateful, shielded us from passers-by and remained with us until the ambulance departed. I commend them both for their actions and I am impressed with Metro as an organisation. Customer: I. Leach (via letter) Train Driver involved: Mark Jeanes (Ringwood Depot) TSO Signaller Specialist involved: Robert Mathers Macleod station officer appointed as board member by the Minister Education (ACFE). The Minister for Training and Skills, Steve Herbert, has appointed Macleod Station Officer, Deepak Vinayak, the Regional Council Board Member for Adult, Community and Further Deepak will hold this position for the next three years on a voluntary basis. Deepak s role will be to plan and promote adult learning, develop policies, and advise the Minister for on matters relating to adult education in Victoria. Page 5

6 Northern groups getting Wellness on track On Tuesday 19 th May, customer service employees from the Northern Group gathered together at Footscray Station to launch the first edition of the Northern Group s Wellness Newsletter. In conjunction with the Health and Productivity team, Wellness Advocates Tony Chiera and Jeevan Bala are helping to spread the importance of increasing healthy habits both at home and at work. The newsletter will be sent across the Northern Group every second month and will include inspiring health and wellness articles along with information on wellness events. Tony Chiera, Northern Group s Customer Services Manager, spoke of the need for healthy and happy employees who will positively impact on employee engagement and an enhanced business image. Health Projects Advisor, Helen Barnes and Health and Productivity Manager Fiona McHugh were invited to the event. This is a wonderful example of an extremely proactive Wellness Advocate (Jeevan Bala), supported by his management and team and doing wonderful things. We are looking forward to many more fantastic local initiatives such as this one. The Wellness Advocate program is an initiative to assist in raising the health and wellness profile of Metro employees through promoting and leading events, assisting with communications to further drive engagement for program participation. There are currently 46 passionate Wellness Advocates across all divisions of the company. If you are interested in further information about the Wellness Advocate program or want to become a Wellness Advocate, please contact Edition 20 \\ 22 May 2015 MTR TV series on railway maintenance MTR have developed a 10-part TV series exploring their railway maintenance methodology. In Hong Kong, MTR s maintenance team plays an vital role in upholding a professional and stringent maintenance regime, in order to deliver a safe and reliable train service to passengers. MTR invests substantially to regularly renew their facilities and enhance system performance. To let the public know more about their maintenance regime, they have created a 10-part TV series: Railway Maintenance at MTR. Programme host, Vince Ng, takes the audience on a journey to explore MTR s efforts in keeping the railway system in top shape. All the videos are available via the MTR Connects web site, via The Depot. MTRConnects is an internal communications platform that connects all employees in the MTR network from around the globe. MTR would love to hear your feedback on whether you have used the platform and how they can improve its functionality. Since its launch in January 2014, MTRconnects has attracted over 409,000 views and more than 11,000 unique visitors from offices around the world. In order to enhance the platform and enrich its content, they are inviting you to provide your feedback by taking part in a survey, which is available on the MTRConnects website, via The Depot. Your participation is greatly appreciated. Page 6

7 Edition 18 \\ 22 May 2015 In Brief Cancer affects all of us, either directly or indirectly. In fact, one in two Australians will be diagnosed with cancer before they reach the age of 85. Funds need to be raised for cancer research, treatment for patients and support for families. To raise this much needed money, the Cancer Council of Australia encourages people at home, work and school to host fundraising morning teas. Australia s Biggest Morning Tea has been operating annually since Last year, $11.9 million was raised from national donations. Metro will be celebrating Australia s Biggest Morning Tea on Thursday May 28 and we encourage employees to take part by bringing a shared plate of food and a gold coin donation. If employees wish to donate online, there is a Metro Trains Melbourne account visit For more information, please contact Metro Performance 28-day average as at Friday 22 May % Delivery Major Events We re running extra trains to get customers to and home from: AFL Round 8: Geelong v Carlton Friday 22 May, 7.50pm, Etihad St Kilda v West Coast Saturday 23 May, 1.45pm, Etihad Hawthorn v Sydney Saturday 23 May, 7.20pm, MCG Essendon v Brisbane Sunday 24 May, 1.10pm, Etihad Melbourne v Western Bulldogs Sunday 24 May, 3.20pm, MCG VRC Andrew Ramsden Stakes Day: Saturday 23 May Flemington Racecourse, gates open 10.45am Details at metrotrains.com.au With compliments I left my phone on the Cranbourne line train and didn't realise until after I had got off at Caulfield. Ivan, who works at the station helped me track down the phone, provided me with a phone to call people to help me and organised staff to collect the lost phone at Cranbourne station. He went above and beyond what anyone would expect of any station staff member. I would like to provide my sincere thanks and congratulations for such an amazing service. Customer: Alex (via ) Station Officer: Ivan Guillemain Pardon our Progress.. South Morang & Hurstbridge lines Sunday 24 - Thursday 28 May (after 9.30pm only) While we upgrade the track, buses will replace trains between Parliament and Clifton Hill. Frankston line Friday 22 May* - Sunday 24 May While works are being carried out as part of the Bayside Rail Project, buses will replace trains between Moorabbin and Frankston. *Late night services on Friday only. These services will fall on early Saturday morning, but will affect customers travelling from the city on Friday night. Belgrave, Lilydale, Alamein, Glen Waverley, Werribee, Williamstown, Sunbury, Craigieburn & Upfield lines Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 May While we undertake communications upgrades, trains will not run in the City Loop. Services will run direct to and from Flinders Street. Details at metrotrains.com.au MetroRecruit Closing 27 May SER Process and Performance Analyst Closing 29 May Completions Support Office Closing 21 June Team Leader Authorised Officers Full details on The Depot Page 7