The PWI Victorian Chapter invites you to our first technical meeting of the year, featuring two technical presentations: one on CBTC rollout challenges across Victoria’s rail network, and another on Battery Powered Trains and Trams in Australia. Free for members. Membership available at the door for $35. Join us.

There will also be an opportunity to network with fellow attendees following the presentations. Drinks and finger food will be provided, offering a great chance to connect with industry colleagues and continue the technical discussions in a relaxed setting.

The Permanent Way Institution (PWI) is a professional body dedicated to the development, education, and connection of rail industry professionals. By becoming a member, you gain access to technical events, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities nationwide. In Victoria alone, we will be hosting four events this year, providing ongoing opportunities to stay connected and engaged with the rail community.

The evening will feature two technical presentations exploring key developments shaping Australia’s rail industry:

Mott MacDonald: Challenges in ETCS rollout across Victoria’s MTM Network.

Mott Macdonald is an engineering, management and development consultancy and one of the largest wholly employee-owned firms. They plan, design, deliver and maintain the transport, energy, water, defence and security, and buildings infrastructure that is integral to people’s daily lives.

Simon is the global market lead for Systems Engineering, Integration and Operations at Mott MacDonald. With his 15 years of experience, he has been delivering complex systems engineering and integration rail projects in Australia and Copenhagen.

Jon is a Systems Engineering and Integration specialist with 15 years of experience placing systems into service and providing capability uplifts to the client. His experience comes from across sectors and countries including avionic systems, guidance systems, missiles, signalling systems, ICT/OT security systems, ETCS Signalling and CBTC Signalling, all with their own unique challenges.

As we plan the rollout of ETCS across Victoria’s MTM network, track and rail infrastructure engineers must navigate a complex set of considerations — from ensuring track circuits, axle counters, and lineside equipment are fully compatible with ETCS requirements, to assessing the implications for existing signalling, turnout layouts, and maintenance regimes. The shift toward cab‑based signaling demands meticulous evaluation of track geometry, asset condition, electromagnetic compatibility, and fibre and radio bearer resilience, while also coordinating tightly with civil works, occupation planning, and brownfield integration

constraints.

Building upon Aaron Surnam’s presentation last year on the implications of CBTC roll-out to existing railways, Simon MacMull (Mott MacDonald’s Global Lead for Systems Engineering & Integration) and Jon Lancaster (Technical Director, Rail) will take a deeper dive into ETCS roll-out in Victoria, using the MTM Sandringham line as a case study.

Middleton Group: An overview of battery powered trains and trams in Australia

Middleton Group is an Australian-owned and operated consultancy whose people thrive on solving complex power and energy challenges through innovation, collaboration and engineering excellence. They specialise in all the major engineering market segments, including grid connection services, water, transport, renewable energy, defence, industrial and power utilities.

Eric is a Senior Power Engineer at Middleton Group with 8 years of engineering experience working on major infrastructure projects in Transport, Water & Wastewater, and Heavy Industrial engineering markets.  His experience in rail has predominantly been in EMI/EMC and Traction Power Modelling of the Melbourne, Sydney and Adeleide Rail networks.

Building on some recent projects, Eric Bendtsen (Senior Power Engineer) will present

on high-level information on battery powered rolling stock and their present and future applications in Australia. We begin

with a review of battery performance characteristics

and charging hardware. The presentation will share generalised findings from traction power modelling

completed by Middleton Group on both train and tram

networks. It follows that we translate the modelled scenarios into informed

discussion of planned and existing implementation of battery powered rolling stock in Australia. This will resolve with a summary of use cases and design considerations for further adoption of this technology.