Background

Australia is in the middle of a rail infrastructure boom with multibillion-dollar projects scheduled around the country to help manage the growing population. Light and heavy rail are being built and upgraded both to support the need for better integrated transport systems and to meet the national freight challenge. This boom is leading to many skilled job opportunities and has made technical skills development a priority for the rail industry.

The Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) was established by the Victorian Government to oversee one of the largest rail infrastructure projects in the state's history.
To underwite skills,  LXRP has overseen a significant investment in the development of modern courseware for over 20 rail specific qualifications. This body of work is intended to equip TAFE and private sector training organisations with the tools to educate new entrants and upskill existing workers who want to take advantage of this massive rail infrastructure build.  

Our role

Skilled overhead rail lineworkers who undertake the construction and maintenance of rail networks are in particularly short supply. In response to this need, the LXRP through “Training for the Future” and the “Workforce Training Innovation Fund” appointed Thomson Bridge’s Technical Design Team to develop the courseware and assessment tools required to offer a contextualised qualification in light and heavy rail, this is the UET30719 Certificate III in ESI - Power Systems - Rail Traction.

Our technical design engineers worked with Subject Matter Experts from light and heavy rail networks to develop the courseware. We partnered with Swinburne TAFE, who provided project management and ASQA compliance services.

Project Details

• Client: Victorian Government through the “Training for the Future” and the “Workforce Training Innovation Fund”
• Location: Victoria
• Industry: Rail
• Our contribution: Applying our technical design skills to the development of contextualised, modern nationally recognised Qualifications
• Outcome: Contextualised qualification courseware to enable the delivery of Apprenticeship and Adult bridging programs in the Certificate III in ESI - Power Systems - Rail Traction.

• Resources