Finbar Holland, Managing Director, Agonics.

Finbar has worked in the rail industry for over 25 years. He started his career in high-speed rail at German Federal Railways before joining RailCorp NSW where he commissioned the first Mechanised Track Patrol system on the Sydney heavy rail network. In 2008 he made a shift to the technology sector where he helps clients derive value from LiDAR data recorded on their networks. Finbar works with clients in the US, Europe and Australia and has worked closely with Sydney Trains on the Mechanised Inspection Digital Twin project. He is a co-founder of Agonics.

David Presley, BD Director, Agonics.

David has over 25 years of experience working within the survey profession across offshore exploration, electricity distribution and in the past 15 years has been solely focused on the rail sector. He specialises in developing technical solutions and survey processes to support the completion of track asset, clearance, and rail infrastructure compliance projects. David works with clients in the US, New Zealand and Australia, working closely with Victorian clients on integrating new rollingstock into existing heavy rail networks. He is also co-founder of Agonics.

About Agonics

We help clients enhance safety and efficiency by addressing inefficient manual processes with data and automation. We combine decades of rail domain knowledge with sophisticated at-scale LiDAR and imagery capture, processing, and analysis.

Deriving value for Infrastructure and Rollingstock from Point Cloud Datasets

New train fleet purchases are considered to be one of the most strategically important investments that railway networks can make. With rail networks faced with a small pool of potential manufacturers that offer standardised designs to meet a global marketplace, the integration of new train fleets into existing network infrastructure can present challenges in terms of compatibility with signalling systems, civil and electrical infrastructure, and with the platform interface.

Periodical measurements of railway infrastructure ensure that track and adjacent assets remain in compliance, but manual measurements can be difficult to resource and pose safety risks for personnel.

Using LiDAR datasets recorded at scale specialist investigations can be undertaken that quickly identify interface issues early so that rollingstock integration risks are mitigated for smooth commissioning. Similarly, LiDAR datasets can help make the transition from manual to automated workflows for routine measurement of infrastructure to minimise time spent in the danger zone and focus teams on higher value activities.

In this presentation we will explore various engineering use cases for LiDAR data based on real world exa

mples that focus on resolving rollingstock and infrastructure challenges on railway networks.

PWI Member Talk

Chris Adams, Design & CPS Manager, Parklife Metro D&C  

Chris has 12 years of experience in construction working in Design and CPS management of rail infrastructure.

Successful Implementation of CPS in Project Delivery

 The Parramatta Light Rail – Stage 1 (PLR1) project comprises a 12km alignment from Westmead to Carlingford consisting of a mix of both on-street and dedicated Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) corridor. The track alignment is generally located within the existing road carriageway from Westmead to Camellia before transitioning to a dedicated LRV corridor between Camellia and Carlingford where the project utilises the existing T6 Carlingford Line rail corridor replacing the existing heavy rail network.

As the Infrastructure Contractor, Parramatta Connect (PCPLR) was responsible for the design and construction of civil works, public domain and light rail infrastructure (generally up to road surface and stop top-of-slab level) including provision of LRV services containment but generally excluding cabling for rail systems.

PCPLR obtained its final completion certificate on the 29 March 2023 which was made possible through its dedication over 4 years of early works investigations, design development and coordination, constructability reviews, stakeholder engagement, design certification, minimising impacts to construction through technical problem solving, and, most critically, the safe delivery of works from the first trackform pour at Hawkesbury Road in November 2020 until the final pour at Tramway Avenue in April 2022.

Christopher Adams led the detailed design development of the Section 2 (Parramatta CBD) section of the works before transitioning to project wide Construction Phase Services (CPS) post design certification, as the Design & CPS Manager working for Parramatta Connect (a Joint Venture between CPB Contractors and Downer EDI, selected by Transport for NSW (TfNSW) to deliver the Parramatta Light Rail Infrastructure Works Contract).

PCPLR represents the successful outcome of a focussed design and construction team determined to provide high quality rail infrastructure in a brownfields environment, in spite of all challenges thrown at it such as, constructing at risk due to delayed design certification, application of major change variations mid- construction, and, most notably, successfully achieving key milestones despite the forced halting of construction due to the global COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in March 2020.

The successful delivery of these works by PCPLR ensured community connection was achieved through an integrated LRV network to key locations in Sydney’s “second CBD” including the Westmead health precinct, the Parramatta North Urban Transformation area, the new Western Sydney Stadium, the Parramatta CBD, the new Powerhouse Museum and Riverside Theatre Cultural Hub, the Camellia precinct, Rosehill Gardens Racecourse, the private and social housing redevelopment at Telopea, and the three Western Sydney University campuses.

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