Max Michell – 2026 Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division

Citation: For service to the rail transport industry.

Seymour Railway Heritage Centre
• Secretary, current
• Board Member, since 2019.
• Former Vice-President.
• Former Operations Manager.
• Occasional Onboard Staff Member, Train Tours.

Rail Futures Institute
• Member, Executive Committee, 2013-2024.
• Lead, Freight Strategy Team, since 2020.
• Chair, Active Victorian Rail Freight, RoundTable on Future Freight Issues, 2021.
• Member, Melbourne Rail Plan, 2019.
• Former Editor, Newsletter, 2010s.

Railway Technical Society of Australasia
• Member, New South Wales Chapter, since 2002.
• Member, since 2001.
• Member, Government Relations Subcommittee, 2010’s.
• Member, Forward Vision Task Force, 2002.
• Former Editor, Monthly Newsletter, New South Wales Chapter.
• Member, South Australian Chapter, 2001-2002.
• Editor, Monthly Newsletter, South Australian Chapter, 2001-2002.

Samrom Pty Ltd
• Director and Consultant, 1995-2015.
• Developer, ‘SimTrain’ simulation model for assessing train operating performance

The University of Wollongong Projects
• Examinator, Speeding up New South Wales Main West Transit Times, 2016-2019.
• Lead Consultant, The Cowra Rail Line Network Revival Study, 2009.
• Researcher, Melbourne-Brisbane Existing Track and Inland Route Simulated Train Performance,
Australian Research Council Project, 2001.
• Reviewer, Australian Rail Track Corporation National Track Audit, Australasian Transport Research
Forum, 2001.

Queensland Transport Projects
• Member, ‘The Straight Track Study’, 2004.
• Member, ‘Smooth Running Project’, 2001.

Projects – Other
• Hunter Valley Coal Corridor Capacity Strategy, 2016.
• Melbourne-Brisbane Inland Rail Alignment Study, 2010.
• Pilbara Iron Ore & Infrastructure Project, East-West Railway and Mine Sites, 2005.
• Development of Operating Strategies for Alice Springs to Darwin Railway, 2001.
• Planning for the Standardisation of the Melbourne- Adelaide Railway, 1995.

Rail 2000 Group (merged into Railway Technical Society of Australasia in 2001)
• Chairman, 1998-2001.
• Former Member.

National Rail Corporation, Adelaide
• Former Consultant.
• Operations Planning Manager, Adelaide, 1992-1995.

Railways of Australia, Melbourne
• Former Consultant.
• Assistant Director, Intersystem Traffic, 1985-1992.

Victorian Railways
• Consultant, 1990s.
• Manager, Operations Research and Planning, 1985.
• Employee, 1970s-1985.

Rail – Other
• Former Member, Steering Committee, AusRAIL, Australasian Railway Association.
• Board Member, National Trunk Railway, 2003-2013.

Publications
• Author, Trains, Trails and Travels, A Journal of Travel Adventures, since 2021.
• Consistent Contributor, Track and Signal Magazine, over 20 years.
• Consistent Contributor, Railway Digest Magazine, over 20 years.
• Collaborated on over 12 refereed conference papers, 1998-2019.
• Co-Author, Shorter South Coast Train Transit Times 2017.
• Co-Author, Building a Railway for the 21st Century 2014.
• Co-Author, Australian Freight Railways for a New Century, 2005.

Awards and Recognition include:
• Individual Award, Railway Technical Society of Australasia, 2016.