2005 David Caldwell and Luke Cervoni

Railway Engineer Student Thesis Award 2005

THERE ARE TWO RECIPIENTS OF THE 2005 RAILWAY ENGINEERING STUDENT THESIS AWARD, BEING: MR. DAVID CALDWELL AND MR. LUKE CERVONI

 

JOINT FIRST PRIZE AWARDED TO: Mr. David Caldwell

Mr. David Caldwell for his thesis entitled “Improving Performance & Safety of the Sydney Metropolitan Railway with Alternative Signaling” through the University of New South Wales.

The thesis gives details of the existing signaling system provided on the railways of the Sydney Metropolitan system and undertakes a detailed analysis of train service performance as it is influenced by the signaling arrangements. Thereafter, the potential benefits of implementing the introduction of alternative systems, including those forming the European Traffic Management System (ERTMS), were analyzed. The thesis found that many of the benefits ascribed to the ERTMS could be achieved instead with already broadly applied technology and proposed a novel application of conventional coded track-circuit driven signaling. It has been recommended that the proposed system be the subject of a trial on an independent Sydney line.

 

JOINT FIRST PRIZE AWARDED TO: Mr. Luke Cervoni

Mr. Luke Cervoni for his thesis entitled “The Effect of Confining Pressure on the Settlement & Breakage of Railway Ballast” through the University of Wollongong.

The thesis considers the performance of track ballast particularly with respect to settlement and breakage under the effects of confining pressure through extensive research, testing and experimentation. The work that has been undertaken provides a useful extension to previous research on the subject of ballast performance.

 

RUNNER UP PRIZE

AWARDED TO:  Miss Ruth Luscombe for her thesis “Identifying Key Infrastructure Changes to improve Rail Network Performance” through the University of South Australia.