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Rail electrification: A historical view
Overview
Electric traction technology in railways has been around for well over 100 years and railway electrification came to Queensland in the late 1970s. The presentation will go through the chronology and geography of this development and hopefully give you some insight into how some of the important development decisions were made. Presenter, Colin Kenny, has been active on electrification projects for 50 years and is hence well placed to give a historical perspective. In case Colin misses any detail, the presentation will be followed by a Q&A panel session with a couple of godfathers of QLD electrification – Frank Nugent and Eric Ruderfor – providing some golden in-depth wisdom in how the state developed its network.
Program timeline
Online
6.30 pm AEDT: Presentation commences
7.00 pm AEDT: Q&A panel session
7.30 pm AEDT: Presentation concludes
If you are joining from Queensland, please join at 5.30 pm AEST
In Person
4.30 pm AEST: Registration opens. Networking, catering, and refreshments
5.30 pm AEST: Presentation commences
6.00 pm AEST: Q&A panel session
6.30 pm AEST: Networking, refreshments, and catering
7.30 pm AEST: Event concludes
Learning outcomes
By attending this presentation, participants will:
- Understand the historical timeline of electric traction technology and its implementation in Queensland’s railway network.
- Gain insights into key decision-making processes that shaped the development of railway electrification across the state.
Colin Kenny – a baby boomer born in Brisbane growing up in Sunnybank – in 1973 joined Munro Johnson and Associates as a Cadet Civil Engineer working on flood mitigation design for Kedron Brook, just in time for the January 1974 Brisbane flood. In January 1975 Colin was seconded to Elrail Consultants as part of the team providing Queensland Railways with the design of Brisbane Suburban Electrification using the British Rail Mark 3B overhead system. The association with Elrail continued until 1987 and since then Colin has never looked back. As well as working on the key foundation electrification projects in Queensland (BSE, MLE), Colin has gone on to deliver electrification outcomes across Australia and beyond (NZ, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines). After 50 years in the industry Colin continues to play a key role working since 2019 as Engineering Manager on the Cross River Rail project.