News in Brief

 Zig Zag Railway derailed

The famous Zig Zag Railway heritage tourist lines in the Blue Mountains has been advised that it will have to cease all passenger operations unless it can address a series of concerns raised by the NSW Independent Safety Transport Regulator (ITSR).

The railway has nine paid employees although it is operated and managed as a volunteer organisation. For over 30 years it has been a popular day out for Sydneysiders carrying around 80,000 tourists a year.

Its rail safety management procedures came under scrutiny from ITSR following a safety incident in May 2011 and subsequent review of the railway’s accreditation processes saw ITSR ban the use of steam locomotives on tourist trains earlier this year.  

Earlier this month Zig Zag was issued with a "Notice of Intent" pertaining to the fact that ITSR intended to, on June 17th 2012, amend the railways accreditation to prevent the railway from operating passenger trains. It is understood that there are approximately 160 findings that need to be resolved, or have a concerted effort displayed, in order to prevent this amendment from occurring on June 17th 2012.

In addition these issues, the society’s web site says that an intensive running schedule has taken a toll on its fleet of historic steam locomotives and carriages and that the society is also suffering a shortage of skilled people to help maintain its trains.

Subsequent media reports suggest the NSW Government has offered to look at assisting the Zig Zag in working through its current difficulties.

Strengthening SKM’s tunnel capability

Leading projects firm, Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Benson as Group Manager, Tunnelling within the firm’s Buildings and Infrastructure business unit.

Based in Hong Kong, Mr Benson brings to SKM more than 20 years of industry experience. He has applied his specialist skills to a broad range of client projects, including tunnels, railways, stations, sewerage and water treatment developments, reservoirs, pipelines, bridges, highways and many others.

Mr Benson’s previous project roles include Design Director on the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) 901 Admiralty Station development, responsible for the tunnelling and cavern engineer’s design for the new South Island Line and Shatin to Central Link. He was also the Independent Checking Engineer for many aspects of the Hong Kong MTR West Island Line development.           

Prior to joining SKM, he held the role of Regional Manager - North Asia and Managing Director at SMEC Asia Ltd, with responsibility for managing SMEC’s North Asia business.