4Tel has been awarded a contract by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to extend the use of the Train Management and Control System, or TMACS – a computer-based electronic authority system – across 1,276 kilometres of track between Tarcoola in South Australia and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
Operations are scheduled for commissioning in late 2026.
Versions of the TMACS software are already used on some 5,000+ kilometres of track across New South Wales, making it the dominant communications-based train control system used on the ARTC and New South Wales Country Regional Network (CRN).
“TMACS has been proven in continuous and safe use since the initial version was deployed in 2001,” said Tony Crosby, Chief Executive Officer of 4Tel.
“Train drivers, track vehicles and track workers will all benefit from the increased risk controls that will be applied to this corridor, including electronic authorities, out-of-authority alerts and proximity alerts, which have all been well-proven over many years of operation on the CRN.”
TMACS is a communications-based train control system that uses vital, virtual-block movement authority limits called electronic authorities. The use of a communications-based system allows minimisation of track-side infrastructure that is expensive to install and maintain.
It is the only train control system issuing vital movement authorities in Australia that meets international standard IEC 61508 for Safety Integrity Level 2 (SIL-2) as a total system.
“This project reflects ARTC’s commitment to modernising our national freight network by enhancing both safety and operational efficiency,” said Brad Moorhouse, Group Executive Safety and Systems, ARTC.
“The rollout of TMACS on the Tarcoola to Kalgoorlie line will deliver smarter train control technology to a key freight corridor, reducing reliance on manual systems and introducing smarter, engineering-based safety measures.
“TMACS will also integrate with the ARTC eTAP work-on-track mobile app used by track vehicles and track workers, improving the risk controls and efficiency of our train operations.”
TMACS uses screen-based forms and electronic train graphs for efficient planning and management of train operations for modern digital train control solution.
As a ‘vital’ system, TMACS prevents the issue of overlapping authorities and conflicting track access.
All movements are continuously checked against the respective authority limit authorised for each user, with alarms raised both in the control centre and on each user’s device if their authority limit is exceeded.
Transport for New South Wales use TMACS in its Newcastle Network Management Centre to control 93 per cent of the CRN.
The ARTC uses TMACS in its Network Control Centre North (NCCN) and Network Control Centre South (NCCS) to control significant sections of the ARTC and Inland Rail networks in NSW.
The Tarcoola to Kalgoorlie TMACS servers will be installed in ARTC’s Network Control Centre West (NCCW) in Adelaide.
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