Earlier this year, when Peter Thomas stepped off a plane in Sydney, he wasn’t just relocating across the globe – he was stepping into a new chapter of a career that has spanned decades, continents, and a dynamic era in rail.
As Wabtec’s newly appointed Regional Senior Vice President for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, Thomas brings almost 30 years’ experience to the role, including 22 years immersed in the rail industry.
He also brings fresh perspective to a region facing enormous technological, environmental, and operational shifts.
“I actually began this role in October, but I moved to Australia in January, so I’m still fresh!” he said.
“I’m learning a lot from the customers and from the unique structure of the rail industry here in Australia.”
That learning curve, he said, has been rewarding.
“I’ve realised that the industry here is far more complex than in North America,” Thomas said.
“In North America, the freight railroads own all their own infrastructure, but here you have below rail operators, you have the above rail operators, you have different gauges, and you have both electric and diesel powered trains. In the United States, freight rail is pretty much all diesel.”
Thomas is no stranger to complexity. Throughout his long tenure at Wabtec and previously GE Transportation (which was bought by Wabtec in 2019), he’s held senior commercial and strategic roles across the US, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
His recent responsibilities have included leading Wabtec’s global strategy and overseeing government relations – experience that will be crucial in navigating evolving transport policy, decarbonisation targets, and investment planning in the ANZ/SEA region.
“I’ve worked across the digital, equipment and services sides of our business, and I think that gives me a unique vantage point,” he said.
“I also bring deep internal relationships across the company, which is important when you’re representing a region this far from Wabtec’s headquarters, which are in Pennsylvania.
“It helps to connect local needs back to global resources.”
Busting myths about rail
With more than two decades in rail, Thomas has developed a nuanced understanding of the sector’s strengths – and its common misconceptions.
“There’s this idea that rail hasn’t changed in 150 years, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.
“It’s an incredibly technical, dynamic industry. There’s a huge amount of innovation that often goes unseen.”
Indeed, much of the rail industry’s progress is hidden beneath the surface – from digital asset monitoring to predictive maintenance to automated safety systems.
For Thomas, this ongoing innovation is part of what has kept him engaged across such a long career.
“After 22 years, it continues to be new and exciting,” he said. “I learn something new almost every day, especially now I’m working more on the heavy haul side with the mining customers.
“I’m gaining appreciation for just how complex their larger environment is – and for how critical our technologies are to keeping things moving.”
Heavy haul: Rail’s rugged frontier
Australia’s heavy haul sector is one of the most advanced – and demanding – in the world.
With bulk commodities like iron ore and coal moved across thousands of kilometres in remote and often extreme conditions, the equipment and systems used must be exceptionally robust and reliable.
“Railroading is an outdoor sport,” Thomas quipped. “You’re dealing with climate, terrain, heavy equipment, and variables that aren’t always within your control.
“You have to be prepared to deal with a lot of different eventualities.”
In this environment, digital connectivity can be a challenge, but Wabtec has developed systems that ensure reliable performance, even in the most remote locations.
“Connectivity is less of a challenge today than it was in the past. Between cellular, satellite, and dedicated networks, there’s always a way to stay connected,” Thomas explained.
“What’s more important is having people on the ground – resources and expertise, in many cases, embedded with our customers who can respond quickly and minimise downtime.”
Decarbonising rail, one innovation at a time
Wabtec is a major player in the global push to decarbonise freight transport. While rail is already far more energy-efficient than road – typically four to five times more efficient than trucks – the company believes there is still room for significant improvement.
“One of the best ways to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation is to move what you transport on trucks to rail, but there are still things that we can do to make rail even more efficient,” said Thomas.
“A lot of those things are focused on decarbonisation. We’re working on batteries, and we put a lot of effort into biofuels, which are important in different parts of the world.
“We’re also beginning to develop hydrogen as a low-carbon fuel alternative in an internal combustion engine, and looking at fuel cells as a potential power plant for locomotives in the future.”
Wabtec commits around six per cent of its annual revenue to innovation – an investment that’s producing tangible results. Among the most anticipated developments is the company’s FLXDrive* battery-electric heavy haul locomotive, set to arrive in Australia later this year.
“That will be the first of its kind here – it’s an exciting milestone for both Wabtec and the industry,” Thomas said.
“The future will not have that one-size-fits-all solution that diesel has provided in the past.
“We’re looking at new technologies we can bring there to make those useful locomotives more productive and eventually evolve into this next generation of technologies.”
Some of Wabtec’s current solutions already reduce fuel usage by a combined 33 per cent compared to 2005 baselines, thanks to innovations like Trip Optimizer*, idle reduction systems, and advanced engine controls.
“We’re helping customers save fuel and emissions today, while also preparing them for tomorrow.”
Safety by design
In rail, safety is paramount – and Wabtec integrates safety into every level of product design and system deployment.
“Once our products end up in our customers’ operations, they’ve got to perform safely,” said Thomas.
“We also have solutions that actively enhance safety – like our signalling systems here in Australia, and the Positive Train Control (PTC) systems we developed in the US and are now deploying globally.”
Wabtec’s PTC is a safety-critical overlay system that provides means to enforce movement authorities, speed restrictions, work zones and switch positioning, to help reduce the potential for train accidents.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are playing a growing role in Wabtec’s safety strategy too.
From track inspections to rolling stock diagnostics, intelligent systems are helping rail operators detect issues earlier and act faster.
“We’ve got systems that use both vision and acoustic sensors to detect problems on the train as it goes by, whether that’s problems with the wheel or the bearings or something else,” Thomas said.
“By using AI, we can continue to get better and better at detecting those issues earlier and earlier in the process, so that we can perform proactive maintenance before something fails.”
Wabtec’s Rail Ghost* robot is one example of a future technology that the company is working to develop and prove. This remotely operated unit can crawl beneath locomotives to inspect undercarriages – improving safety for workers and reducing the need for manual inspections in hazardous conditions.
“We’re always looking at how to make rail work safer, smarter, and more efficient,” Thomas said.
“One of the great things about the rail industry as a whole is that our customers, although competing with each other in the marketplace, when it comes to safety, there is a unified approach and a collective drive to improve the entire industry.”
Bridging the workforce gap
While technology is advancing rapidly, the industry is facing a looming human challenge: workforce availability. Australia’s vast geography, coupled with an ageing workforce, is making it harder to find skilled rail workers in the right places.
“The average age of the workforce is continuing to rise in pretty much every developed country,” Thomas said.
“Younger workers are increasingly not interested working in heavy industries like rail, so we’re working on other technologies to help rail be safer, more reliable and more efficient.”
Wabtec is developing technologies that support remote operation, including the ability to operate locomotives remotely, control yard shunting equipment, and operate trains autonomously in certain contexts.
“The idea is to improve productivity, reduce costs, and make the industry more appealing to new talent,” he said.
“People want to work with technology – and rail has a lot of it.”
Collaborating for a smarter future
A major part of Thomas’s mission in his new role is to build stronger partnerships – across industry, government, and the broader supply chain.
“I believe that we have the opportunity to work together as an industry to pick the right technology paths, optimise our collective investments, and in doing so, make rail more efficient, more sustainable and more productive,” he said.
He said his previous experience in government relations is proving useful as the industry seeks clearer policy signals and support for emerging technologies like battery-electric and hydrogen.
“We need to bring government into the tent and help them understand both the opportunities rail presents and the unique challenges it faces,” he said.
“They obviously have a big role to play, so we’ve got to work together in that respect as well.”
Wabtec is already engaging with governments around the world where they do business, to help shape the policy environment around decarbonisation and innovation.
“If left to its own devices, freight rail in Australia will actually flatline and lose share to other modes,” Thomas warned.
A new chapter begins
Just a few months into his new role, Peter Thomas is clearly energised by the challenges ahead – and the possibilities they bring.
He said rail is more than just a freight mode – it’s a critical enabler of sustainability, innovation, and future-focused careers. It’s a story, he believes, that deserves greater recognition.
He speaks candidly about the cultural adjustment of moving to Australia (including his wife’s run-in with a Huntsman spider in their Sydney apartment) and jokes about his Labrador’s epic quarantine journey.
“Bringing a dog to Australia is a whole process,” he laughed. “But we’re all settled in now. It’s been a great start.”
*All of Wabtec’s product names are trademarked and the property of Wabtec.
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