Australia’s passenger and freight networks play a crucial role in keeping the country connected, but they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of severe weather events.
Disruptions are happening more often, lasting longer, and bringing significant repercussions – costing operators millions of dollars, damaging assets and even leading to loss of life.
But many rail operators are still relying on weather apps, the news, or even social media for their weather updates, which mean they are often working with generic, outdated or inaccurate information.
Early Warning Network (EWN), a business that provides cutting-edge weather forecasts, real-time data and climate risk analytics to safeguard organisations around the country, wants to spread the word that better options are available.
EWN has a long history of working with prominent Australian rail companies but has recently taken its offering to the next level, launching its RailAWARE package.
RailAWARE is a dedicated solution designed to help rail operators minimise disruption, protect crews, and improve resilience against extreme weather – from floods to dangerous winds to bushfires.
We spoke to Martin Katzmann, Head of Sales at EWN, to learn more.
Keeping rail moving
Since 2011, EWN has worked closely with leading rail operators such as Aurizon and UGL, helping to keep its customers’ networks safe, resilient and moving.
Katzmann said it has particular expertise in providing real-time intelligence to freight operators – however, it has recently signed a contract with Yarra Trams and is looking to expand its partnerships with passenger rail operators.
Building on its years of expertise, EWN’s RailAWARE offering brings together advanced forecasting and monitoring technologies developed specifically to address the severe weather and natural hazards that disrupt rail operations.
The package includes:
FloodAWARE: brand-new technology that provides accurate flood extent and depth forecasting, real-time monitoring and post-flood analysis.
Radar-derived rainfall: high-resolution rainfall intelligence which alerts for heavy rainfall between rainfall gauges.
Severe weather alerts for track sections: location-specific risk notifications for heat, lightning, wind et cetera.
Tropical cyclone services: detailed forecasting, monitoring and alerting for cyclone effects.
Observational rainfall gauges and culvert monitoring: on-the-ground verification of rainfall and water movement to protect network assets.
Katzmann said that where EWN excels is in closing the weather forecasting gap in parts of Australia that are not covered by ground-based radar. These are not just remote areas, but vast swathes of the country.
“If you look at a map of Australia, you can see there are massive black spots in Western Australia, where a lot of the mining operations are,” he said.
“There’s usually about 200 kilometres around a ground-based radar that we can monitor, but the ground-based radars don’t always intersect. Port Augusta in South Australia is a prime example.”
EWN is Australia’s reseller of Tomorrow.io, a space-powered predictive weather intelligence platform that is eliminating these radar blackspots.
“With Tomorrow.io, we can provide hyperlocal predictions for rainfall, wind temperature and storm impacts across specific rail corridors,” Katzmann said.
“It includes tools to model ‘what if’ weather scenarios and address potential impacts on rail schedules and infrastructure, as well as dynamic monitoring, with continuous updates as conditions evolve, turning forecasts into actionable decisions for operators.”
The cost of not being prepared
According to Katzmann, the biggest hazard operators need to be concerned about is heavy rain.
“The most important hazard for rail operators to monitor is rainfall, to start with, and then the subsequent flooding,” he said.
“Whether that is flash flooding or riverine flooding, they are equally dangerous.
“As soon as the culverts are overwhelmed, that’s when buckling occurs or there is a risk of the rail track being inundated.”
He said wind is another major risk factor, especially when it comes to double stacking.
“If operators double stack and they don’t know what wind is forecast, they are at high risk of toppling over,” he said. “If there are strong, convective winds affecting their network, they can’t drive the trains.”
He gave an example of an operator loading coal in Darwin for a four-day journey to Adelaide.
“They need to know which wind or rainfall is going to impact them on that four-day journey,” he said.
“So, we need to forecast up to seven days in advance for them, because if they load in Darwin and then there’s strong convective winds or intense rainfall affecting them near Tarcoola or south of Alice Springs, they have to stop the train.
“The cost of stopping the train has a massive impact.”
The financial consequences of operators being inadequately prepared for severe weather events don’t stop there.
As an example, in New South Wales alone, rail disruptions can cost up to $392 million a year in cancelled deliveries, shortages and repairs.
“When you consider that hundreds of millions of dollars can be lost, investing in severe weather risk mitigation is like a little drop on a hot stone,” Katzmann said.
Another benefit of investing in EWN’s services is maintaining supply chains to remote communities.
“If we’re talking about the line between Darwin and Adelaide, freight rail is the main way communities receive goods,” he said.
“If the trains can’t run, those communities are majorly impacted.”
But the most serious risk that comes from operators working with outdated or inaccurate weather information is the risk to the lives of passengers and crews.
Katzmann said that many of the derailments that have happened in Australia in recent years – several of which sadly led to crew and passengers being injured or killed – could have been avoided with operations-specific alerts that enabled them to anticipate risks and act early to protect both their assets and their people.
“When EWN started out as a business, it was all about protecting lives,” Katzmann said.
“We still offer free alerting functionality to State Emergency Service volunteers.
“Loss of life is the highest cost there is, and that’s our main focus.”
Preparing for the future
With Australia’s changing climate conditions increasing the risks to rail network resilience, Katzmann said it’s never been a better time for operators to invest in weather intelligence.
“On the East Coast, rainfall and flood events will most likely increase in frequency, while in the central part of Australia, we might be looking at bushfires and drought impacts,” he said.
“We want rail operators to be aware of what technology is out there, because whoever doesn’t jump on board is going to be left behind.”
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