The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) is offering six young rail scholarships collectively worth $10,200 to attend the ARA High Speed Rail Conference 2024 next month.
The ARA is providing the scholarships to eligible applicants aged 35 years and under as part of its commitment to providing opportunities to support the next generation of rail professionals to forge their careers.
ARA CEO Caroline Wilkie said the HSR conference, to be held in Sydney on Wednesday 16 October and Thursday 17 October, is an invaluable opportunity to understand the future challenges and opportunities to deliver high-speed rail in Australia.
“Australia has talked about the possibilities of high-speed rail for decades and it is very exciting to see the business case now underway for the Newcastle to Sydney link, which has the potential to connect communities to work, health and education precincts in a way never before imagined,” Wilkie said.
“High-speed rail has been a great success in countries overseas and will help Australia meet future transport needs along Australia’s busiest rail corridor by offering a faster, more efficient and environmentally friendly mode of transport.”
The ARA High Speed Rail Conference 2024 will include presentations on developing and operating high-speed rail overseas, including in the UK, UAE, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, USA, Taiwan, Spain and China.
The conference will hear from industry and government experts on subjects such as sustainability, funding models, customer experience, the economic benefit expected from the Sydney to Newcastle project and lessons learnt from other major Australian infrastructure projects.
Other speakers for the ARA High Speed Rail Conference 2024 include:
- Alice Reis, Principal – Rail, Arup
- Darren King, International Rail Advisor, WSP
- Malcolm Smith, Australasian Cities Leader, Arup
- Julien Dehornoy, Chief Executive Officer, Keolis Downer
- Jean-Philippe Lavallee, Operations and Maintenance Director, SYSTRA
- Romain Bosramiez, Market & Portfolio Director, High Speed Trains, Alstom
- Jesús Emilio Rodríguez Alonso, Talgo
- Joseph P. Schmelzeis, Director, Central Japan Railway Company
- Niko Worbanoff, Chief Executive Officer, DB Engineering
- Peter Colacino, NSW Project Strategy and Delivery Portfolio Lead, Infrastructure Strategy and Transformation Lead – Australia, Mott MacDonald
- Michael Kopp, German SME, Siemens
- Professor Christopher Pettit, Director of the City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
- Michael Jamieson, Program Director, Jacobs
- Matt McInnes, Managing Director – Asia Pacific, Lynxx
- Richard Yeo, Chief Operating Officer, NTRO • Andrew Lezala, Managing Director, Lezala Consulting
The Australian Government has committed $500 million to progress planning for a future High Speed Rail network, and allocated $78.8 million to deliver the Sydney to Newcastle High Speed Rail Business Case. The High Speed Rail Authority is due to provide the business case to the Australian Government by the end of 2024.
Applications for the HSR scholarships close on Monday 23 September 2024. For more information on how to apply and on other opportunities provided by the ARA to support young rail professionals visit the website.
View the full program for the HSR Conference here.
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