The Railway Planning and Operations Program aims to cover the following topics:

Management & business planning

• Objectives, efficiency, market positioning

Macro-economics

• Underlying economic drivers, cyclical issues, externalities: road v rail, operational factors driving profitability

Micro-economics

• Generalised cost, value of time saved, elasticities, fares policy implications

Railway Structure & Ownership

• Railway privatisation, fragmentation, franchising, funding, failure of Railtrack

Rail freight

• Understanding trends, cost structures, and different types of operation

Safety & Signalling

• Historical development through to automatic systems, accident analysis, risk management

Infrastructure design

• Line capacity, train graphs, impact of different numbers of tracks, junction & station layouts
• Case study: Fen Line, England

Timetabling & rostering

• Appropriate frequencies, conflicting requirements, practical applications, regularity & basic interval timetabling, inter-working, number of trains required, trade-offs with punctuality, staff rostering

Assignments will focus your knowledge and learnings on generalised costs, train graphs and train requirements.

Fees for the next course are to be confirmed.

All fees are inclusive of GST and include a copy of the text book An Introduction to Railway Operations Planning, Nigel Harris et al, access to learning material through our e-learning site Canvas and catering (lunch).

Next course dates are to be confirmed. 

Please email business.itls@sydney.edu.au to be added to our expression of interest list.

• "The course was one of the most beneficial activities I have ever completed by allowing me to compare my background with what occurs elsewhere in the world. It was great to hear from someone with as much knowledge and interest in train operations as Nigel. Highly recommended to anyone involved in the industry or has an interest in learning more."  
  
• "We talked about integration and communicating with other areas of the rail system. Neil was an engaging and passionate presenter who made dry technical topics interesting"  
  
• "I loved this course and learning from Nigel's vast experience! Even chatting with him informally at lunch I got to learn a lot.  It was fantastic to learn about different aspects of the railway and broaden my horizons. It showed me that the industry is very broad and that there's so much you could do in it. In terms of the course itself, very well taught, and very clear."