The Queensland Rail Management Centre at Bowen Hills is one of the most advanced train control hubs in Australia, featuring a 24m control screen displaying the position and progress of every train on the network. CV was contracted by Queensland Rail to deliver one of the most critical electrical infrastructure projects in South East Queensland. Our challenge was to deliver the entire electrical works for a new control centre to manage the train network in SEQ. This required CV to maintain the existing electrical control network of 800km of track, 15,000 daily passengers and 250+ rail staff on a daily basis, while constructing the new control centre.

Key risks which were delivered successfully included numerous live rail network changeovers to maintain the system. Live power failure testing to ensure generators and UPS maintained the network. Final live commissioning of the network with 24/7 monitoring to ensure full function of the rail network.

The Electrical Construction team delivered:

• Two separate HV intakes including two RMUs and two 1500 KVA transformers
• One 1500 KVA standby generator and one 45,000 litre fuel tank providing enough fuel to run the generator 24hrs a day for 7 days
• Two 300KW UPS systems, providing 15 minutes standby to two MSBs
• Over 30 Automatic Transfer Switches downstream from Main Switch Boards
• Two Static Transfer Switches that provide seamless and synchronised transfers

Key challenges navigated on this project included:

• Ensuring minimal disruption to the existing Main Control Centre (MCC) to avoid heavy fines for delaying trains
• Changeover of power supplies to existing MCC within a very tight shut down period
• Working with multiple sources of supply and having over 30 Transfer Switches changing in the process
• Scope changes in the early stages relating to the design component
• Critical testing and commissioning procedures due to multiple suppliers