Yarra Trams operated by Keolis Downer rolls out innovative new projects

Context: Enhancing safety and service quality at Yarra Trams, the world’s largest operational tram network 

The fastest growing and second-most populous city in Australia, Melbourne is home to the world’s largest operational tram network, which encompasses 250 kilometers of double track and over 1,700 stops. Operating for over 120 years, it is also one of the oldest tram networks in the world, with its origins in horse-drawn trams dating back to the 1880s.

Operated by Keolis Downer, Yarra Trams continuously seeks out innovative solutions to ensure the seamless operation and maintenance of all trams and infrastructure, which date from different eras. By working to improve safety and increase accessibility for all passengers, Keolis Downer ensures that Melbourne residents have reliable access to one of the world’s most utilized tram networks, serving over 200 million passengers annually.

Innovation: Pioneering progress on the Yarra Trams network  

Yarra Trams champions a culture of innovation, tailoring projects to meet the evolving needs of its operational teams. “Innovation Squads” are a testament to this commitment. Comprised of staff from across all units in the business , they encourage the identification and deployment of new innovations based on employees’ real-life experiences. Innovation Squads collaboratively turn good ideas into meaningful, employee-driven innovations.

Another example of this strong culture of innovation is Yarra Trams' partnership approach with major local players. To mention just a few, the many projects carried out with the University of Melbourne and Monash University clearly demonstrate the desire to experiment, brainstorm and collaborate by combining local skills and knowledge.

As part of this continuous innovation approach in Melbourne, Keolis Downer teams introduced numerous innovations in 2023. Here is a look back at some of these initiatives, focusing on five of the network’s key goals.

Ensuring access to public transport for all:

Travellers Aid partnership: To ensure accessibility during major events, Keolis Downer partners with the non-profit organisation Travellers Aid to transport passengers around works occurring on the network and from trams to major events such as the Australian Open and Formula one, using buggies, wheelchairs and personal guides to provide a seamless end-to-end customer experience.

NaviLens : Passengers with low vision often face significant challenges in navigating the tram network. Using QR codes that can be read from a great distance and wide angle, and translating into more than 30 languages, NaviLens has improved accessibility for blind, low vision and non-English speaking passengers by providing reliable real time and accessible information about tram stops, routes and timing, thereby increasing passenger confidence and safety. 

Supporting operations and operational excellence:  

The Insights Hub: Team managers often spend a significant amount of time trying to fully understand safety incidents, passenger feedback, punctuality performance and attendance of their team members. The Insight Hub integrates information from various business areas into a single platform, supporting cross-functional analysis by making data more accessible. This is a concrete application of Keolis prioritising data analysis to improve the performance of transit networks and operational excellence.  

Adapting infrastructure to environmental and climate conditions:  

Cool Seal: Temperatures during Summer are often very high in Melbourne, meaning that passengers and personnel at transport stops may experience a “heat island” effect. Cool Seal is a high-performance, water-based asphalt emulsion seal coat designed to make surface temperatures lower through its light colour and ability to reflect UV rays. It can significantly reduce the temperature at tram stops, limiting the risk of heat stress among people waiting there.  

Bird Beam: Birds roosting in tram depots can cause serious health and safety problems due to the build-up of their nesting material, feathers and droppings. Using Bird Deterrent lasers, the Bird Beam system prevents birds from entering tram depots. Offering a highly effective, long-term solution to bird roosting, boosting hygiene and safety for Yarra Trams personnel and reducing cleaning and maintenance costs. 

Remote monitoring: Developed with Kallipr, Yarra Trams have employed Captis devices that remotely capture data and send alerts if switch points on Yarra Trams network are full and not draining, allowing maintenance teams to intervene if necessary. 

Improving road safety and creating innovative systems with partners:  

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication trial: Designed in partnership with AIMES, the University of Melbourne and Lexus Australia, the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system enabled trams and vehicles to communicate in real time. The system alerted drivers of approaching trams, thus reducing the risk of collisions between vehicles and trams. This collaborative approach is highly rewarding, allowing complex technical solutions to be jointly developed and tested in real conditions.

Artificial intelligence tramway capacity tracker: Following this partnership, Yarra Trams collaborated with the University of Melbourne and the Victorian dept for Transport and Planning to create a tool that uses artificial intelligence to estimate tram patronage in real time and  forecast ridership for routes without automatic passenger counting data.

Measuring and understanding our Passengers   

Ticket non-interaction survey and model: To better understand passenger behaviour on our network, Yarra Trams teams developed a robust data analysis tool based on ticket validation data compared with counting data (maps by stop, route, date, time, zone, etc.). This approach, coupled with observational field studies, enables a deeper understanding of ticket non-interaction and makes it easier to plan ticket inspection operations. The fare evasion study went beyond traditional methods, with staff in plain clothes counting how many passengers ran away or touched on after seeing uniformed authorised officers as a means of understanding behaviour and estimating how many passengers likely did not validate a transport ticket.

Benefits: Strengthening the accessibility and safety of the Yarra Trams network 

With these innovations, Keolis Downer teams are pursuing continuous improvement across the entire Yarra Trams network in Melbourne. The benefits of these solutions range from enhancing the safety and quality of service for passengers to empowering teams to identify and implement projects.

For example, the Cool Seal solution helps mitigate urban heat while extending the lifetime of road surfaces, thereby decreasing the need for maintenance and material replacement. Tram drivers have also reported better night visibility due to the light colour of the sealant and a reduction in noise at the tram stop.

Next steps: Expanding innovative solutions across the entire Yarra Trams network  

Encouraged by the recognition of these projects at the 2023 Keolis Innovation Awards, the teams at Keolis Downer will now seek to extend these projects across the entire Yarra Trams network, allowing all staff and passengers to benefit from them.