Downer recognised for its contributions to the rail industry

05/09/2023

For the 2023 Australasian Rail Industry Awards, Downer is recognised four times as a finalist.

Downer is proud to announce that we have been recognised four times as a finalist the 2023 Australasian Rail Industry Awards, with the winners to be announced next month (September 2023). Well done to our nominees:

• Jason Zhou, finalist for Young Rail Professional of the Year, who is developing a world first robotic technology
• Our East Preston Tram Refurbishment Project—the world’s largest of its kind—finalist for Employee Engagement Excellence Award, for engaging with colleagues to improve safety and see cost efficiencies
• Shayne Carvolth, finalist for Safety Excellence Award – Industry Safety Professional of the Year. Shayne was automatically put forward after winning Safety Professional of the Year at the RISSB Rail Safety Awards.
• Downer as part of Link Alliance, finalist for the Sustainability & Environmental Excellence Award. This project is New Zealand’s most complex and ambitious infrastructure project to date and has successfully embraced several sustainability initiatives at all levels of this major project, leading to a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

Read more below about the individual nominations. And we congratulate all finalists and look forward to the outcome.

Jason Zhou finalist for Young Rail Professional of the Year

Jason is a Technology Strategy Engineer who began his career in rail only four years ago, and today, he is leading, developing and integrating new technology as the Project Manager for the world’s first floor and surface autonomous train cleaning robot. 

Image: Simulation Testing of Cleaning Robot 

Image: Jason Zhou 

East Preston finalist for Employee Engagement Excellence Award

Our East Preston site undertakes the world’s largest tram refurbishment project and their nomination centres around an employee engagement initiative which has increased their safety results and improved their cost efficiencies.

The team were able to achieve these results by simply -- asking colleagues across the site to not only put forward their concerns, but also the solutions. Such a simple, but effective idea.

Image: The East Preston team standing by a newly refurbished tram.

Shayne Carvolth finalist for Safety Excellence Award – Industry Safety Professional of the Year  

Shayne Carvolth, our dedicated Zero Harm Manager in Queensland, has been recognised as the Safety Professional of the Year at the RISSB Rail Safety Awards in May 2023. This achievement automatically makes him a finalist for the ARI Awards Safety Excellence Award.

With an impressive 35-year journey at Downer, Shayne's career began as an apprentice boilermaker at our Maryborough site. As a Zero Harm leader in our business, Shayne has helped the business achieve over 1,500 Lost Time Injury  free days at Maryborough, implement Zero Harm bingo, roll out the welcome back toolbox talk, managed school visits for Rail Safety Week and implemented Shayne’s Safety Selfie. 

Shayne (right) accepting his award for Safety Professional of the Year at the RISSB Rail Safety Awards in May 2023.

Link Alliance finalist for Sustainability & Environment Excellence

Link Alliance is a consortium of seven companies, including Downer, that have come together to build the main stations, tunnels and rail systems for Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL). It is a finalist in this year’s Australasian Rail Industry awards for its efforts to build the CRL as sustainably as possible. 

The CRL will double Auckland’s rail capacity and is being built to last 100 years. It includes design and construction of two new underground stations (Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape), redeveloping existing Maungawhau Station, retrofitting Waitematā Station (Britomart), and rebuilding a section of the existing Western Line. 

Its efforts to incorporate sustainability include using 3D BIM modelling to track the projected carbon footprint as the design was developed, design changes to reduce mined tunnelling by up to 45 per cent, replacing 21 per cent of cement with fly ash in concrete mix designs, using a social benefit and sustainability weighting when procuring materials, and its efforts to create career opportunities for those often disadvantaged in the workforce.