More than 600 people gathered for the Rail Industry Awards Australia and New Zealand in Sydney on Wednesday, recognising the outstanding achievements of the industry in 2024-25.

The awards celebrated excellence and innovation across 16 individual and organisational categories, showcasing the people, projects and initiatives that are shaping the future of rail.

Awards Judging Chair and Australasian Railway Association (ARA) Chief Executive Officer Caroline Wilkie said this year’s nominees set incredibly high standards.

“This year’s winners represent the very best in our industry and demonstrate the incredible depth of talent we are privileged to have working in rail,” Ms Wilkie said.

“The judges were impressed by the high standard of entries and outstanding commitment to excellence on display across all categories.

“From leading rail construction projects and technology initiatives to innovative sustainability and safety approaches, our 2025 winners have confirmed that the rail industry is continuing to raise the bar each and every year.”

The awards recognised achievements in the areas of diversity and inclusion, sustainability, passenger, infrastructure, innovation, supply, customer experience, freight, signalling and systems engineering and safety.

Pilbara Rail Maintenance took out two awards, winning the Customer Service Excellence category for its work supporting Rio Tinto’s rail network, and the Safety Excellence Award for its GPS-guided smart track laying system.

The Laing O’Rourke and Public Transport Authority of WA joint venture MELconnx won the Infrastructure Project Excellence Award for its delivery of the 21km METRONET Morley-Ellenbrook Line, while Transport for NSW won the Sustainability Excellence Award for Australian-first innovation delivered on as part of the Parramatta Light Rail (Stage 1) project.

A number of individual achievements were recognised, including:

• Sydney Trains Engineering Manager, Operational Technology Christopher Go (Signalling and Systems Engineering Excellence Award – supported by IRSE)
• Alstom EHS Trainee Robert Shearer (Emerging Rail Specialist Award – supported by RTAA)
• Queensland Rail Senior Project Signalling Engineer Shou Barrett (Young Rail Professional Award – supported by RTSA)
• John Holland Senior Project Engineer Thy Pham (Young Achiever Award – supported by PWI (NSW))

The Career Achievement Award went to Ingenium Advisory Executive Consultant Mike Hickey, recognising his 56-year contribution to the rail industry.

“Mike has been at the forefront of major infrastructure projects across his career, including playing a pivotal role in preparing the rail network for the 2000 Sydney Olympics,” Ms Wilkie said.

“In addition to his own career achievements, Mike has mentored countless engineers, managed graduate and apprenticeship programs and contributed to rail education to help build the skills of the next generation of rail professionals.

“We were pleased to celebrate Mike’s extensive career and reflect on his many achievements as part of the 2025 Rail Industry Awards.”

The Awards are supported by the Australasian Railway Association, Institution of Railway Signal Engineers, Railway Technical Society of Australia, Rail Track Association Australia, Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board and the Permanent Way Institution (NSW).

Please find the full list of winners attached.

ENDS