Digitisation is transforming Australia’s rail network and how people work.
New roles and skills will be required as new technology is introduced; systems become more interconnected; and greater use is made of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence.
To provide a better understanding of what this means, the National Transport Commission (NTC) asked Deloitte to provide a Future Digital Skills in Rail report with a five year forecast of how digital would affect today’s rail workforce.
The report draws from comparisons with Australia's defence and aviation sectors which share commonalities with rail but are further along the digitisation journey.
The analysis predicts that by 2027:
- nearly 40% of existing rail workers will need to improve their digital proficiencies to do their job
- workers in 21 job categories including train drivers, track workers, train controllers, and ticket sellers, will need some level of digital training and digital competency.
The findings are being used to inform the NTC's ongoing Future Skills work program
Highlights of the report can be found here: