Train reporting number (Australia)

The national interstate network is managed by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), which uses a system-wide train reporting number (comprising letters and numbers) to identify trains operating on its network.[1] The train operating number is different depending on the designated part of the network on which the train is operating. These include the Interstate Network, the Heavy Haul (Hunter Valley Coal) Network, and the ARTC-managed lines within state boundaries (Intrastate Networks). Passenger trains are sometimes numbered differently. Other systems are used for specific circumstances, such as light engines, maintenance trains, or heritage trains.

There are two other rail network administrators in New South Wales: the John Holland Group for the Country Rail Network, and Sydney Trains for the metropolitan network bounded by Berowra, Emu Plains, Macarthur and Waterfall. Source for all information in this section: [2]

Weekly Notice 4/77 (25 January 1977) advised that the "Train Describer Numbering System" was to be introduced. Originally introduced for trains in the Melbourne suburban area, it was being used state-wide by 1981. It is a four-digit system, and all trains in Victoria are allocated a train number for use in the radio communications system.[4]

The following is a summary of how the system works.

Notes
1. Maroona to Portland is Up
2. Through trains sometimes retain their number, e.g.:
9080 - Geelong to Swan Hill via Tottenham
9280 - Swan Hill to Geelong via Tottenham
In this case the 2nd digit is the destination line, so for the journey before Tottenham the train has a different 2nd digit for the corridor it is running on.
3. In addition to the second digit for electric trains indicating whether it runs via the underground loop, it can also be used to work out which line the train runs on (in addition to the first digit telling you what group of lines the train is on).

4. The following special train numbers are used in certain circumstances
0000 - 0000 Movements not described
0001 - 0100 Light Locomotives
0101 - 0150 Light Locomotives to/from West Tower via Engine Flyover
0151 - 0199 Light Locomotives to/from West Tower -undescribed
0200 - 0239 Special Country Trains in suburban area (used on day-to-day basis)
0240 - 0499 Pilots in the Spencer Street Area
0500 - 0599 Light locos (in connection with metropolitan freight train movements)
0601 - 0699 Docks and shunts at out stations
0700 - 0799 City Circle (anti clockwise)
0800 - 0899 City Circle (clockwise)
0900 - 0999 Standby Trains

The Adelaide–Darwin railway and branch lines in South Australia are administered by One Rail Australia. For the Adelaide–Darwin Railway the numbering system used resembles the ARTC one, but there are differences in some of the lettering conventions.[5]

Branch lines are numbered in a manner consistent with the Victorian and NSW Intrastate train numbering systems.[1]

The Queensland Rail train numbering system, in its present format, has been in use since the late 1970s. The first version was very limited. It was mainly numeric but, for trains in the Brisbane suburban area, the letters A to F were used as the second character. Since then, the system has become the most detailed in use in Australia. For example, it even denotes what the motive power of the train is, how fast it can go, where it is going and, in the case of EMUs, how many cars long it is.

With the exception of suburban passenger traffic, all trains are given a second identification, known as a "service" number. In most cases, the service number is the last three characters of the train number, with an alpha suffix that identifies the business group to which the train belongs (e.g. Q301/301T – 'T' = Traveltrain). At present, control software does not support the use of five-character train numbers, but when complete, the service number will disappear and five-character train numbers will be introduced. Some train numbers might be 1119C, 0FB9Z, C742X, 9Y32M or M594H.

Below is a character-by-character description of the QR Train Numbering system.[6]

Notes:
1. Where the second digit is 'F' (various destinations), the fourth digit can be an odd or even number, irrespective of direction. This is usually for “trip shunts” (7F30) and work trains (0FB9).
2. In the Brisbane suburban area (BSA), if a freight train changes direction to complete its journey, the train number assigned when the train entered the BSA is retained. (e.g. 6749 Toowoomba – Acacia Ridge freight travels in the Down direction from Toowoomba to Yeerongpilly thence in the Up direction to Acacia Ridge. The odd number is retained).
3. 2800 class locomotives are “Out of Dimension of Standard Transit (ODST – outside the rollingstock gauge) which is why they have a separate train ID. Oddly enough, if a train is not hauled by a 2800 class, but has one as a vehicle in tow, then the applicable train number is used (6, 7, 8, C, D, F) and an Out-of-gauge (OOG) Authority is generated for that train.
4. Boonal loadout serves two mines. See "Third Digit" for train number differentiation.
5. With coal and BSA traffic, trains are usually numbered progressively starting from either xxx1 (Down) or xxx2 (Up) at midnight each day. For all other traffic, there is no real pattern to numbering.

• Train reporting number (UK)