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Rail safety accreditation

The TMSV is accredited under Victorian State Government legislation as a Manager and Operator of Rail Infrastructure and a Provider of Rolling Stock. The nature of this legislation is based on industry self-regulation, and has required the TMSV to commit to managing its rail operation in line with a series of well-documented safety systems.

Our mission is to ensure the preservation of Victoria’s urban tramway heritage for current and future generations. In order to present the most authentic historical picture possible, this includes the operation of a working electric tramway according to historic principles.

However, the TMSV has an obligation to comply with existing legislative requirements.

Therefore, historic practices will be used in so far as they comply with current legislation. Where there is conflict with such legislation, these historic practices will be amended or replaced with procedures that do comply. In addition, other practices may be used in order to increase the level of safety of operation, such as the use of mobile telephones.

We undergo regular safety audits from the Technical Services Branch of the Department of Infrastructure to check compliance with both our own procedures, together with Department of Infrastructure requirements.

The effort in maintaining our accreditation is a significant burden on our staff, who are all voluntary, but it is worthwhile not only in order to comply with legislative requirements, but also in ensuring a higher quality of service on our normal operations.

Among the many and varied areas that are covered by our safety systems are:

• operation of electric tramcars
• maintenance requirements
• rail safeworking procedures
• staff roles & responsibilities
• staff competency requirements
• medical service standards

The major thrust behind the commitment of the TMSV to rail safety is to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for our customers and our staff, as we have a primary duty of care to both whilst they are visiting or working at our museum.