For more than 20 years, ARTC’s focus has been on facilitating the movement of freight across the country for the benefit of the Australian economy and Australian jobs. Never has this been so critical than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the outset of the pandemic, the freight and transport industry was deemed an essential service – a responsibility ARTC took very seriously.

With demand for predictable and reliable deliveries of freight more important than ever, our people worked around the clock to help move critical supplies across the country to keep shelves stocked and Australia’s supply chain intact.

Actively working with the Federal Government and health authorities, we developed, implemented and adhered to strict preventative measures to protect the health and safety of our people and the local communities in which we operate, while ensuring the safe operation of our rail network.

Key initiatives as part of our response to the pandemic included:

• Formation of a Pandemic Response Group and Crisis Management Team, including cross-business representation
• Creation of an information hub for staff, as well as regular updates and support of our people throughout
• Activated business continuity plans, including immediate measures to isolate critical areas such as our Network Control Centres
• Adhered to all government and health advice regarding travel restrictions, border closures, social distancing, personal hygiene practices and working from home where it was practical to do so
• Developed and implemented a Workforce Recovery Strategy to anticipate issues and scenarios and help guide return-to-workplace decision-making as government restrictions were lifted.

To further support our people, we also conducted a pulse survey to garner feedback about workplace changes in response to COVID-19. Our employees were extremely supportive of the preventative measures taken by the company to ensure people’s health and safety while continuing our network operations.