The heavy loads and high number of rail trips in a railway system cause mechanical components to eventually wear or break and electrical or electronic components to fail. Whilst periodic maintenance  is designed to minimise these failures, failures still occur.  Where maintenance is required to immediately fix failed infrastructure (e.g. replace blown lamps, adjust point machines, repair faulty rolling stock, fix failed level crossing booms, etc.) it is called reactive maintenance.

See also preventive maintenance

Reasonable adjustment refers to measures or actions taken to provide a candidates with a disability (or other limiting factor) the same educational opportunities as everyone else. To be reasonable, adjustments must be appropriate for that person, must not create undue hardship for the assessor and must be allowable within rules defined by the training package.

Reasonable adjustment activities could involve:

• modifying or providing equipment
• changing assessment procedures
• changing course delivery
• modifying premises.

The determination of 'reasonableness' requires judgement that must take into account the impact on the organisation and the need to maintain the integrity of the unit of competency.

A remote field station receives controls from (and sends indications to) a master station. Multiple remote filed stations typically make a part of a distributed interlocking system, especially in centralised traffic control systems.

See also master stations.

This is defined a failure that conforms to a "fail safe" state. As such, this kind of failure cannot lead to an unsafe situation.

An easy example to understand this requirement is a semaphore signal. Should the cable that operates the signal break or stretch, the semaphore arm will either drop to show Danger or not be able to be pulled off Danger.

The opposite to right side failure is wrong side failure.

Rolling stock is defined as any type of vehicle (locomotive, passengar car, freight car or maintenance vehicle) that runs (or rolls) on railway lines.

Recognition of Prior Learning

RPL is an assessment process that assesses the individual's non-formal and informal learning to determine the extent to which that individual has achieved the required learning outcomes, competency outcomes, or standards for entry to, and/or partial or total completion of, a qualification.

Tends to be used interchangeably with Recognition of Current Competencies.

Registered Training Organisation

An RTO is an organisation, registered in accordance with the AQTF Standards for Registered Training Organisations, to provide specific vocational education and training and/or assessment services. RTOs may include TAFE institutes, private providers, community providers, schools, higher education institutions, industry organisations and enterprises.

Across Australia, there are over 4,100 RTOs operating.

These are closely related to the principles of assessment and provide guidance to the applicant on the collection of evidence, and guidance to the assessor on the judgement of evidence. To ensure it is quality evidence, the requirements of valid, sufficient, current and authentic must be met.

• Valid means there is a clear relationship between the evidence supplied and the unit of competency.
• Sufficient means the performance criteria and evidence guide are addressed; competency over a period of time is demonstrated; all dimensions of competency are addressed; competency in different contexts is demonstrated.
• Current means that the evidence demonstrates the candidate’s current knowledge, skills and attitudes.
• Authentic means that it can be verified that the evidence is the candidate’s own work.

The track that is used to run trains between stations. Not all tracks are running lines and may be sidings, stables, etc.
 

SCADA is the acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and broadly defined is a computer system that monitors and controls a process.