Steam trains once defined the Victorian Goldfields Railway, carrying miners and goods across central Victoria. Today, those same tracks are playing host to something very different: a testing ground for the future of safe and reliable navigation.
Space and spatial experts at social enterprise, FrontierSI, have launched Australia’s first Positioning, Navigation and Timing Labs, a network of mobile ‘moving labs’ platforms designed to test and strengthen the systems that help us find our way, whether on land, sea, or in the air.
The first of these labs has been established at the Victorian Goldfields Railway, blending a heritage setting with high-tech research.
The line now gives researchers a safe and controlled environment to see how satellite navigation copes when signals are interrupted.
In December 2024, FrontierSI ran a preliminary trial at the Victorian Goldfields Railway. Four high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System receivers were mounted on two rail vehicles to map the track to one centimetre accuracy. This precisely measured path now serves as the reference benchmark for all future testing.
Castlemaine resident and FrontierSI’s Head of Product Solutions, James Leversha, said navigation technology underpinned everything from defence to aviation, transport to smartphones. Yet it is not as secure as many people might think.
“Signals from satellites are weak by the time they reach Earth, leaving them open to interference. Civilian signals are not encrypted, meaning they can be spoofed or jammed,” he said.
“PNT Labs recreates these threats in a safe and controlled way so researchers and industry partners can understand the weak points and strengthen them. The findings will provide valuable insights for sectors that depend on reliable positioning every day.”
From the steam-era tracks of Maldon and Castlemaine to the waters of Port Phillip, PNT Labs are showing how old and new can work together.
“The goal is simple but critical: to make sure that Australia is prepared if navigation systems fail,” James said.
“Our role is to bring the best people together to solve the large challenges facing Australia’s space and spatial sectors. PNT Labs will provide the knowledge needed to protect the critical technologies we rely on every day.”
Victorian Goldfields Railway and Castlemaine and Maldon Railway Preservation Society president, Rob Lee, said with the world more and more reliant on digital technologies such as GPS, it was fantastic that the team at FrontierSI were doing this research to help make it more secure and reliable for everyone.
“The Victorian Goldfields Railway is more than happy to assist with such an important effort and having our train and our railway as a conduit for their research makes us proud to be a part of it. It’s amazing to think that with over 100 years of service carrying passengers all over Victoria, our historic carriages can still be used in new and imaginative ways,” Mr Lee said.
