Victoria’s VLocity VL80 train has been recognised at an international design awards.

The trains, made by Montreal-based global rail technology company Bombardier Transportation for the state’s V/Line, won a gold award for automative and transport products at the Good Design Australia Awards on Tuesday.

It also picked up an award for Best Interior Design.

The awards recognised enhancements to the front of the train incorporating crashworthiness and cab improvements for drivers, as well as passenger access points, access for passengers who use a mobility aid and luggage storage, Bombardier said.

It comes as good news for the government-owned corporation after the suspension on August 20 of V/Line CEO James Pinder, who is the subject of a corruption probe.

The VLocity, first introduced into service in 2005, is the fastest train in the V/Line fleet, travelling at speeds of up to 160km/h and running on the Geelong, Ballarat, Ararat, Maryborough, Bendigo, Echuca, Seymour, Traralgon and Bairnsdale lines.

Australia and New Zealand President at Bombardier Wendy McMillan said collaboration between Bombardier, the Department of Transport and V/Line had resulted in the development of a user-friendly train.

“These two awards recognise the efforts and strong collaboration between Bombardier Transportation, Department of Transport, V/Line and the participating stakeholders,” she said in a statement.

The VL80’s predecessor also received an Australian Design Award in 2005.

The current model represented “a considered evolution” of the previous train, Good Design Australian said.

Public sector services award

Meanwhile innovation and design studio Future Friendly, which designs digital services for government, has also taken home a gold award.

Future Friendly has previously worked with Services NSW to deliver a digital service to access government benefits and played a role in the creation of the digital drivers licence.

On Tuesday the company received the good design Gold Award for Public Sector Services for collaborating with the ACT Government on the Family Safety Hub, which supports frontline community workers to recognise and respond to financial abuse.

Future Friendly is also up for Good Design Team of the Year which will be announced on Friday.

Future Friendly Canberra founder Anthony McGinness said as government underwent digital transformation, it was important to keep human values at the core.

“It’s about understanding the human problem or need at the heart of the service and designing a digital solution that addresses that need, rather than simply recreating an existing service in another channel,” he told Government News.

The Good Design Awards represent a wide spectrum of design with 11 design disciplines across 28 Categories.

Gold awards are given to products, services or projects that exceed criteria for good design.

More than 830 projects were submitted for the 2020 awards.

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