Mining company Rio Tinto has successfully completed the first fully autonomous rail journey at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia as the company progresses toward full commissioning of the AutoHaul® project in late 2018.
The nearly 100 km pilot run was completed without a driver on board, making it the first fully autonomous heavy haul train journey ever completed in Australia. The journey was completed safely, being closely monitored in real-time by Rio Tinto teams and representatives of the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, both on the ground and at the Operations Centre in Perth.
“This successful pilot run puts us firmly on track to meet our goal of operating the world’s first fully-autonomous heavy haul, long distance rail network, which will unlock significant safety and productivity benefits for the business,” Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said.
Rio Tinto’s focus on automation technology and innovation is improving safety, is better for the environment and boosting productivity.
The AutoHaul® project is focused on automating the trains that are essential to transporting the iron ore to company’s port facilities. Trains started running in autonomous mode in the first quarter of 2017. Currently about 50 per cent of pooled fleet rail kilometres are completed in autonomous mode and 90 percent of pooled fleet production tonnes are AutoHaul® enhanced.
Rio Tinto operates about 200 locomotives on more than 1,700 km of track in the Pilbara, transporting ore from 16 mines to four port terminals.
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