Rio Tinto has successfully completed the first fully autonomous rail journey at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara.
The company has been running trains in autonomous mode (with a driver on board) since the first quarter of 2017. This run of nearly 100 km from Wombat Junction to Paraburdoo was the first completed without a driver on board and is the next step on the road to full commissioning of its AutoHaul project in late 2018 once all relevant safety and acceptance criteria have been met and regulatory approvals obtained.
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," said Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury.
“Gains from AutoHaul are already being realised including reduced variability and increased speed across the network, helping to reduce average cycle times. Rio Tinto is proud to be a leader in innovation and autonomous technology in the global mining industry which is delivering long-term competitive advantages as we build the mines of the future. New roles are being created to manage our future operations and we are preparing our current workforce for new ways of working to ensure they remain part of our industry.”
Rio Tinto operates about 200 locomotives on more than 1,700 kilometres of track in the Pilbara, transporting ore from 16 mines to four port terminals. Currently about 50 per cent of pooled fleet rail kilometres are completed in autonomous mode (with drivers on-board) and 90 percent of pooled fleet production tonnes are AutoHaul enhanced.
[Rio Tinto staff with the fully driverless train. Photo: Rio Tinto]