Rio Tinto has announced receiving accreditation from Australia's Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator, allowing the mining giant to operate its autonomous fleet of trains at its iron ore business in Western Australia.
The AutoHaul project -- a train comprised of 244 cars stretching a total of 2kms -- is currently slated for completion by the end of this year.
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Once commissioned and a "phased deployment" has occurred, Rio Tinto said its network will be the world's first heavy haul, long distance autonomous rail operation, touted as providing safety and productivity benefits for the business.
The AutoHaul project is focused on automating trains transporting iron ore to Rio Tinto's port facilities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Rio Tinto estimates its Pilbara shipments for 2018 will sit between 330 million and 340 million tonnes.
At the end of the first quarter of 2018, approximately 65 percent of all train kilometres were completed in autonomous mode, Rio Tinto said.
Trains started running in autonomous mode with a driver on-board monitoring operations in the first quarter of 2017. In October, the company then claimed to have conducted the country's first autonomous long haul train journey[3].
Rio