Rio Tinto Autonomous Train

David Rayner
David Rayner
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Published 2019-12-22
Rio Tinto Iron Ore Trains have been running unmanned since around October 2018. There are many driverless trains around the world but except for these, they are suburban or metro trains like the Singapore MRT. Rio Tinto in Western Australia was the first company to run freighters (and very big ones - 2.3 kms long and 33,000 tons) unmanned. The trains are not driven by remote control, that is by someone watching a monitor from a camera on the front of the loco and driving the train as if he were in the cab, but rather by a computer program that is already in place. The train controller sets the route as he's always done, sends the 'start' command to the train, and then leaves it to run by itself with the program throttling up and down, applying and releasing the brakes, etc. according to the track profile and the signals the controller has set. Eg; If the controller wants the train to stop at a certain signal, he'll put that signal to red and the train will stop there by itself with no input from the controller. When he wants it to move again, he'll put the signal to green and the train will move off with no input from the controller. I say 'signals' but there are no track-side signals. The entire system has ATP and the signals are in the track. Before AutoHaul (or 'RoboTrain' as I call it) they were displayed on the driver's screen.

Here, I set one up to depart the Cape Lambert yard in December 2019. The whole procedure takes around 30 minutes and would bore you to tears so I start the video at the final four or five steps. I explain what I'm doing but when I leave the cab, the wind noise is quite loud although there was barely a breeze blowing, but the camera's mic makes it sound like a hurricane so I'll tell you what I'm saying here.

When I'm on the ground, I say "the only thing left to do now is throw this switch from 'disabled' to 'enabled' which allows the train controller to take control of the train". In the car, my call sign is ML25 and I ask for a PFM which is 'prepare for mission'. That's telling the controller that the train is fully set up, I'm clear of it, and he can send it on its way at his leisure (although it's almost always right away). Out of the car to film the departure, I say "the bells will ring, the horn will sound, and the train will move off by itself. I don't know where it's going (we have a dozen mines from 250 kms to 500 kms from here) but let's say it goes to the furthest one out, it'll go 500 kms empty, load itself, and come 500 kms back with no one in the cab".
All Comments (21)
  • @AustNRail
    Lock picking lawyer: click on 1, binding on two, good click on 3, 4’s good back to 2 click, now we have control of a locomotive
  • @cleenlivin
    Very cool and interesting stuff. The part that outlines the evolution from the locomotive going from engineer to fill driverless was really interesting.
  • @donhunking2286
    Boy I can hear the bean counters on the many railroad executive boards figuring how many crews they can eliminate with the many possibilities of this system .
  • @damienmilk3025
    Thanks for the video, I lived and worked in the Pilbara and Kimberley for about 15 years, and yes, contracted to the "companies" and I totally understand (having read ALL of the comments" your feelings towards said companies. Good luck in retirement.
  • @davidrayner9832
    There is an impact sensor on the front of all locos. If an impact is detected, it doesn't stop the train but sends an alert to train control who then review the footage from the train's camera. He will then stop the train if necessary. The whole area is in pastoral country and it'll be more than likely a cow. We hit them like there's no tomorrow. There are also many level crossings but I've never heard of a car being hit although that doesn't mean it'll never happen.
  • @TimsBitsnPieces
    Wow this is awesome.. from 6:00 to 6:10 you can see the brake arms moving on the engine just before it starts moving off.
  • @PneumaticFrog
    They first started these around 1994 in rio tinto, hoping to get hired to do this as a job, would love it
  • @Trans601
    Thanks for the video mate. Hope retirement is treating you well.
  • @chillimocha
    This is awesome and very fascinating for me. I live in Perth and one of these days I want to get up north to the Pilbara and take some photos and videos of these amazing trains.
  • @scotabot7826
    And in a derailment, I want to see the autonomous workers and equipment come fix that mess! LOL
  • @jonathanbarker71
    Union Pacific, Amtrak, BNSF Railway and CSX, Norfolk Southern is getting self driving autonomous Train in USA
  • @pennsyr1
    Intriguing stuff. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing the setup process from start to finish, but then I'm a glutton for railway technical matters. Thanks for sharing.
  • @PFCK96
    I love cape tower. The guy on the radio sounds hot AF
  • @jonfromstearns
    Very interesting and informative. I’m a volunteer engineer (driver) in the southeast part of Kentucky on a tourist railway. We run pre WW2 Alco S2s and post war EMD SW1200s. I enjoy my hobby immensely. I highly doubt you’ll see this in the US because we’re more populated than Australia. I’ve always wanted to come to the Land Down Under and railfan. I’m guessing your locomotive speedometers or set up in km/h instead of mph? We have dual speed gauges on our engines here: imperial and metric. I drive a tractor trailer for my actual job and my dashboard is set for US imperial units with metric below the imperial.
  • @bobbyglendinning2406
    Very interesting, thanks for posting. Are the dash9s equipped with the auto haul technology or only the es44DC/ACi locomotives?
  • @qornopiratu
    Thanks a lot for making this video! Its a very interesting perspective into the operations of these trains. Too bad the concepts developed here arent applicable to other railways, as most will have to make sure not to cause human damage. What I wonder is how the train knows what actions to do when? Is the route programmed in advance and it knows to eg. accelerate at hills, brake when coming down or does it do something"smart"?