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Mining Co. Says First Autonomous Freight Train Network Fully Operational

posted by mrpg on Wednesday January 02 2019, @08:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-choo-choose-you! dept.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for takyon

Mining co. says first autonomous freight train network fully operational

On Friday, major mining corporation Rio Tinto announced that its AutoHaul autonomous train system in Western Australia had logged more than 1 million km (620,000 mi) since July 2018, S&P Global Platts reported. Rio Tinto calls its now-fully-operational autonomous train system the biggest robot in the world.

The train system serves 14 mines that deliver to four port terminals. Two mines that are closest to a port terminal will retain human engineers because they are very short lines, according to Perth Now.

The train system took ten years to build and cost Rio Tinto AUD $1.3 billion (USD $916 million) to implement. The trains are remotely monitored by a crew located 1,500 km (932 mi) away in Perth.

According to the mining company, the autonomous trains make sure the rails are clear ahead and monitor internal systems as well, checking for faulty wheels or couplers and bringing the train to a stop if there's a problem.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2019, @12:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 02 2019, @12:01PM (#780981)

    Trouble is that most journos (like most people) know next to nothing about railways. No-one who does would refer to a railway (ie the entire system, trains, track, signals, staff) as a "train system", they would call it a "railway", or "railroad" in US speak.

    The thing is that <insert name or category of publication here> writes at its readers' level of comprehension and not necessarily in the industry's nomenclature.

    Our designer (who also functions as our editor for all public facing content) reminds me of this all the time. As a programmer I naturally write content for other programmers to read rather than clients (or prospects). Our designer highlights things she feels are inaccessible to those outside of our industry so I can refine (or rewrite) them.