Rio Tintos plan for driverless trains now...

[Jim Goose]

In a move which will lead to less people actually being employed Rio Tinto now plans to automate its trains..... They already have automated mine dump trucks.... and plan to have a fully automated minesite.

As yes the great Australian mining boom.......

RIO Tinto is to splash out half a billion dollars on driverless, high-tech trains that in two years will be hauling iron ore to port as part of a futuristic move that could lead towards a completely automated mine.

The AutoHaul train project will be controlled in Perth ,some 1500km away from the company's Pilbara iron ore mines in Western Australia.

The project will displace as many as 500 train drivers from their jobs.

The plan, which forms part of Rio Tinto's so-called mine of the future plan, was launched in 2008 and includes 150 driverless trucks - some of which are already operating - and autonomous drills.

Rio Tinto chief executive Australia and Iron Ore Sam Walsh said automated trains and trucks would help the resources giant address the significant skills shortage facing the industry and improve productivity at its Pilbara iron ore operation.

"However, as we expand our business we will see an overall increase in job numbers and this will provide new opportunities in the rail division and elsewhere," Mr Walsh said.


"As always, we will engage directly with those affected as we gradually make the transition to automation over the next three years."

Trains on the world's first fully automated, heavy-haul rail network, which will cost $US518 million ($481.86 million) to implement, will begin their progressive rollout in WA in 2014.

The remainder of the AutoHaul trains are due to be completed a year later.

The development brings closer what would have been considered a futuristic, science fiction fantasy until recently: a completely automated mine.

Mining equipment business WesTrac's chief executive Jim Walker said last year the next stage in the future of mining technology was such a mine.

However, those affected by the development include as many as 500 Pilbara train drivers.

A train driver agreement with the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union ends in 2014 when the trains will start being rolled out.

Rio Tinto says it has a 1500km rail network in WA and runs 41 trains from mines to ports.

It says the introduction of driverless trains will enable it to expand its Pilbara production capacity without the need for a substantial investment in extra trains.

Rio Tinto also says the removal of the need for diver changeover times will lead to more flexible train schedules, thus helping the company achieve increased capacity.

City Index chief market analyst Peter Esho said the announcement was significant as it would reduce operating costs and insulate profits even if the iron ore price does come down.

Rio shares closed up $1.47, or 2.21 per cent, at $68.04.

A Rio Tinto-commissioned report by Canberra-based economics consultancy BAEconomics, released in February, shows the costs of automation in the mining sector are substantial but that benefits such as removing worker exposure to hazardous mining environments make it worthwhile.

The oil and gas sector has also been making similar technological breakthroughs, with Woodside Petroleum remotely operating gas production platforms off Western Australia's Pilbara coast.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/bre...-1226276266766

There are plans also (not by Rio) to run automated B-Doubles from a NSW port to a distribution center warehouse in the not to distant future.

[MAD]

Technology will always appear in every industry.
Cars used to be put together with hand held spot welders.

Manual labour will be replaced wherever, and whenever, possible.

[Ben73]

Been driverless trains for years now in certain places.
Too many variables on the track for a computer to navigate

[2011G6E]

I'd love to see them try to work that out here..."hey, that idiot car driver went across the road crossing in front of us instead of obeying the boom gates and flashing lights! Hit the brakes!"..."Those kids riding trail bikes in the bush up ahead are a bit close to the tracks, better sound the horn and give them a warning we're coming"..."Whoa...that clay hole at the 180km mark is starting to develop a bit of a good kick when we hit it at 70kph...better tell control to put a verbal speed restriction of 40kph until they can get out and put speed boards up"...and that kind of thing.

Not exactly sure how the workers are "exposed to the mining environment"...we sit in a nice air conditioned cabin sealed up against the coal dust and crap outside...

Automation has it's place...but not in an environment where continual vigilance and changing circumstances moment to moment can make things "interesting" to say the least...

I'd heard that on suburban lines in some places in Japan they have "driverless trains", but funnily enough they have to employ a guy in a uniform to sit up front in the cabin because no one would get on board a fully automated train with no human there to step in if something went wrong...