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Rio Tinto operates first fully-autonomous freight train

Global mining company Rio Tinto has announced the successful completion of the first fully-autonomous trip on its heavy-haul network in Western Australia.

The successful driverless run took place between across a 100km stretch of line between Wombat Junction and Paraburdoo and was monitored at the company’s operations centre in Perth.

Rio Tinto is introducing driverless operations through its AutoHaul project as part of a wider programme to automate nine of its mines. AutoHaul will be fully commissioned in late 2018 as the world’s first fully automated long distance heavy-haul freight network.

We've read it in: International Railway Journal, November 2017, Page 9