KARRATHA, Western Australia — Rio Tinto has fully reopened its mining railroad in Western Australia’s Pilbara region after the collision last week involving two autonomous trains, with the Australian Financial Review reporting the mining company has suspended a procedure known as “on-site override” while investigation into the incident continues.
One line of the two-track main reopened last Friday, with the second reopening Saturday. The newspaper reports that the three locomotives damaged in the collision remain at the scene and it is unclear if they can be salvaged.
“In the reviews conducted since the incident, we care confident that our signaling system, AutoHaul [the remote-operation software], and operating procedures are safe for our railway’s operation,” a Rio Tinto spokesman said. “Safety is our top priority, while the clean-up work at the site will continue at a safe distance from the track.”
The Mining and Energy Union claims that the on-side override command was sent to the wrong train in the incident, which led to a recovery train hitting a disabled train at the accident site approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Karratha. While Rio Tinto reported no one was near the accident scene at the time of the collision, the union said workers trying to repair the disabled train had to evacuate after receiving a mayday signal that a collision was about to take place [see “Autonomous ore train involved in collision …,” Trains News Wire, May 13, 2024].
The union said its members “have embraced automation, and work alongside it, but this incident highlights their legitimate concerns about the safety of its implementation.”
