American Railways Chug Toward Automation
American Railways Chug Toward Automation
U.S. rail-freight companies say automating tasks once
handled by crew will create fluid networks more akin to a model train set
A train loaded with iron ore travels in 2011 toward a Rio
Tinto facility in western Australia. PHOTO: DANIEL MUNOZ/REUTERS
By Rhiannon Hoyle Jan. 19, 2019 8:00 a.m. ET
SYDNEY—Mining giant Rio Tinto RIO% PLC calls it the
world’s largest robot: mile-long driverless trains traversing the sparsely
populated Australian Outback on roughly 1,000 miles of track. American railroad
companies, seeking to boost network efficiencies, call it the future.
U.S. rail-freight operators say greater automation will
make their networks safer and more productive. They point to railroads owned by
Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto as a blueprint for the 140,000-mile private
U.S. network that moves vast quantities of everything from cars to corn.
A decade in the making, Rio Tinto’s driverless train
system, called AutoHaul, now manages roughly 200 locomotives that move iron ore
from inland mines to coastal ports in Western Australia. The trains are
operated hundreds of miles away, in an office block in Perth.
Rio Tinto’s network, which began formally operating in
driverless mode late last month, is the first fully autonomous, long-haul
freight railroad. Rail-company executives from countries including the U.S. and
Canada have visited to see the technology in action, said Ivan Vella, Rio
Tinto’s head of iron-ore rail services.
American companies say automating tasks once handled by
crew will create fluid networks more akin to a model train set. Around 5
million tons of goods are moved daily on the U.S. network, which freight
operators share with passenger trains, generating more than $70 billion in
revenue annually.
Drivers have variable skills, so a generous distance is
kept between trains. In doing so, companies sacrifice valuable rail capacity.
Also, the different ways that drivers run locomotives lead to inconsistent
wear-and-tear and fuel use, while human error accounts for more than one-third
of accidents, according to the Association of American Railroads, an industry
trade group.
Last November, miner BHP Group Ltd. was forced to derail
a 268-wagon runaway train in Australia’s Pilbara region, the origin of half the
world’s iron-ore exports. The train rolled away after its driver disembarked to
inspect a wagon and failed to secure the brake.
Labor unions and some lawmakers worry about risks to
public safety, cyber threats and job cuts from increased automation.
Rail-freight companies have typically offered some of the nation’s best-paid
jobs, with an average annual salary of more than $125,000, said the AAR, which
represents most major railroads. The country’s biggest Class I railroads
employed roughly 147,000 people in 2017.
“Americans want a rail network and a transportation
system that serves the people, not one that simply makes money for stockholders
by eliminating good jobs and quality rail service,” Railroad Workers United, a
coalition of unions, said in a statement submitted last year to the Federal
Railroad Administration, which was seeking comments on the future of automation
in the industry. RWU opposes crews of fewer than two people.
Reaching a consensus among companies, unions and
regulators on how many drivers, if any, should remain on board will likely take
a long time, said CSX Corp. Chief Executive James Foote.
U.S. rail-freight operators, whose trains are typically
staffed by a conductor and engineer, say the goal isn’t to do away with drivers
immediately. They contend there are many steps to reach the sort of driverless
network Rio Tinto has created, although a shift toward more one-person crews is
anticipated as new technologies are implemented.
“The lack of certainty makes investments in technology
and innovation cautious endeavors that result in small gains, not leaps
forward,” the AAR said in a filing to the Federal Railroad Administration last
month.
Today, efforts to advance automation are being held back
by regulations that haven’t kept pace with technological change, executives
say. They fear falling behind as vehicle makers develop self-driving cars and
autonomous trucks.
The Transportation Department released guidelines on
autonomous vehicles in October, but didn’t address autonomous trains in detail.
Existing regulations typically dictate that tasks such as
track inspections be conducted by people. Operators say this could be done
better using an automated system.
The AAR has urged transport officials to grant waivers on
what it says are outdated rules and allow railroads and manufacturers to create
voluntary standards for safety technology, where possible. The Federal Railroad
Administration was unable to comment because of the continuing government
shutdown.
The 200-year-old industry has spent most of the past
decade developing positive train control technology, designed to automatically
stop a train to prevent collisions. That system, which uses GPS information and
track data, has created a platform to operate trains more independently.
“The Rio Tinto example clearly shows the technology is
here,” said John Scheib, chief legal officer at Norfolk Southern Corp. “It
shows that our regulator needs to move more quickly to open the doors to such
technologies,” he said.
Rio Tinto’s trains complete an average return journey of
500 miles in 40 hours. Previously, the miner had to shuttle nearly 100 drivers
around these scrubby outlands to switch train drivers three times for each
journey. That totaled almost a million miles a year and the changeovers added
more than an hour to each return train trip.
Today, a train controller at its Perth operations center
sets the route, then computers both at the center and on-board take over to
make decisions. Before the system was set up, the miner faced repeated
setbacks. The project ran three years late and to almost double the original
budget.
“What AutoHaul does,” though, “is drive it better than
the best driver, every time,” Mr. Vella said.
Of course, there are many people in Australia “who love
driving trains [and] they are disappointed they don’t get to drive trains
anymore,” he said. “We are trying to give them alternatives.”
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