A four-year program to introduce automation into its rail fleet is coming to fruition for rail freight company Aurizon.
In its first half 2024 results [pdf], the company provided updates on two automation projects, TrainGuard and TrainHealth.
TrainGuard has been in the works since at least 2020, and in 2021 the company signed an agreement with Siemens to provide the system.
It’s based on the European train control system (ETCS), a signalling system that relays information between the train and a central management centre over a radio system, reporting the position, direction, and speed of each train so the system can calculate safe maximum operation speeds.
ETCS can also apply a train’s brakes if necessary.
The Siemens system has been deployed over Aurizon’s existing TETRA radio network.
In its financial results, Aurizon said TrainGuard is a “pathway to expanding our driver-only operations in Central Queensland”.
TrainGuard has been in operation since December 2022 on the Blackwater line between Callemondah, south of Yeppoon, and Bluff, east of Emerald.
Aurizon said its second deployment in the Goonyella main line – from the Bowen Basin to the Dalrymple Bay coal terminal south of Mackay – is now nearing completion.
The first operational service will start at the end of the third quarter in the 2024 financial year, with driver-only operation to ramp up during 2025.
The TrainHealth initiative, meanwhile, provides performance and utilisation monitoring in real time.
The company said it has been implemented on its Siemens electric and EMD diesel fleets, and is operational on its GE fleet in NSW.
“The bulk business unit in Western Australia is also leveraging the benefits of TrainHealth with the AC 6000 class equivalent fleet installation completed,” the company’s report said.
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