REGISTER

Barry Taylor and Henk van der Merwe

Rio Tinto

In the past 10 years, throughput on Rio Tinto's iron ore railways in the Pilbara has more than doubled. To address this rapid increase in traffic, the Integrated Control Signalling System (ICSS) with Automatic Train Protection (ATP) and in-cab signals that was introduced on the Hamersley Iron main line in 1998 now covers all main lines. This provides drivers with information on their route many kilometres ahead, with the confidence that their speed and authority limit will be supervised by ATP.

On most railways, movement authority information and protection afforded to rail mounted maintenance equipment falls well below this standard. This wide gap in the level of protection for different types of movements had become unacceptable. Therefore, Rio Tinto has recently upgraded its Train Control System to improve the protection for hi-rail (road/rail) vehicles and track maintenance equipment moving on the main line. While this has not yet achieved an equivalent standard of protection as for main line trains, it is a significant advance from previous practice. This paper examines the various steps involved in the development of this project, improvements that were found necessary along the way, and opportunities for further enhancements to provide a safe working environment for operators of track maintenance and inspection equipment.