Freight train with no driver is one step closer to a fully-autonomous rail system

Look, it's just a hunch, but careering down long stretches of Australia's desert would be quite fatiguing. On the flipside, it'd make an ideal location to operate a driverless train system. 

It's something mining company Rio Tinto are betting on in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with its AutoHaul system — which the company claims to be world's first fully-autonomous heavy haul, long distance rail network.

One of Rio Tinto's trains has completed a near 100 kilometre pilot run without a driver on board, making it the first ever fully autonomous heavy haul train journey ever in Australia, according to a company statement. Read more...