Editor’s Note: The FRA’s Federal Register notice for its RFI is available here. The docket of comments is available here.
From: Railway Age
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-Chief
Internationally, the only known fully autonomous freight railroad system is in Australia. The system is part of the Australia Rio Tinto mining company, and began fully autonomous train operations on an approximately 62-mile stretch of track in Western Australia. This Rio Tinto train is equipped with a variety of sensors (e.g., radar, cameras, animal collisions sensors) and with a switch to toggle between autonomous operation or operation with an operator on board.
The Federal Railroad Administration on March 29 issued an RFI (Request For Information) on “the future of automation in the railroad industry.”
“Secretary Chao is placing considerable emphasis on autonomous vehicle development, and prospective use of automation technologies across all modes of transportation,” FRA spokesperson Warren Flatau told Railway Age. “This solicitation is part of U.S. DOT efforts to advance the safe deployment of such technologies.”
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