In an Australian first, WA company Arc Infrastructure has unveiled a working prototype of an autonomous rail container wagon at a demonstration held for government and industry stakeholders at the Kenwick Rail Freight Facility.
Taking more than three years to develop, the wagon and its real-world application in the WA context have been named Hiivr Rail.
They were designed to suit the Westport project, the State Government’s planning program to move container trade from Fremantle to Kwinana.
The Hiivr Rail concept would see containers move directly from a vessel to a future network of intermodal freight terminals and be available to customers within hours of being unloaded from the vessel. Intermodal locations which have a constrained footprint would be unlocked by the wagon.
Hiivr Rail’s autonomous wagon leverages self-driving technology that is already being used all over the world and tailors it to the rail environment for Westport.
It will include technology which connects to logistics systems, providing safe, autonomous operations with real-time visibility of container movements.
The future Hiivr Rail fleet would be comprised of individual, battery-powered, autonomous wagons which can operate as a single wagon, or together as a fleet, reducing the number of trucks on the road as rail modal share increases.
It will have positive social and sustainability outcomes, including improved road safety through a reduction in the number of trucks on the road and zero greenhouse gas emissions, with batteries capable of being charged by 100 per cent renewable energy.
Hiivr Rail’s autonomous wagons could be assembled locally at the Bellevue Railcar Assembly Facility, leveraging WA’s existing local automation and technology capabilities, to strengthen rail manufacturing and support local job creation.
At the launch event Arc acknowledged technology partner Parallel Systems, which developed the prototype wagon for the Hiivr Rail concept: a combination of Arc’s business concept and local knowledge, with Parallel Systems’ cutting-edge technology and experience in developing electric, autonomous rail vehicles.
Arc Infrastructure Chief Executive Officer Murray Cook said it was exciting to see the concept come to life at the demonstration.
“Westport presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to design a port with capability to support emerging technologies which represent the evolution of freight transportation,” he said.
“Hiivr Rail is an exciting new concept that allows us to reimagine the freight supply chain to meet WA’s needs through the 21st century.
“Hiivr Rail has the potential to offer many benefits for WA, including emissions reduction, enhanced road safety and local rail manufacturing.”
Westport Managing Director Patrick Seares said the concept would be considered in the innovation strategy.
“Our Landside Logistics Opportunity Study from 2022 identified the autonomous wagon concept as a potential future innovation. We have now built the modelling tools to test different technologies in the supply chain and will examine autonomous rail wagons as part of the innovation strategy leading into the next stage of Westport,” he said.