Mining and transportation company Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) recently began using Modular Mining Systems Inc.'s real-time rail-management system on its northern rail line in Brazil.
CVRD plans to use the system to monitor and dispatch more than 80 locomotives and 70 pieces of auxiliary track-maintenance equipment on a 558-mile line between its Carajas mine and Itaqui Port in Sao Luis.
The system is designed to track equipment, monitor rolling stocks' vital signs in real time, supervise all trains, and support CVRD's simulation and planning, maintenance reporting, material management and dispatching.
"The system will allow us to increase the productivity of our assets by 5 percent, reduce costs by 3 percent and increase operational safety," said Jayme Nicolato Correa, CVRD director of logistical operations, in a prepared statement.
The system, which includes a communication network designed to ensure radio coverage along an entire rail line and Global Positioning Satellite technology to monitor train position, can be expanded to include in-cab signaling and communications-based train control.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
