Australian mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) will roll out the first automated train in 2014. The company will spend $518 million that will run the world's first driverless long-distance, heavy-haul rail network.

The move is expected to help Rio address the skills shortage plaguing the resources sector and improve productivity at its Pilbara iron ore operation. However, Rio Tinto Chief Executive for Australia and Iron Ore Sam Walsh said that as Rio expands its business there would still be an overall increase in employment which would provide new job opportunities in the rail division and other units of the firm.

Mr Walsh assured employees to be directly affected by the launch of the automated trains, which is part of the firm's mine of the future plan, that there would be a gradual transition to automation over the next three years.

The plan, rolled out in 2008, includes operating 150 driverless trucks and autonomous drills. Rio runs a 1,500-kilometre rail network and operates 41 trains from the mines to the ports. It is broken down into 148 locomotives and 9,400 iron ore cars.

However, Gary Wood from the Construction, Foresty, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) expressed apprehension about the automation because it could take away jobs from drivers. He pointed out despite promises of re-skilling the workers, Rio would not need a team of drivers to operate one computer and the strong demand for workers would not shield truck and train drivers from losing their jobs when the mining boom starts to weaken.

He foresees that in the next one or two decades, there would be a significant reduction in lesser skilled job opportunities, which would force more of Rio's non-unionised workers to shift toward collective bargaining. In June 2011, the first of such shifts started when Rio inked an agreement with the CFMEU to allow train drivers in Pilbara to bargain collectively for the first time in decades.

Gary Lilleyman, president of Rio's Pilbara operations, assured employees that the use of driverless trains by the miner would not lead to widespread lay offs.

"We've got 10,500 employees (in the Pilbara) today and over the coming few years that number will grow. Some of the jobs will change, some of the roles will change but the number of people who will be employed in our business in the Pilbara in a few years time will be more than it is today," Mr Lilleyman said.

Only part of the driverless trains being manufactured by AutoHaul would run beginning 2014. The delivery of the automated trains is scheduled to be completed by 2015.

"This is not about job losses, that's not what this is about, this is about us remaining competitive," Mr Lilleyman pointed out.

"We've got a lot of growth in our business over the next few years, we'll need more people to assist us in growing our business so we've got to do whatever we can to make sure we can meet that challenge."

"There's plenty of time for us to work with our workforce, we'll be working our what's the best path forward for each and every one of them," he assured Rio's workers.

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