Diversified-miner Rio Tinto will invest $371-million to automate its iron-ore railways in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the group, which is defending itself against an unsolicited offer from rival BHP Billiton, said on Monday.

Within five years, driverless trains would be operating on most of the 1 300 km of track that serves the Pilbara operations, which would help the company to lift annual iron ore production to 320-million tons in 2012.

“This innovation will allow us to deliver more tonnes faster, to meet the continuing surge in demand for iron-ore from China and other emerging economies,” CEO Tom Albanese said in a statement.

The initiative would be the first time that automation had been used in a heavy haul railway of this scale, though the technology operated successfully on several metropolitan passenger railways worldwide, Rio Tinto said.

The driverless train roll-out formed part of a wider project to upgrade the rail network, including the introduction of 40 new-generation locomotives, extensive re-railing and a substantial reinvestment in rolling stock, including the purchase of 2 400 new ore cars over 18 months.

“Automated operations will integrate with the existing train management system and will bring efficiency gains through greater scheduling flexibility and the removal of delays,” Rio Tinto said.

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