How do you manage heavy freight traffic on a 180 km single-track railway – in extreme desert heat, with no fixed timetable and only a handful of repeaters? Ferronor found the answer in RACOM’s MR160.
https//www.racom.eu/eng/case/ftrain-management-across-the-atacama-desert-in-chile
Challenge: Reliable Train Coordination in One of the Harshest Environments on Earth
Ferronor operates over 1,800 km of private freight railways across Northern Chile. The busiest corridor runs from an iron-ore mine through the remote Atacama Desert to a Pacific port – an area known for:
- Temperatures exceeding +50 °C
- Vast, unpopulated terrain
- Zero local infrastructure
- Long distances with no line-of-sight continuity
With rising production, manual coordination of trains on the 180 km single-track line became impossible. Ferronor needed an automated train-management system that would:
- Track locomotive positions in real time
- Securely manage desolate crossing zones
- Support non-fixed itineraries of mining convoys
- Provide reliable communication between conductors and the central control room
- Operate under extreme climatic conditions
Solution: MR160 Radio Modems with Integrated GPS and Mobile Roaming Protocol
After extensive evaluation, Ferronor selected RACOM MR160 radio modems, integrated with GPS, as the backbone of the new train-management system.
Why MR160 matched the requirements:
- Integrated GPS for continuous locomotive tracking
- Mobile roaming protocol enabling automatic handover between base stations
- Multiple Ethernet and serial interfaces for parallel applications
- Rugged design suitable for +50 °C desert operation
- Flexible architecture capable of acting as mobile unit, repeater or base station
Only three repeaters were needed along the 180 km route. Placed at dominant high points, they provided complete coverage in the 160 MHz band, thanks to MR160’s excellent propagation characteristics.
Network design
- Frequency A: Locomotive ↔ repeater ↔ main base station
- Frequency B: Main base station ↔ control centre
This two-frequency setup ensured high reliability and optimal airtime utilisation.
Results: Safe, Automated Train Control Across Remote Desert Tracks
The MR160-based system delivers several critical capabilities:
- Transparent switching of communication routes through repeaters
- Real-time position information for conductors
- Alerts on approaching trains and passing points
- Text-message communication with dispatchers
- Seamless management of non-fixed mining-convoy itineraries
- Integration of proprietary rail-automation applications
Ferronor emphasised that RACOM’s support was fundamental to the project’s success – including assistance with modem selection, repeater placement, MR160 configuration and remote validation.
Thanks to its success, the system has been replicated in another region of Northern Chile, improving:
- Personnel safety
- Protection of rolling stock
- Efficiency and coordination of freight operations
MR160 now forms the communication backbone for one of the most demanding rail environments in the world.
