News: FMG Australia's iron ore miners face train driver shortage amid COVID lockdowns, page-5

I am a retired train driver.
Last I heard, the Rio drivers were still there in the Pilbara. They have to "catch" the trains at each end of the journey. Whilst the train can run from A to B being controlled from Perth by train controllers, the shunting at each end requires a driver on board.

FMG are fortunate in having the best railway although there is still a fair turnover of drivers.

All railways in Australia face problems in that the last big influx of driver recruitment was in the late 1970s until about 1982. When the guard's position at the rear of the train was abolished, recruitment stopped as the guards got a position up front. Since then privatisation has occurred for the government railways which, like the Pilbara railways, saw poaching from other companies rife rather than serious recruitment and training efforts.

Most of the 1970s drivers, like me, are reaching retirement age. There needs to be a serious training effort put in now. That is what BHP, FMG, Rio and Roy Hill have largely avoided for the past 50 years. Every time a trainee train driver jobs is advertised, thousands apply so there is no shortage of Australians wanting to do the job.