[4] In April 1965, a joint venture of Morrison-Knudsen, Mannix Contractors of Canada and McDonald Constructions of Australia was appointed to build the line[5] of 180 miles, for $15,680,000.

Until the completion of a service wharf at that location, cargo had to be brought ashore on lighters, or unloaded at Point Samson.

On 6 September 1965, the freighter Katsura Maru became the first vessel to berth at the service wharf; its cargo included the railway's first four locomotives.

[4] The original track for the Hamersley railway was 59 kg/m (119 lb/yd) rails manufactured in Japan, laid on sleepers of jarrah and wandoo timber from Western Australia with dog spike fastenings and ballasted with 15.2 cm (6 in) of crushed stone.

On 23 June 1966, the first ore train ran from Tom Price to the coast, and on 1 July 1966 the line was officially opened by the Minister for Industrial Development, Charles Court.

Engineering design and construction management for the extension was undertaken by Minenco; the contractors were a joint venture known as Morrison-Knudsen-Mannix-Oman (MKMO).

This railway originally linked the joint venture's first mine, near Pannawonica in the Robe River valley, with a pelletising plant and port at Cape Lambert.

[15] In 2004, Rio Tinto announced that Hamersley and Robe would start merging the rest of its operations under a new Pilbara Iron entity.

[1] In November 2007, the National Competition Council of Australia received an application from Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) to access part of the Hamersley railway.

[1] To operate construction trains, Hamersley Iron purchased a former Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Alco S-2 shunter (007).

To haul the iron ore trains, five Alco C-628 locomotives (2001-2005) were purchased in 1965–67, two being built in Schenectady in the United States and three by AE Goodwin in Sydney.

[30][31] Accompanying the three Class 50s on the voyage from Newcastle, was former Great Western Railway steam locomotive Pendennis Castle that had been purchased by Hamersley Iron.

Until its October 1994 withdrawal, Pendennis Castle' operated charter services on the Hamersley Iron network hauling former New South Wales Government Railways S type passenger carriages.

Rio Tinto donated the locomotive to the Great Western Society, Didcot and in April 2000 was repatriated back to England.

[36] In August 1971, Cliffs Robe River Iron Associates (CRRIA) took delivery two New South Wales 40 class locomotives (9401 & 9405) to operate construction trains.

[38] In January 1975, four 1965 built ex Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Alco C-630 locomotives (9417-9420) were delivered to CRRIA One (9417) was destroyed in an accident in February 1979, with the remaining three rebuilt by A Goninan & Co to the same specifications as the replacement 9417 in 1990/91.

[43] A decades long $1.7B project to automate the over two hundred Rio Tinto locomotives used to haul Pilbara Iron ore was completed in 2020.

[44][45] Rail depots are located at Tom Price, Cape Lambert and Dampier while the train control is based in Perth.

[1] The Pilbara Iron rail network transports ore from the following Rio Tinto-operated mines to the ports at Dampier and Cape Lambert:[46]