Parallel Systems has advanced its autonomous battery-electric railcar program from an initial two-mile demonstration to a broader second testing phase on Genesee & Wyoming short lines in Georgia.
The operational milestone comes as part of the company’s effort to establish a lower-cost rail alternative for short-haul container freight.
The Los Angeles-based company completed the first phase of its Federal Railroad Administration-approved test program on a two-mile segment of G&W’s Heart of Georgia Railroad, then began a second phase over 30 miles between Vidalia and an area east of Helena, Georgia. The second-phase territory includes 43 public grade crossings, protected by flaggers during the tests.
“This phase introduces a major unlock: Remote supervision as opposed to line-of-sight supervision in the field, opening the door to centralized operations across rail networks,” the company said on social media. “We’re also significantly extending the distance of our automated runs, while expanding operations across more complex infrastructure, including diamond crossings.”
Parallel’s self-propelled vehicles are designed to carry containers individually or operate in digital platoons, a model intended to give railroads an economic way to pursue smaller-volume and shorter-distance freight lanes that are generally served by trucks.
Rival Intramotev has already put its autonomous railcar systems in commercial service, with a mining operation in Pennsylvania, and with short line operator R.J. Corman.
Seven-stage program
Georgia is the first U.S. commercial pilot for Parallel’s technology, but it remains a testing and approval program rather than unrestricted freight service.
The program is structured in seven phases across a 160-mile corridor on the two G&W lines. Each phase is intended to increase operating complexity, and FRA must determine that a phase has met its requirements before the participants can proceed to the next one, Trains reported earlier.
The approved territory extends from near Cordele, Ga., on the Heart of Georgia Railroad eastward through Vidalia and onward on Georgia Central toward Pooler, near the Port of Savannah. FRA said the program is intended to evaluate the technology and its operational approach for short-haul container movements.
The company reportedly said in 2025 it had a backlog exceeding 300 vehicles and expected initial commercial operations in 2026, subject to test outcomes and regulatory approval.
Parallel closed a $38 million Series B financing round alongside the Georgia-pilot announcement, saying the capital would support commercialization of its Generation 3 vehicle and autonomous rail system. The company said its cumulative fundraising then stood at about $100 million.
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Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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