Parallel Systems, a company founded by former SpaceX engineers to redesign the US railroad system, has raised US$49.55 million in Series A funds to build autonomous battery-electric rail vehicles that carry freight. The company says the funds will be used to build a fleet of rail vehicles, run advanced testing programs and grow its team.
“We founded Parallel to allow railroads to open new markets, increase infrastructure utilization and improve service to accelerate the decarbonisation of cargoes,” said Matt Soule, co-founder and CEO of Parallel Systems.
“Our business model is to give railroads the tools to transform some of the US$700 billion US trucking industry into rail. parallel system, same zamAt the same time, it can help alleviate a supply chain crisis by ensuring low-cost and regular movement of cargo in and out of ports. Parallel's competitive advantage is our autonomous battery electric rail vehicles designed to move loads cleaner, faster, safer and more cost-effectively than traditional trains or trucks.”
Parallel's vehicle architecture combines software and hardware with the historic rail industry to increase the use of existing railroads. The company's autonomous battery electric rail vehicles load and transport standard shipping containers as a single or double stacked load. Separately powered wagons can come together to form "detachments" or split up to multiple destinations en route. The railway's closed network is ideal for the safe and early commercialization of autonomous technology due to its limited track access and centralized traffic control.
Parallel says rolling stock is more flexible than conventional trains because platoons don't have to hoard large amounts of freight to make service affordable, thus providing more responsive service and a wider range of routes. This significantly reduces waiting times associated with loading mile-long trains. The system can support service at various distances, from a city-wide to a country-wide. The company also designed its architecture to bypass the congested switching sites historically used to manually sort and reassemble loads onto secondary trains. zamHe states that it will save hours and even days. The nearly seamless flow of containers through terminals results in greater asset utilization, faster delivery times and higher quality of service.
Rail safety must also be improved by the ability to quickly detect hazards, such as a vehicle on a track. Benefiting from the camera-based detection system and redundant braking, the wagons can stop up to 10 times faster and safely than a train. This means that vehicles can make an emergency stop within the field of view where the sensors detect an object. Additionally, teams automatically maintain safe speeds based on track conditions.
The USA has the world's largest rail system with over 140.000 miles of lines; however, Parallel estimates that less than 3% of this network is occupied by active trains at any one time. To make freight deliveries economical, railroads typically focus on transporting shipping containers over distances of more than 500 miles. Parallel says it has the opportunity to get more work on track by developing the unit economy over shorter distances. The introduction of a more flexible system will relieve pressure on highway infrastructure and the US trucking industry as it faces excessive demand and a shortage of 80.000 drivers.
The company also develops software that enables its vehicles and teams to securely integrate with existing rail operations so that all freight trains and public transport vehicles work together. The fully automated connected system uses machine learning to optimize vehicle routing, traffic planning and energy consumption. The result will provide customers with seamless, best-in-class service and freight tracking.
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