A startup born out of stealth last month had another idea: Parallel Systems wanted to deliver goods in self-driving, battery-powered, self-driving rail vehicles. Trains will automatically assemble and move without operator, without locomotive and without train whistle. If the Parallel System is successful, fully autonomous self-driving could appear before the roads.
Parallel Systems was founded in January 2020 by a group of former SpaceX executives and is largely still a concept. Parallel Systems CEO Matt Soule envisions platoons of rail vehicles like giant Roombas carrying between 10 and 50 shipping containers, but that’s based on modeling and simulation, because so far Now the company can only manufacture two railway vehicles. A second-generation rail vehicle will launch later this year.
Soule said Parallel is trying to develop software that works with existing rail lines and incorporates the necessary safety features. “We are not replacing trains,” he said. “This is about transferring many truck miles to railroads.”
Each of these battery-powered approaches holds the promise of a cleaner environment, lower fuel costs for railroads, and fewer premature deaths from air pollution, but they lack something that has stopped them. Resisting the use of electric cars: charging stations.
Wabtech and BNSF Railway built the first electric locomotive charging station at a train yard in Stockton as part of a test run last year. That used a 400-kilowatt plug, but later Wabtec FLXdrive models would charge using pantograph technology, with the arm reaching down to touch a contact point at the top of the machine.
Union Pacific says its battery-powered locomotives will initially only operate in railroad yards to test performance in extreme temperatures and weather conditions. The railroad will develop the toll stations in partnership with the Association of American Railroads, which is developing standards with railroad representatives and locomotive manufacturers. A spokesman for the group said the standards would not favor a particular charging method.
A Wabtec spokesperson said the company could offer plug-in charging, but charging from the terminal would be easier. Parallel Systems is developing a charging dock that connects underneath rail vehicles and between train tracks.
Research by Lawrence Berkeley Lab – UCLA says that building charging stations will account for a significant part of the initial cost. Cargo trains typically travel 1,000 miles or more, but the trains stop to change crew every 150 miles or so, providing an opportunity to recharge. One advantage in building charging stations for locomotives: They don’t need to be in cities, which can help keep costs down. “These charging vehicles can be anywhere,” says Phadke.
Another potential advantage: the ability to capture energy as mile-long, heavy freight trains rumble down a hill. Last year’s Wabtec test went 350 miles through central California without recharging, as regenerative braking recharges the battery by about 20% when going downhill.
The system is similar to the battery-charged braking system of a hybrid car, Gebhardt said, noting that trains are pulling more weight behind them. He thinks regenerative braking could reduce the number of charging stations needed for battery-powered electric locomotives.
The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects – Energy Agency last year launched a locomotives initiative, which aims to collect models to predict cost, performance and greenhouse gas emissions glass for alternative energy locomotives operated by major railway lines. Bob Lodeux, program director, says the software can help reduce fuel use and emissions from traditional locomotives. Over time, he said, more coordination between ships, trucks and trains will be critical to decarbonizing the entire supply chain.
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