On a former railroad track off Highway 126, a local startup is testing the future of transportation: driverless freight trains.
Using a three-mile track outside Fillmore, Calif., Parallel Systems is developing an environmentally friendly, automated, battery-powered truck to replace the trucks that sit idle for hours each day at ports.
On a recent morning down a dirt road, one of the gray and black prototypes sat quietly on a test rail, surrounded by fruit trees and livestock.
“We are the Waymo of freight railroads,” said Matt Soule, Parallel’s founder and chief executive officer. “We are developing this technology to expand rail market share and make freight transportation safer and cleaner.”
Parallel Systems is one of many companies hoping to leverage the latest battery technology and artificial intelligence to create a complete architecture that will change the way people and products move.
At the company’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles’ arts district, workers in jeans and T-shirts are working on new train models for mass production. The headquarters includes low-voltage and high-voltage laboratories and a small section of railroad tracks. The spacious warehouse space has cold beer on tap and an unused ping pong table.
While companies like Google’s Waymo and Tesla are working on the robotaxis market, smaller startups, many of which are also based in California, are focusing on other types of transportation. Torrance-based Arc Boats is building for water sports, and Mountain View’s Wisk Aero is developing electric and autonomous driving.
“Autonomy enables the increased services and flexibility needed to compete for new business,” Saul said.
Parallel has already raised $100 million and received approval from the Federal Railroad Administration to operate on a shared railroad. The vehicle is approximately 44 feet long and sits low to the ground, allowing cargo containers to be loaded on top. Slightly shorter than a standard 50-foot freight car, the parallel cars weigh approximately 40,000 pounds unloaded.
At Fillmore, vehicles are tested at speeds up to 40 miles per hour without cargo. The company says the vehicle is much quieter than diesel-powered vehicles, but it has a crosswalk horn that meets federal requirements.
Each vehicle has two motors powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries and can carry containers 500 miles on a single charge. The vehicles are designed to travel in groups of up to 50 people, but each can also travel independently.
Instead of using traditional railroad couplers or magnets to connect cars, the cars use motors to maintain the connection. Saul said the sensors communicate with the motors to maintain a constant speed throughout the train of rail cars.
The company said it could eventually produce tens of thousands of units a year to meet new demands in the rail market. The price of the vehicle was not disclosed.
Soule launched Parallel Systems in 2020 after 13 years at SpaceX. His team of about 50 people includes former Rivian and Tesla engineers and certified train conductors. He said rethinking freight trains would increase rail service capacity, take short-haul trucks off the roads and reduce carbon emissions.
Railroads are typically used by long trains that transport long distances, and a lot of rail capacity often remains unused. If driverless freight trains become a reality, it could become economical to use short trains on short routes.
Meanwhile, America’s logistics network requires too many trucks (each requiring a driver) to converge at a port at the same time to unload containers from cargo ships. This leads to big bottlenecks and long wait times.
“Given the congestion and transportation costs that everyone experiences in California, California has become a natural birthplace to commercialize this,” Saul said. “What would otherwise be shipped by truck from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to the Inland Empire can be moved with our technology instead.”
As the company grows, Soule aims to launch in . The trains will be manufactured in Pacoima and transported by truck to Fillmore and Georgia, where trains are already running on the tracks.
James Unger, Field Operations Manager at Fillmore Proving Grounds, brings years of experience with major railroads to the company. He and his team are developing rules to regulate how trains operate.
“I thought this was going to be the future of a lot of railroad work,” said Unger, wearing a neon safety vest and hard-toed boots.
Saul said Parallel Systems is the only company authorized by the federal government to operate commercial self-driving rail cars. The company has begun testing its trains in Georgia through a partnership with the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad.
Near the Port of Savannah, the parallel system is entering its second phase of testing with plans to add three more vehicles next year.
The company will evaluate the autonomous system’s performance in a variety of terrain and weather conditions over a 30-mile portion of the course. Engineers there test the car’s speed, positional accuracy and stopping distance.
There are other self-driving trains around the world, including Vancouver’s SkyTrain and some airports, but most only run on tracks in closed systems. Parallel Systems is designing trains that will eventually transport freight alongside traditional rail cars.
It may be years before these robot trains become widespread. In some ways it’s easier to program than self-driving cars to travel safely, but the technology is still in its infancy.
Truck drivers, railroad workers and unions have expressed concern that the technology will eliminate human jobs. There are also big questions about whether the country’s rail network is ready for this technology. Many are closed or outdated, said William Riggs, director of the Autonomous Vehicle and Cities Initiative at the University of San Francisco.
“Rail automation has been around for a long time,” he says. “The feasibility of this type of technology is definitely there. I think it remains to be seen whether there is a solid market for this.”
Saul said transporting freight by rail saves energy and reduces road pollution and wear and tear. There is almost no friction between the steel wheels and the rails, so it does not take much force to transport a 30 tonne trailer on a flat track.
Parallel Systems plans to make money by selling its technology directly to railroads such as G&W, which will use its trains to expand its business.
Parallel Systems is still working toward full autonomy. In addition to cameras and sensors, the freight trains will be equipped with laser-based radar called LIDAR, which is also used by Waymo. Machine learning will also be used to operate trains.
Developing autonomy for rail systems is very different from building driverless vehicles because there are many variables and the technology must adapt to rigid existing systems, Saul said.
While some may worry that trains will take away jobs, Saul said his trains will create jobs for humans, such as monitoring and cargo handling. Trucks will still be needed for deliveries, but trains could take over containers from smaller warehouses.
“This is a new type of service that allows railroads to compete in ways they couldn’t before,” Saul said of his product. “This is technology that understands and reacts to its surrounding environment.”
