USA: The Federal Railroad Administration, FRA, has approved the company’s petition, waving 22 rail equipment regulations.
Parallel Systems’ technology has been in development for several years and aims at freight transport without a locomotive. The vehicles represent two platooning two-axle bogies, each powered by a motor, a battery and fitted with control devices.
Design of the Mark 2 (enlarge). Source: G&W
The tests will be conducted on a pair of Genesee & Wyoming short lines in Georgia. There will be seven phases from the prototype’s trial on a severed section to test revenue service. The FRA will deem each phase successful before the company can move on to the next one.
During the public comment period on the pilot programme, some trade union representatives expressed doubts about the project’s safety. The FRA received 154 comments in total, with 32 of them supportive.