The Federal Railroad Administration will allow Parallel Systems to test its autonomous, self-propelled flatcar system on a pair of Genesee & Wyoming short lines in Georgia.
The FRA last week approved the request from Parallel, Georgia Central Railway and Heart of Georgia Railroad. In August 2023, Los Angeles-based Parallel and the G&W railroads sought FRA permission to test the battery-electric container cars, which target short-haul intermodal markets.
The agency’s Railroad Safety Board reviewed the waiver petition and supporting documentation, attended a demonstration at the MxV Rail test facility in Pueblo, Colorado, and conducted a public hearing.
“The Board has determined that granting the Petitioners’ request for relief for the purpose of performing the testing, related to the petition for a pilot test program, is in the public interest and consistent with railroad safety,” Karl Alexy, the FRA’s associate administrator for railroad safety, wrote in a Thursday letter to Georgia Central Railway President James Irvin.
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