Toasted Dolphin

More flexible than traditional trains, according to Parallel Systems, the railcars are designed to transport standard shipping containers as a single- or double-stacked load in short-haul freight operations, and “enable more responsive service and a wider range of routes” using the current rail network. Each railcar is individually powered and can “form platoons of up to 50 cars to reduce energy consumption and efficiently use rail network capacity,” or split off to multiple destinations while en route, the company said. The platooning is fully automated so the railcars don’t need to couple or uncouple, it noted. “They simply move close to each other and then initiate contact through bumpers to form platoons,” Parallel explained. “Once contact is made, each vehicle maintains a set force with the one in front by regulating tractive effort. The small air gap and pushing action through railcar bumpers reduces overall aerodynamic drag of the platoon, improving energy efficiency.”