Dallas, TEXAS, April 4, 2022 – Railspire, a company that retrofits locomotives for autonomous driving, today announced it has successfully completed proof of concept field trials with a Class I railroad partner.
The trials took place in North Carolina, with a pair of locomotives from the Class I railroad, and validated that Railspire’s autonomous locomotive driving technology performs key rail yard activities safely and in a manner that reduces locomotive damage, increases crew productivity, and lowers operational costs. The locomotives were even able to execute tasks according to unique, customer specified rules such governing acceleration and deceleration, speed limits, and coupling speeds.
Railspire began these trials in February 2022 after securing $4.68 million through a seed round in 2021 that was used for continued research and development on its core technology, to be followed by field trials and then late-stage proof of concept demonstrations.
“Successfully demonstrating our technology with a major Class I railroad moves us an important step closer to bringing a game-changing product to market,” said Lester Hightower, co-founder and board chairman of Railspire. “We appreciate our partner’s trust and assistance in helping us to bring more automation to the rail industry, to make it smarter, safer and more productive.”
For more information, visit www.railspire.com.
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About Railspire
Railspire retrofits locomotives with artificial intelligence and machine learning software for autonomous driving. The company was founded in 2020 by three railroading experts, two of whom are the world’s preeminent autonomous rail technologists. Railspire’s autonomous locomotive driving technology helps railroads operate with better safety, efficiency and productivity. For more information, visit www.railspire.com.
