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• In response to "customer demands and market conditions," American Railcar Industries Inc. (ARI) announced today that it plans to invest in rail-car leasing. The rail-car builder currently is in negotiations with affiliate American Railcar Leasing L.L.C. (ARL) to enter into an agreement through which ARL would identify potential leasing customers for ARI in exchange for fees payable by ARI to ARL. Both ARI and ARI are controlled by Carl Icahn through Icahn Enterprises L.P.

• Bombardier Transportation received an additional order from Israel Railways for the delivery of 72 double-deck coaches. The $154 contract is part of a framework agreement reached last October that included an order for 78 coaches plus options. Also, Bombardier's BT Signaling B.V. signed an agreement to purchase a stake in signaling equipment manufacturer United Electrical Engineering Plants (Elteza), a subsidiary of Russian Railways. Initially, BT Signaling will buy a 25 percent stake; following "further approval," the company will increase its stake to nearly 50 percent, with Russian Railways remaining the majority shareholder, according to a prepared statement.

• Wabtec Corp. recently announced three management appointments: Raymond Betler was named chief operating officer; Alvaro Garcia-Tunon, executive vice president, chief financial officer and secretary; and Charles Kovac, senior VP of the freight products group. Betler joined Wabtec in 2008 and had been serving as VP and group executive of Wabtec's Transit Group. Garcia-Tunon joined the company in 1995 and had served as senior VP, CFO and secretary since 2003. Kovac, who joined Wabtec in 2007, had been serving as a VP and group executive in Wabtec's Freight Group.

• HDR named Nathan Higgins associate vice president responsible for managing the firm's rail and transit engineering practice across Canada. He'll be based in HDR's Calgary, Alberta, office. Higgins has more than 22 years of experience planning, designing and constructing freight-, commuter-, light- and high-speed rail systems, most recently as a VP with Hatch Mott MacDonald.