Rail supplier news from Bombardier, Harbor Rail, Prysmian, Alstom, TUV Rheinland and Hatch Mott MacDonald (Oct. 2)

Bombardier Transportation signed a new contract with New Jersey Transit to provide operations and maintenance services for the River Line light-rail system. The $296 million contract covers a 15-year period and includes an option for an additional five years. Through its wholly-owned Southern New Jersey Rail Group subsidiary, Bombardier has been operating and maintaining the River Line system since it opened in March 2004.

Harbor Rail Services Co. has purchased a rail-car repair shop in Clinton, Ind. CSX Transportation serves the shop, which will be fully operational in the next couple of months, according to a Harbor Rail press release. The new facility consists of an office building, the repair shop, a parts warehouse, a paint booth, a sand-blast booth and a wash-out building, all located on 60 acres with 4.5 miles of track. In Clinton, Harbor Rail will accept and repair all types of rail cars, with the exception of tank certifications.

Prysmian Group obtained a $33 million contract for a frame agreement with SBB, the Swiss federal railway. The agreement includes the supply of 2,800 kilometers of signaling cables for the Swiss railway's infrastructure. Contract management will be coordinated by the Prysmian Group’s team in Switzerland; the cables will be manufactured in Germany and delivered over five years.

Alstom has secured an $88.7 million contract to supply ATLAS 200 on-board signaling equipment to Belgian operator SNCB-NMBS for 449 trains in commercial service. Delivery will start in 2016. The contract covers the design, manufacture, testing and approval of equipment for five types of trains, together with the supply and maintenance of the signaling systems over 10 years.

TUV Rheinland AG has appointed Dr.-Ing Michael Fubi chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2015. Fubi has served as chief executive officer for Germany-based RWE Technology, the RWE Group’s arm responsible for project development and power plant construction.

Patrick Natale will join Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM) as vice president-business strategies in January 2015. Natale will support HMM's marketing and business development initiatives, as well as employee recruitment and retention programs. He has 44 years of engineering, management, and business experience, including the past 12 years as executive director of the American Society of Civil Engineers.