Rail supplier news from Dewberry, Lilee, Alstom and GREX (April 11)

Dewberry has been tapped to perform surveys and provide grading, drainage and track engineering design services for Veolia Transportation Maintenance and Infrastructure (VTMI Inc.) under its design-build contract to provide new connections between Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) and the South Florida Rail Corridor (SFRC) in West Palm Beach and Miami, Fla. The work is part of the South Florida Freight and Passenger Rail Enhancement Project, which will help accommodate existing freight traffic, potential future passenger service and projected growth in freight-rail operations following the Panama Canal expansion and freight intermodal improvements at Port of Palm Beach, Port Everglades and PortMiami. The overall project is divided into three phases, with the final phase expected to be completed in 2018. Brightline — FECR's planned passenger-rail service — is slated to begin service between West Palm Beach and Miami this summer. To learn more about Brightline's launch, read this feature in Progressive Railroading's April issue.

OSIsoft LLC and Lilee Systems have entered into an alliance aimed at improving safety and equipment health of rail and transportation networks through "Big Data" and industrial Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. The companies are working on embedding a commercial off-the-shelf connector for transferring data from Lilee's IoT gateways to OSIsoft's PI System to help rail operators achieve positive train control (PTC) goals. The connector will transfer data regarding speed, acceleration, vibration or other parameters. Technicians will be able to use the information to prevent potential equipment failure or identify safety risks, Lilee officials said in a press release.

Alstom signed a $265 million contract to provide 30 Coradia trains to French state-owned rail operator SNCF Mobilites Group. The new units are expected to arrive beginning in September 2018. The trains will be used on several SNCF routes, including the Paris-Amiens-Boulogne route and service to Montlucon from Paris and Bourges. The units are in addition to the 34 Coradia Liner trains delivered in October 2013.

Georgetown Rail Equipment Co. (GREX) has appointed David Friss director of process improvement. He's responsible for streamlining processes as GREX continues to develop new technologies, company officials said in a press release. Friss also will partner with department leaders to identify process improvement opportunities. He reports to GREX Chief Operating Officer Greg Grissom. Friss has 25 years of experience in various roles related to rail data business applications, reliability, engineering and vehicle electrical design. He most recently served as director of reliability engineering at BNSF Railway Co., where he worked on key rail business model development projects.