Rail supplier news from Loram, HDR, RSI, Progress Rail and CTLGroup (Sept. 20)

Loram Maintenance of Way Inc. has acquired substructure maintenance company HyGround Engineering. The acquisition is aimed at enabling Loram to better record and diagnose issues with ballast, sub-ballast, subgrade and drainage. In addition, the acquisition will pair HyGround's expertise in track geotechnics with Loram's ballast maintenance equipment to provide customers effective substructure maintenance management programs, Loram officials said in a press release. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

HDR has acquired Maintenance Design Group (MDG). Founded in 1995, MDG has designed upper-level work platforms for light-rail facilities. The firm employs nearly 40 professionals at offices in Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Houston, Baltimore and Nashville, Tennessee. For more than a decade, HDR and MDG have worked together to serve transit clients, including the Kansas City Streetcar, said HDR President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Keen in a press release. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

At Railway Interchange 2017 this week, the Railway Supply Institute (RSI) unveiled a recent mapping project aimed at showcasing the economic role its member companies play in the U.S. economy. The ongoing project is an overview of member companies' headquarters, manufacturing facilities, sales offices and other locations. The project helps RSI demonstrate to policymakers and others "the importance of its railway supply industry members," RSI officials said in a press release.

Progress Rail has signed an updated master development agreement with computer vision technology firm Seeing Machines. The technology enables machines to "see, understand and assist people," Progress Rail officials said in a news release. The exclusive pact provides the framework to prepare the companies' fatigue monitoring solution for commercial use in rail applications. Under their original agreement, Progress Rail and Seeing Machines conducted multiple field trials with rail customers.

CTLGroup has appointed Brian Schudiske president and chief executive officer. He succeeded Timothy Tonyan, the company's chief operating officer who provided interim leadership after Wm. Brent Nixon's departure in September 2016. Over the past 20 years, Schudiske has held leadership roles in manufacturing, supply chain, operations and engineering management. Before joining CTLGroup, he served as SGS North America Inc.'s general manager, U.S. materials and manufacturing.