Rail supplier news from RailComm, Argenia, Koppers, Retlif and Cubic (Oct. 26)

RailComm has announced its new iTrack Intelligent Yard Inventory solution has been deployed at Terminal Railway-Alabama State Docks. The technology is a real-time fully automatic rail-car inventory system designed to enable yard personnel to identify and follow the location of every car and locomotive entering the facility. iTrack integrates with the RailComm DOC system and the RailComm Insight monitoring and analytics platform. Wheel sensors located at each switch turnout provide automatic and continuous tracking of all cars throughout a yard. The technology is aimed at providing managers, supervisors and customers with yard-status information needed to make decisions, such as the ordered list of cars on a track, car dwell times, track length availability and car arrival and departure times.

Argenia Railway Technologies has launched SafeNet PTC, a non-vital overlay positive train control (PTC) system designed with proprietary communications-based train control technologies. The technology uses a moving block system to track the locations of trains and is broken down into locomotive, office, wayside and communications segments. The company worked with Nashville & Eastern Railroad Corp. to gain Federal Railroad Administration "type approval" on the development plan for the technology, which is the first milestone for implementing SafeNet, company officials said.

Koppers Inc. has extended to 2021 its contract to provide Norfolk Southern Railway with crossties and other related products. The original agreement was set to expire this year. NS is one of Koppers' four largest railroad customers; in 2015, revenues from the Class I represented about 10 percent of the company's railroad-related sales.

Retlif Testing Laboratories has launched a dedicated composites testing laboratory, which provides testing for carbon fiber reinforced polymers, glass fiber reinforced polymers, aramids (kevlar) and non-fiber reinforced plastic. The new lab was formed after three years of planning, company officials said in a press release. The facility will test composites used in rail, commercial aviation, aerospace and avionics, maritime and military applications.

The Chicago Transit Authority's Ventra mobile app has been downloaded more than 1 million times to pay for more than $110 million in fares, Cubic Transportation Systems announced last week. Developed and launched by Cubic, the app allows CTA rail and Metra riders to plan, manage and pay for trips using mobile devices. The app was launched after the Ventra fare payment system debuted in 2013, and marked Cubic's first large-scale deployment of its NextAccount technology.