Rail supplier news from Siemens, GE, Wabtec, ShipXpress, Decision Lens, RailPros and Parsons Brinckerhoff (Oct. 16)

Amtrak contracted Siemens to build a new Sitras SFC plus static frequency converter for upgrades to its northern New Jersey facility. The order includes the delivery, installation and commissioning of two 30-megawatt converter units, as well as the integration of the multilevel traction converter into the existing Amtrak traction power supply network to enable parallel operation with the existing converters. The Metuchen static frequency converter is due to be completed in 2017. The converter upgrade is part of the New Jersey High-Speed Rail Improvement Program being carried out by Amtrak between Trenton and New Brunswick. Also, Siemens received a $58 million order from the Paris transit authority to supply the train control equipment and operational control system for an extension of the driverless metro line 14 in Paris. The extension is scheduled to be commissioned in 2019.

Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Chairman and President Fred Hochberg, GE Transportation President and Chief Executive Officer Russell Stokes, and Kereta Api Indonesia President and CEO Ignasius Jonan signed a credit agreement totaling $94.3 million to finance the export of 50 GE locomotives to Indonesia. Ex-Im Bank's credit will support 700 U.S. jobs along the supply chain, primarily in Erie, Pa., according to a press release. The state-owned railway operates a fleet of about 300 locomotives that provide freight and passenger service on the islands of Java and Sumatra.

Wabtec Corp. has formed a joint venture with Texmaco Rail & Engineering Ltd. in India to provide safety and control equipment and services, draft gear, rail truck-mounted braking and other railway products for the Indian Railways, according to a Texmaco press release.

ShipXpress Inc. announced Minnesota Commercial Railway chose its RailSync® software to manage railway logistics. The short line joins a growing number of railroads that have adopted the software, according to a ShipXpress press release. RailSync provides timely and critical information to a train crew, including work orders that direct which rail cars to pull or place at each location, according to ShipXpress.

Decision Lens software was selected by the Federal Railroad Administration to assist with prioritizing funding for its information technology and research and development portfolios, the software company announced. More than 20 clients in the transportation industry use Decision Lens for such applications as capital programming, IT prioritization, R&D and vendor selection.

John Yarbrough has joined RailPros Field Services as assistant vice president-engineering. He has more than 40 years of railroad industry experience, including construction, track and yard design, light-rail and commuter-rail projects. Yarbrough will focus on further developing the company's operations in Texas and Midwest markets.

Parsons Brinckerhoff named Randy Hubler manager of contract performance and Ravi Gundimeda, a senior planner of traffic. Based in the firm’s New York City office, Hubler will develop a comprehensive approach to contract management policies, procedures, tools and reports. Prior to joining Parsons Brinckerhoff, he was a contracts and claims consultant for a global rail signaling systems company. Gundimeda will manage traffic engineering projects in the San Francisco region. He previously was a project manager with Dallas Area Rapid Transit.