Rail supplier news from Siemens, Skanska, Savage, Nordco and L.B. Foster (June 28)

Siemens has acquired MRX Technologies Group, an Australian provider of monitoring systems for rail rolling stock and infrastructure. The acquisition is expected to close in July. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition will expand Siemens' offering in the field of predictive maintenance based on digitalization, according to a Siemens press release. MRX Technologies will operate in Siemens' Mobility Division as an independent affiliated company. Siemens in April launched its Digital Rail Services division, a business unit aimed at "digitalizing" the U.S. rail industry.

Skanska has signed a $150 million contract with MTA New York City Transit to renovate four subway stations along the Astoria Line in Queens. The project calls for constructing new stairs, guard rails, automated fare collection areas, partitions, windscreens and canopy improvements. Skanska will perform electrical upgrades and rehabilitate the stations' structural concrete and steel. Construction began in April and is expected to wrap up in first-quarter 2019.

Savage Saudi Arabia has entered into an agreement with crude-oil and natural-gas exporter Saudi Aramco to operate an industrial rail switching facility in Saudi Arabia. The rail operations will support Saudi Aramco's Wasit and Berri natural gas plants near the Jubail area. Savage will perform rail switching services using rail-car movers and three Tier 3-compliant locomotives. The company also will provide track maintenance and signaling system operations and maintenance. The services will help facilitate the transportation of molten sulphur by rail from Saudi Aramco's Wasit and Berri facilities to new mining and processing plants.

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) has completed installation of a Nordco Shuttlewagon Mobile Railcar Mover. The unit will be used as a rescue vehicle for light-rail cars in the event of a widespread power failure, Nordco officials said in a press release. The mover can tow maintenance-of-way equipment on RTD lines. The custom-designed Shuttlewagon NVX6030 was a collaborative effort between the RTD and Nordco engineering teams. The unit features a hydraulic winch system, vertical hydraulic coupler positioning and the ability to navigate light-rail cars through 90-foot radius curvature.

Knorr-Bremse has agreed to distribute L.B. Foster Co.'s wheel flange lubrication systems for rail vehicles in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and South Africa. The systems help minimize wear, extend rail grinding intervals and prolong the service life of wheels, L.B. Foster officials said in a statement. As a result of the partnership, 240 TRAXX locomotives in South Africa are being equipped with wheel flange lubrication systems and solid sticks. Those locomotives are being built by Bombardier Transportation.