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• Invensys Rail has obtained contracts worth $967.7 million in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Kingdom. In Saudi Arabia, the company will provide signaling and train control systems for the Haramain high-speed line, which will link the cities of Makkah and Madinah. Invensys won the contract as part of the Saudi-Spanish Al Shoula consortium and its share of the three-year construction program is expected to be $411.7 million. The company also won a 12-year maintenance contract worth $255.6 million. In Turkey, Invensys obtained a $269.4 million signaling contract for Istanbul’s Bosphorus crossing rail link. And in the United Kingdom, the company obtained a $4.8 million contract to provide signaling for the next phase of the Reading Station remodeling project.

• Ansaldo STS has obtained an $85.7 million contract from Eiffage to provide signaling systems and services on 113 miles of new high-speed rail lines in northwest France. The contract calls for Ansaldo STS to provide ERTMS level 2 and TVM 300 systems on the high-speed line, and an ERTMS level 1 system on a conventional rail line, including all related equipment such as interlockings, hot-box detectors, track circuits and radio block centers.

• The first driverless trains recently entered service on Paris Metro’s oldest line, which is equipped with Siemens’ automatic Trainguard MT communications-based train control system, according to a press release. Also, Siemens officials announced that the president of the Algerian Republic recently inaugurated the first metro line in Algiers. Siemens, a consortium leader for the project, installed the complete rail system as a turnkey project. Siemens supplied the Trainguard MT CBTC system, radio communication system Airlink, train location system Digiloc, a telecommunication system, traction power supply, trackworks and a ticket vending system.

• The Firefighters Education and Training Foundation has purchased four Kelso Klincher™ manway units for the foundation’s training programs, according to Kelso Technologies Inc. Class Is, including Union Pacific Railroad and CSX Transportation, use the programs for on-location training of employees, shippers and hazardous material personnel.

• Zurich has appointed Jim Dowdy to head the firm’s North America railroad insurance practice, and Ron Mathewson and Gary Linde as casualty underwriters supporting the railroad business. Dowdy joined Zurich in January 2010. He has held a variety of leadership positions in the insurance field during the past 30 years. Mathewson most recently was national practice leader for the railroad business of  Chartis Excess Casualty. Linde most recently served as assistant vice president in support of rail insurers at Odyssey Reinsurance Corp.

• Roadway Worker Training Inc. (RWT) recently launched Focal Point Productions, a full-service production company that aims to offer additional training options for clients, according to an RWT press release. Focal Point’s creative team includes producers, writers, editors, graphic artists and videographers with years’ of experience working on rail and transportation projects.