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The rail industry supply/service world continues to spin with new developments:

• GATX Corp. ordered 2,000 tank cars from Trinity Industries Inc. Cars will be delivered during a two-year period beginning in early 2008. The order includes an option for an additional 1,000 tank cars.

• The Telos Network and partner 4G Metro L.L.C. will provide Internet access and install a digital sign network for Trinity Railway Express cars, and place interactive kiosks in the commuter railroad's stations. The Telos Network will provide onboard and station programming; 4G Metro will install necessary hardware for mobile and fixed wireless broadband networks throughout the Dallas area.

• Ansaldo STS subsidiary Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario won another contract from a CEPAV1/Saturno consortium to design, build and install signaling equipment for a high-speed rail project managed by Italian state railway Ferrovie dello Stato and TAV. CEPAV1 and Saturno are responsible for a high-speed section between Milan and Bologna, Italy. The project includes eight interconnections located in main cities, including Piacenza, Parma and Modena, as well as ERTMS and multi-station technologies for train-control systems.

• RFTrax announced its Asset Management Platform™ (AMP) for tank cars can help chemical and petrochemical shippers comply with government regulations regarding Toxic Inhalation Hazard shipments in high-threat urban areas. AMP uses Global Positioning System data and cellular technology to wirelessly monitor, track and report tank-car locations. RFTrax also said its AMP for rail-car monitoring applications has been certified by Bourque Data Systems for use with that firm's RAILTRAC® system. In addition, RFTrax's Asset Command Unit (ACU) received Underwriters Laboratories' "intrinsically safe" certification for operation in Class 1, 2 and 3, Division 1 hazardous locations.

• The United Kingdom's Network Rail contracted Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. to help design the Blackfriars Station redevelopment project. Jacobs will provide project management, architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical engineering, and environmental services for the station. Part of the $11.1 billion Thameslink program, the station will more than double passenger-rail capacity on one of Europe's busiest rail stretches.

• Siemens AG, which recently restructured into separate industry, energy and healthcare sectors, and 15 individual divisions, named chief executive officers for each division. In the industry sector, which includes Siemens Transportation Systems, the following will take office as division CEOs next month: Anton Huber (industry automation), Klaus Helmrich (motion control), Johannes Milde (building technologies), Martin Goetzeler (Osram), Joergen Ole Haslestad (industry solutions) and Hans-Jörg Grundmann (mobility).

• The Alton & Southern Railroad expanded RailComm Inc.'s Domain Operations Controller (DOC®) system by adding remote-control functionality. RailComm also equipped mainline, hand-throw switches with its switch position annunciator, which displays switch position information from manual switches on DOC® system workstations. In addition, the railroad added nine new remote-controlled power switch machines equipped with LED switch point indicators to the control network. Alton & Southern now has automated its entire 19-mile mainline, RailComm said.

• CH2M Hill has added railway design services to its transit practice and hired rail design engineers Hugh Fuller and Steve Metz. The firm now offers design services for freight- and transit-rail projects, including those involving light, commuter, intercity and high-speed rail, and streetcar systems. A 30-year railway engineering veteran, Fuller will serve as the chief engineer for CH2M Hill's rail transit practice. Metz has 20 years' experience managing and engineering heavy- and light-rail projects.

• Surveillance and collision-avoidance camera system provider Safety Vision L.P. named Christopher Fritz chief technology officer. He most recently helped found and served as director of mobile video products for Light Speed Mobile.

• Midland Manufacturing's A-14377-ML Series top-style pressure-relief valves now meet chlorine transportation safety standards. The valves feature a rupture disc for use in chlorine-service pressure cars. Midland also redesigned the new A-14377-ML-A-VL pressure-relief valve to provide additional sealing protection and prevent chlorine from reaching the atmosphere.