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Here are the latest developments in the rail supply/service provider industry:

• Lockheed Martin obtained a $72 million contract from the Australian Rail Track Corp. Ltd. (ARTC) to complete a proof-of-concept phase for the Advanced Train Management System (ATMS), a communications- based train-management system for Australia's interstate freight-rail network. Lockheed Martin will design, develop, construct and test an ATMS prototype on a 74-mile section of the interstate rail network in south Australia. The company has subcontracted Ansaldo STS Pty. Ltd. to provide dispatch and trackside controls for ATMS, which ARTC expects to be fully operational by 2011.

• Faiveley Transport has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Ellcon-National Inc. and its affiliates, which supply various freight- and passenger-car components, including brakes, loading devices, stainless steel doors and windows. The acquisition would enable Faiveley Transport to penetrate the North American market and freight-car brake sector, the company said. Based in the United Kingdom, Faiveley Transport provides railway system products and services, such as air conditioning systems, electro-mechanics, on-board electronics, braking systems and couplers, and platform doors and gates.
 
• Siemens Mobility has marked the inauguration of subway passenger service on the Metro Line 3 in Nuremberg, Germany. The line is the first fully automated subway to operate in Germany and — during an introductory phase — also will be the first driverless metro system in the world to share a section of track with conventionally driven trains, Siemens said. The company developed the RUBIN system, which operates trains at 100-second headways during peak periods compared with previous 200-second intervals in normal operation and 150-second headways in mixed operation.

• TRANSED INC. founder and long-time public transportation industry veteran Gere Timberlake has retired. She served the transportation industry for 33 years, including 12 years at public transportation agencies in Maryland, California and New Jersey. Timberlake spent the past 21 years at the helm of TRANSED, which supplies rail-car truck assemblies, and provides electromechanical, maintenance, repair and overhaul services. TRANSED now is managed by new owner Lafayette Turner II.