Rail supplier news from Alstom, Kronos, Transdev and WSP (Aug. 7)

Alstom launched a validation test campaign for the Prima T8 AZ8A freight locomotive on the main freight line in Azerbaijan. The validation ultimately will allow Alstom’s locomotives to enter commercial service in the country, Alstom officials said in a press release. In 2014, Azerbaijan Railways awarded EKZ, a joint venture comprised of Alston and Transmashholding, a contract to supply 40 Prima T8 AZ8A locomotives to the railway. Meanwhile, Alstom officials last month celebrated the groundbreaking of a hydrogen filling station for passenger trains in Lower Saxony, Germany. The station will be the first of its kind in the world, Alstom officials said in a press release. Alstom is a project partner.

Kronos Inc. announced that Greater Anglia, a train operator in the United Kingdom, has selected Workforce Dimensions to modernize its information technology infrastructure. The new system will allow employees to access work schedules, request time off and pick up open shifts, and allows managers to see the impact of unplanned absences and alerts them to potential compliance risks, Kronos officials said in a press release. 

Transdev promoted Julie Peel to vice president of safety and security. Peel previously served as regional safety director in the U.S. Northeast, and as safety and training director for the firm’s paratransit contract with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. “She has been instrumental in creating and communicating policies and best practices to help Transdev locations take effective action to protect employees and passengers from COVID-19,” Transdev officials said in a press release.

WSP USA hired Ettore Morelli as senior vice president and national alternative delivery leader for transportation in the United States. Morelli will be responsible for the firm’s services to local and national contracting partners on major projects for state and local transit agencies. Prior to joining WSP, Morelli served as a VP for global business development and alternative delivery at an international engineering firm. WSP also named Edward Axt senior engineering manager for transit and rail in Sacramento, California. Axt previously worked at an engineering firm as deputy project manager on the Southwest Corridor light-rail project in Minneapolis and deputy project manager on the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit project’s preliminary engineering and National Environmental Policy Act project for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.