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From around the globe in the rail industry supply market:

• CIT Group Inc. appointed Daniel DiStefano senior vice president and general manager of CIT Rail, which owns and manages a fleet of more than 500 locomotives leased to Class Is and short lines in the United States, Canada and Mexico. He previously held various positions with Siemens Transportation Systems, Alstom, AMF Technotransport Inc. and Canadian National Railway Co.

• Miner Enterprises Inc.'s Powerbrace Rail Products Division received an award for safety excellence from the Mexican government. Powerbrace's Saltillo, Mexico, plant won the "Planta Segura" award for promoting a safety culture and preventing accidents and industrial illnesses. Powerbrace manufactures outlet gates, brake beams, and heavy-duty door securement devices for trailers and containers.

• During a two-week test of an N-ViroMotive™ locomotive, the Indiana Rail Road Co. determined the 2,100-horsepower GenSet switcher reduced fuel usage, cut air emissions and offered better tractive effort compared with a conventional switcher, according to National Railway Equipment Co. (NREC). The railroad also found the N-ViroMotive performed the same work as two SW 1500 locomotives in an MU consist totaling 3,000 horsepower, NREC said.

• Software firm Econify Inc. updated RailFood.com, an online fee-based inventory location service for the rail industry. Products now are listed on the Web site for one year instead of one month.

• RAIL.ONE GmbH and joint venture partner China Railways Construction Corp. Bureau 15 obtained a contract from the Saudi Arabian government to supply 850,000 concrete crossties and thousands of concrete turnout ties for the new North-South Line. RAIL.ONE also will build a concrete tie plant in Hail, Saudi Arabia. The facility will begin producing ties in April 2008.

• For the third quarter, Ansaldo STS reported a net profit of $12.3 million, a 6.7 percent decline compared with third-quarter 2006's total. Although the value of production dipped 2.2 percent to $300.5 million, the value of new orders shot up 135.3 percent to $887 million and order backlog increased 14.5 percent to $4.2 billion. Ansaldo STS is the parent company of Union Switch & Signal Inc.