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• GE Asset Intelligence L.L.C. (GE AI) recently reached a five-year agreement with BASF to provide GPS-based monitoring for a segment of its rail-car fleet. Developed in cooperation with BASF Transportation Command, GE AI’s VeriWise™ provides information critical for compliance with new Transportation Security Administration rules governing shipments of certain commodities.

• On Monday, GE Transportation announced that U.K.-based Freightliner Group Ltd. had taken delivery of the first two PowerHaul® locomotives. Representing GE Transportation’s entry into the U.K./European marketplace, the locomotives were manufactured in Erie, Pa., and shipped from Virginia on Oct. 23. The PowerHaul is designed to generate more horsepower and tractive effort, use less fuel and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions than locomotives currently in use, according to GE.

• Koppers Inc. and BNSF Railway Co. recently agreed to a seven-year extension of an existing contract for crossties and other products and services. The existing contract, which expires Dec. 31, 2010, now extends through Dec. 31, 2017. For Koppers, revenue under the contract amounted to $57 million in 2008, the company said.

• CSX Transportation recently placed RailComm’s Domain Operations Controller (DOC®) Yard Automation System into production at the Class I’s Selkirk facility in New York. The DOC server-based control system is designed to provide wireless remote control from the yard tower to 48 GE Transportation System HydraSwitch™ machine locations.
 
• New York Air Brake Corp. (NYAB) recently earned the International Railway Industry Standard Certification from UNIFE, the Association of the European Rail Industry. Two NYAB facilities achieved certification: the supplier’s Watertown, N.Y., plant and its Kingston, Ont., Canada-based subsidiary, Knorr Brake Ltd. Created by UNIFE and supported by operators, system integrators and equipment manufacturers, IRIS complements the internationally recognized ISO 9001 quality standard by introducing rail-specific requirements. To be certified, companies must pass a certification audit by approved third-party auditors.