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• Invensys Rail has entered into several agreements with a division of CSR Corp. Ltd., a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer. Under the pacts' terms, Invensys Rail will license Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co. Ltd., (TEG) CSR’s train control and signaling company, to manufacture and sell its interlocking system, Westrace, in China. TEG and Invensys will work together to sell their train control and signaling solutions through TEG to the Chinese domestic mass transit market. The contract is estimated to be worth $99.8 million.

• ENSCO Inc. has received a patent for its video inspection system for rail components from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent covers the machine vision system and methods for inspecting various rail components, such as turnouts, fasteners and joint bars, using fully automated machine vision techniques, according to ENSCO.

• Colo Railroad Builders won a contract to expand track for the South Dakota Wheat Growers in Roscoe, S.D. The project involves installing 12,700 feet of rail, four turnouts and a new grade crossing to expand the siding in Roscoe and provide South Dakota Wheat Growers members better access to a BNSF Railway Co. line.

• The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority has selected HDR to provide planning and engineering services for an alternatives analysis and environmental assessment for the Providence Core Connector Study. HDR will assess the feasibility, cost and benefits of constructing an urban circulator to connect key locations in the two-mile transit corridor between Rhode Island Hospital, Downcity and College Hill in Providence, R.I.

• Aon Risk Solutions has appointed Jeff Homes senior vice president of the company’s global rail practice. He will serve as an advisor to major rail clients in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. Previously, Homes served as senior vice president for Marsh's casualty practice.

• National Railway Equipment Co. (NREC) founder Lawrence Beal died Sept. 6, according to the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA). Beal created NREC in 1984; since then, the locomotive builder has grown to include two facilities in Mt. Vernon, Ind., and other facilities located in Dixmoore, Ind.; Silvus, Ind.; Paducah, Ky.; Milwaukee; and Canada. NREC now is the world’s largest independent locomotive manufacturer, according to an item included in ASLRRA's newsletter issued on Friday.