Supplier Spotlight

• The Greenbrier Cos. reached an agreement to acquire wheel maintenance service provider Meridian Rail Holdings Corp. from private equity firm Olympus Partners for $227.5 million; and formed a joint venture with Grupo Industrial Monclova (GIMSA) to build freight cars for the North American marketplace.
• Bombardier Transportation signed a joint design and development agreement with March Networks to launch an on-board mobile security solution for the transit-rail market. ... CIT Rail acquired Bombardier’s rail-car leasing business assets.
• Portec Rail Products Inc. purchased the assets of Vulcan Chain Corp.’s railroad product line for $4.3 million.
• Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. acquired Turner Diesel Ltd.’s EMD locomotive-related services business; terms weren’t disclosed. ... Wabtec Corp. acquired forged brake rigging component supplier Schaefer Equipment Inc. for $36 million.

New products

• MHF Logistical Solutions has introduced GPS Fleet Watch, software that enables “smart” rail-car users to obtain reports on the whereabouts and status of their cargo.
• RMI has upgraded its RailConnect Transportation Management System to include report and profile options that enable users to create a train performance report, improve yard visibility, and plan and schedule trains.
• Bombardier Transportation launched predictive maintenance program ORBITA. The company also unveiled a TRAXX diesel-electric locomotive.

Security

• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded contracts totaling $1.3 billion to Science Applications International Corp., American Science & Engineering and L-3 Communications to develop a Cargo Advanced Automated Radiography System capable of detecting nuclear materials in cargo scanned at border crossings.
• Duos Technologies Inc. obtained a contract to install a security surveillance and video analytics system in a Union Pacific Railroad tunnel using the company’s PRAESIDIUM™ sensor technology suite; and a contract to design, manufacture and install a security system on a segment of Amtrak’s track in Washington, D.C.

C&S

• RailComm Inc. implemented its DOC^®:CTC Centralized Traffic Control system for Nashville’s Music City Star and the Nashville & Eastern Railroad.

MOW

• TieTek obtained a contract from MTA New York City Transit for 11,000 concrete ties.

International news

• GE - Transportation will supply 310 Evolution Series^® locomotives to national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy.
• South Africa’s Gauteng Provincial Government awarded a $3.3 billion contract to the Bombela Consortium — a public-private partnership comprising Bombardier Transportation, Bouygues Travaux Publics, Murray & Roberts and Strategic Partners group — to finance, design, build, operate and maintain a 50-mile passenger-rail line.
• Alstom Transport obtained a $200 million order from Germany’s DB Regio AG for 37 CORADIA LIREX trains.
• Anchor Audio Inc. obtained a contract to supply 110 MINIVOX portable public-address systems to the Netherlands Railways.