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• Alstom and Transmashholding (TMH) have signed a contract worth $1.4 billion to develop and produce 200 2ES5 electric locomotives for the Russian Railways (RDZ). The order was placed with TMH in June. Alstom’s share of the contract is worth $540 million. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2012. Alstom and TMH also have entered into a global partnership, with Alstom acquiring a 25 percent stake in the parent company of TMH, according to a press release. The partnership already has resulted in the design and production of the EP20 passenger locomotive, Alstom officials said.

• Yesterday, Railinc announced an upgrade to its Switching Settlements Data Exchange (SSDX). New features include an enhanced Excel file layout that railroads can use for data on switching charges and a web interface through which users can more easily upload a file. “With this upgrade, SSDX’s benefits can extend across the rail industry and can help more companies that use or provide switching services streamline their billing to save time and money,” said Allen West, Railinc president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement.

• German company RAIL.ONE GmbH has named Jochen Riepl chief executive officer. The firm also announced that Ralf Sobottka left the company “by mutual agreement,” according to a prepared statement. Riepl had served as the company’s managing director since March 1.

• German company ROBEL Bahnbaumaschinen GmbH has delivered a chute car with a rail manipulator to DB Bahnbau Gruppe GmbH. The car is the first of two loading units delivered as a replacement purchase by the customer, according to a ROBEL press release. The car features a safety device designed to prevent tilting during the unloading process.

• TC Communications has obtained a contract from the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink) commuter-rail system to install its JumboSwitch® ethernet platform to connect the control points and Centralized Train Control (CTC) equipment in "last mile" field network segments, according to a press release. As part of Metrolink’s communications network upgrade, the JumboSwitch is designed with a "communications pipe" to provide more capacity than the leased telephone line and radio network transport system that previously was in place, according to TC Communications.