Rail supplier news from Greenbrier, FreightCar America, Thales, Siemens, GE, J.L. Patterson and VHB (July 15)

Greenbrier Cos. Inc. announced affiliates of WL Ross & Co. L.L.C. have exercised all their remaining warrants in Greenbrier resulting in 862,400 shares of common stock being issued in a cashless net exercise. WL Ross subsequently sold 431,200 shares of the newly issued Greenbrier common stock and continues to own the remaining 431,200 shares. The warrants were issued to affiliates of WL Ross in 2009 in connection with an investment in Greenbrier, and were due to expire in June 2014. WL Ross partner Wendy Teramoto continues to serve on Greenbrier's board.

FreightCar America Inc. has named Mark Poepping vice president of sales. Most recently, he was director of rail-car sales at Navistar. Poepping has 29 years of experience in the railroad industry, including various stints at GE Capital Railcar and Southern Pacific/Union Pacific Railroad.

A major upgrade to the Northern Line has marked a milestone with the Highgate-to High-Barnet segment now controlled by Thales' SelTrac® communications-based train control system, according to a Thales press release. The system installation on a five-mile section of the line is the result of a collaboration between Thales and the London Underground. All 106 of the Northern Line's trains have been fitted with the new system, as well.

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has commissioned Siemens' Smart Grid Division to design and supply mobile 15-MVAr reactive-power compensation systems that can be deployed at any point within the rail network on demand. The project will result in the first mobile reactive-power compensation system for traction power supply in the world, according to a Siemens press release.

GE Transportation announced that its Trip Optimizer Energy Management System recently achieved 100 million miles of revenue service. The "cruise-control" system generated 25 million gallons of fuel savings to railroads in North America, Australia and Brazil, according to a GE press release.

J.L. Patterson & Associates Inc. has obtained an on-call contract from the Anaheim Department of Public Works in California for design and construction management services for various transportation projects. The agreement covers a one-year term with an option for another two years at the department's discretion.

VHB has named Jeffrey Taub regional marketing manager. He will oversee marketing staff and operations for New York City, Hauppauge, White Plains and Albany, N.Y., and Newark, N.J. He joined the company in 2011 per the merger of VHB and Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates, where he was director of marketing and business development. He has 13 years of marketing and corporate communications experience in the design and construction industry.