Rail supplier updates from Chicago Freight Car, Siemens, Cadiz, Lucid, Cubic, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Progressive Fuels (June 4)

Chicago Freight Car Leasing Co. appointed John Cooney vice president of fleet operations. He previously worked at GATX Rail Co. and has been in the rail industry for 30 years, with experience in rail-car operations leadership.

Danish rail company Banedanmark commissioned Siemens to electrify nine rail routes over 807 miles. The project entails  equipping the lines with overhead electrical wires by 2026's end. Siemens also will supply substations, auto transformer stations and remote control equipment.

Cadiz Inc. and Lucid Energy Inc. have partnered to create power for the Arizona & California Railroad Co. as a component of the Cadiz Vally Water Conservation, Recovery & Storage Project. Green power will be generated for expanding existing transloading operations and other railroad purposes through the installation of the LucidPipe Power System in the Cadiz Water Project's planned 43-mile conveyance pipeline.

Cubic Transportation System and the Chicago Transit Authority won an award for "Best New Innovative Practice-Partnership Deployment" for the Ventra card payment system. The award recognizes the organizations for implementing innovative projects for public transport, Cubic officials said in a press release. Ventra allows riders to use bank-issued contactless cards as fare media directly at the turnstile, firebox and elsewhere.

Parsons Brinckheroff named Kathleen Herrmann principal technical specialist in Chicago. Herrmann will manage the drafting, review and interpretation of contracts, in addition to preparing grant requests for transportation infrastructure projects, primarily  the Chicago-to-St. Louis High-Speed Rail Program. In the past, Herrmann has served as deputy general counsel at the Chicago Transit Authority, as well as a liaison with the Chicago Transit Board. Most recently, she worked at an engineering firm in Chicago, where she managed contracts for federal funding agreements for the Illinois High-Speed Rail Program.

Progressive Fuels Limited (PFL) launched a Rail Car bulletin board on its EasyTrade platform, which allows traders, marketers and others to access real-time pricing in the North American energy, agriculture and biofuel markets. Customer can use the Rail Car bulletin board for leasing, subleasing, purchasing or selling rail cars, PFL officials said in a press release.