Rail supplier updates from SNC-Lavalin, Alstom, Masabi and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff (Nov. 17)

SNC-Lavalin has realigned its business processes, brands and market strategy to offer a larger portfolio of rail and transit expertise and to provide an end-to-end client service offering. The move unites the company's global rail expertise as an integrated rail and transit market sector, SNC-Lavalin officials said in a press release. By integrating its rail and transit experts in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, the company hopes to align its practices and complementary services to better serve clients.

Alstom has started the production of trainsets for Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Metro at its plant in Katowice, Poland. The company will manufacture a total of 69 Metropolis trainsets at the plant, with the first three expected to be delivered in 2017. The units are composed of two cars per set and are motorized, allowing them to run on slopes with gradients up to 6 percent, Alstom officials said.

Masabi and Transdev announced that they have deployed the "JustRide" mobile ticketing platform on the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority's streetcar, bus and ferry services. This will allow riders to use their smartphones to purchase, store and display tickets for immediate and future travel. Masabi's cloud-based platform includes back-end infrastructure for secure payments, ticket management, customer service, reporting and real-time analytics.

WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff appointed Michael Unger area manager for Colorado and Wyoming. He has more than 25 years of engineering experience. Unger will oversee the transportation and infrastructure group's operations in the Denver and Colorado Springs offices. Some of the company's recent projects in the region include design work on Regional Transportation District of Denver's Southeast Corridor Extension, the Denver International Airport program management and support services, and the Las Vegas Road corridor study in Colorado Springs.