Rail supplier news from AECOM, RailcarRx, ARS, Saft, ENSCO, and in memoriam: Richard Anderson (March 4)

AECOM named Tom Prendergast head of transit within the firm’s design and consulting business in the Americas. Previously, Prendergast served as chairman and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. AECOM also announced it has named Denise Berger to serve as chief operating officer of the Northeast region. Berger spent 32 years with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, most recently serving as chief of operations for authority’s engineering department, AECOM officials said in a press release.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) operations and maintenance department deployed a data analytics and decision support platform developed by RailcarRx to help improve asset lifecycle management processes. MBTA officials told RailCarRX that the platform has reduced the processing time for critical data and helped their decision-making on locomotive component lifecycles, RailcarRX officials said in a press release.

Appalachian Railcar Services LLC (ARS) appointed Derek Kissick chief operating officer. Previously, Kissick was the executive vice president of rail-car repair at CAD Railway Industries. He also spent 11 years at Caltrax Inc., serving in roles from materials and operations manager to president, ARS officials said in a press release.

Saft launched a digital monitoring solution that allows fleet operators to remotely monitor the condition of nickel-technology batteries. Saft’s Intelli-Connect™ solution stores, analyzes and displays the real-time status of a battery’s condition based on measured temperature, current, voltage and electrolyte level. The solution allows operators to shift from time-based to condition-based battery maintenance, which saves operational expenses, Saft officials said in a press release.

ENSCO Rail Inc. deployed its second autonomous track geometry measurement system and autonomous rail profile measurement system on a rail car dedicated to track condition evaluation on Rumo SA’s freight-rail network in Brazil. The autonomous systems continuously monitor track geometry and rail wear conditions to detect unsafe track conditions and optimize maintenance planning, ENSCO officials said in a press release.

Richard Anderson, former chief executive officer and chairman emeritus of The Andersons Inc., died earlier this month at the age of 90. Anderson and his five siblings helped their parents found the company in 1947. Since retiring in 2009, Anderson had served on numerous community boards and was active with the Boy Scouts of America. Throughout his career, he received numerous academic honors and awards for his business achievements and community service. He is survived by his wife Fran, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.