Rail supplier news from Ansaldo, Siemens, Railserve, Hatch Mott MacDonald, Keolis and RSI/CMA (March 14)

Ansaldo STS recently appointed three executives to its senior management team based in Pittsburgh: Marco Fumagalli, who assumed the role of president and chief executive officer of Ansaldo STS USA, succeeding Thomas Lawton, who remains counsel; Roberto Passalacqua, who became vice president of the railways and mass transit business unit in North America; and Jason White, previously VP of sales and business development, who became VP of the freight business unit.

Dutch transit operator HTM has placed an order with Siemens Mobility for another 20 Avenio-type trams to be deployed on Lines 9, 11, 15 and 17 in The Hague, Netherlands. Through the order, which is worth about $76 million, HTM is exercising an option on a contract that was signed in fall 2011. The new Avenio vehicles will be built at the same Siemens plant in Vienna, Austria, where the first batch of trams are in production.

In-plant rail-car switching and associated services provider Railserve now is using the Railserve Emergency ACTion Technology (REAct) at all of its 65-plus service locations. The remote-stop technology application on manned locomotives is believed to be the first of its kind in North America, Railserve officials said in a press release. When a hazard is recognized, REAct allows authorized employees to stop a train without communicating to the engineer. A crew member can activate an emergency brake application by pushing a button worn on their safety vest. The installation of REAct technology on all Railserve locomotives was completed in 2013. In its first few months, the technology has been activated to prevent grade crossing collisions, as well as other instances where hazards have suddenly developed, Railserve officials said.

Hatch Mott MacDonald has earned two National Recognition Awards for "exemplary engineering achievement" in the American Council of Engineering Cos. 48th Engineering Excellence Awards. The firm earned an award for its work on the Calgary West Light Rail Transit project and for the King Road grade separation project in Burlington, Ontario.

Keolis North America has named Leslie Aun director of communications and public relations. In her new role, she will lead communications for the company, including media relations, corporate marketing and branding, messaging, event and campaign management, crisis, public policy, online strategy, executive communications and community engagement. Aun began her career as a print and broadcast journalist in Washington, D.C. She's also held senior-level communication roles at major corporations and nonprofit organizations. Currently, Aun is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Exhibit space sales for RSI/CMA 2014, the Railway Supply Institute's annual trade show, will begin March 17. Sponsorship sales for both RSI/CMA and Canadian Rail Summit 2014, hosted by the Railway Association of Canada, also will open on March 17. The RSI/CMA conference will be Sept. 21-23 at the Montreal Convention Center in Montreal.