Rail supplier news from Bechtel, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, GATX, CarMath and TranSystems (April 26)

Bechtel Corp. announced a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the first phase of the Edmonton Valley Line Light-Rail Transit project in Alberta, Canada. Bechtel is part of TransEd Partners, which was selected in November 2015 to design, build, operate, maintain and finance the $1.8 billion (in Canadian dollars) project. The consortium also includes Bombardier, EllisDon and Fengate Capital Management. The 8-mile line will run from downtown Edmonton to the Mill Woods area southeast of the city. The first stage includes 11 stops, an elevated station and a transfer point to the existing Capital and Metro lines at Churchill Square.

WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff has won an engineering excellence special achievement award from the American Council of Engineering Companies-Illinois for the reconstruction of three stations along the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) Blue Line O'Hare rail route. The company led the team that provided construction engineering services for the $26.6 million station reconstruction project. The stations were built in the late 1800s.

GATX Corp. reported first-quarter 2016 net income of $69.3 million, or $1.66 per diluted shared, compared with $62.2 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, during the same period last year. Revenue for the quarter came in at $334.4 million compared with $319.7 million in Q1 2015. The company's Rail North America segment logged a $108.7 million profit in Q1 2016 compared with $105.8 million in Q1 2015. Improvement in this segment was driven by higher revenue and lower maintenance costs, partially offset by fewer cars on lease and lower remarketing gains from fewer rail cars sold, company officials said in a press release.

CarMath Inc. has hired Warren Sonaty as director of business development. He will focus on generating new business opportunities in the freight-car leasing market. Before joining CarMath, Sonaty was a salesman with General Electric's rail leasing division for 39 years.

TranSystems Corp. marked its 50th year in business on April 21. Previously known as JBM Associates Engineers and Planners, the firm was formed in 1966 to help the Kansas City area adapt to growing transportation demands. Since then, TranSystems has expanded across the United States and now offers a range of transportation services, including assistance with passenger-rail expansions and freight-rail intermodal facilities.