Rail supplier news from GE, Alstom, Bombardier, Cubic and Ventev (June 23)

GE has updated its April 26 offer to acquire the Power and Grid businesses of Alstom in connection with discussions with Alstom management and the French government on jobs, decision-making in France, access to nuclear steam turbine technology and support for Alstom Transport. GE's valuation for Alstom remains unchanged, according to a GE press release. Details of the proposed alliance include further strengthening Alstom Transport. GE and Alstom have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a global alliance in transportation, which would include the sale of GE's signaling business to Alstom, and multiple collaboration agreements involving services, technology, supply chain and manufacturing, and commercial support in the United States. The alliance would make Alstom stronger through GE's breadth of experience in freight and in North America, complementing Alstom's worldwide positions, notably in passenger transportation, GE officials said.

Alstom Transport President Henri Poupart-Lafarge and Russian Railways (RZD) General Director Sergey Pavlov signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct railway projects on the international market. The MOU includes cooperation in technical consulting services, infrastructure project management, infrastructure design, construction quality assurance and control, and exchange of technology information.

Bombardier Transportation has signed a contract with Virgin Trains to extend the provision of maintenance of its Super Voyager fleet operating on the United Kingdom's West Coast mainline to March 2019. The contract is valued at $175 million.

Cubic Transportation Systems announced the formation of Urban Insights Associates Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Urban Insights' mission is to deliver data-driven insights that will shape the urban transportation network of the future, enable greater mobility and enable cities to more efficiently provide transportation services, according to a company press release.

Ventev Wireless Infrastructure, a division of TESSCO Technologies Inc., last week introduced three new TerraWave LTE-band mobile antennas that are designed to ensure superior cellular connectivity even in remote locations. The antennas support 3G/LTE, SCADA, wireless backhaul and broadband communications that are critical for applications such as asset tracking/RFID and remote monitoring, fleet management and public safety in the energy, industrial, warehouse and transportation sectors, according to a company press release.