Rail supplier news from Greenbrier, Alstom, Caltrax, GE and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff (Sept. 22)

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. has appointed Jim Cowan president of Greenbier International. He'll remain chief executive officer of GBW Railcar Services LLC and continue reporting to Greenbrier CEO William Furman. In the new role, Cowan will support the company's rapidly growing international operations. His responsibilities extend to all rail-car markets outside the Americas and include international project coordination with Greenbrier's global manufacturing organization. Before joining Greenbrier in 2014, Cowan worked for Amsted Rail, where he supported the company's activities in Brazil. He previously served as president and CEO of American Railcar Industries Inc.

Alstom and Danish rail infrastructure owner Banedanmark have tested a European Train Control System (ECTS) level 2 baseline 3 application for the first time. The tests were conducted between Roskilde and Gadstrup, Denmark, as part of the Danish Eastern network upgrade being delivered by Alstom. Over the next decade, Denmark will be completely equipped with ETCS level 2 baseline 3, which is the newest baseline of the European rail traffic management system. Banedanmark is the first infrastructure manager to apply this baseline, Alstom officials said in a press release.

Caltrax Inc. on Oct. 3 will launch its first mobile repair unit in Calgary, Alberta. The company has been repairing rail cars since 1992 and has been known as a "premier shop" in Western Canada, Caltrax officials said in a press release.

GE Transportation has launched its first European digital pilot project with DB Cargo AG, Europe's largest rail operator. Deutsche Bahn is leveraging GE's RailConnect™ 360 asset performance management solution, which provides locomotive health status updates that increase efficiency and catch repair issues before failures occur, according to GE. The first results of the pilot project have been "promising," said Stefen Bobsien, DB Cargo's senior vice president of asset management and technology.

Yassmin Gramian has been named northeast business development director for the transportation and infrastructure sector at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff. Based in Philadelphia, Gramian will be responsible for Northeast business growth. She has more than 30 years of experience in operations, business development and client services, along with project management and structural engineering. Before joining the company, Gramian served as a senior vice president of Pennsylvania operations at a global architecture, civil engineering and construction management firm.