Rail supplier news from Greenbrier, CC&L, L.B. Foster, Bechtel, Masabi and SPRING (Sept. 11)

The Greenbrier Cos. Inc. has introduced a covered hopper rail car to its line of rail-car products. Made specifically for transporting grain, the newly designed car features the Tsunami Gate, a door and hatch system that permits shippers to customize the discharge speed of grain. The rail car has a capacity of 5,185 cubic feet. At 50 feet and six inches long, the car is shorter than traditional models, allowing more rail cars per fixed amount of track, Greenbrier officials said in a press release.

Connor, Clark & Lunn Infrastructure acquired VIP Rail ULC, a short line logistics business affiliate of Alpenglow Rail LLC. VIP Rail provides first- and last-mile rail transportation and storage solutions to a blue chip customer base in Sarnia, Ontario. Meanwhile, CC&L Infrastructure formed a partnership with Alpenglow Rail to develop and operate a diversified portfolio of rail businesses across North America, CC&L Infrastructure officials said in a press release.

L.B. Foster Co. has appointed Greg Lippard as vice president of rail. The company also promoted Peter Jones to VP of global technology and managing director in Europe; Steve Fletcher to VP of global friction management; Jason Bowlin to VP of rail products; Patrick Tully to senior director of rail sales; Sarah McBrayer to assistant general manager of transit products; and Jen Rohr to director of technical sales. Additionally, Director of Rail Sid Shue will be responsible for operations at the company’s plant in Pueblo, Colorado, and production at the Allegheny Rail Products facility in Niles, Ohio. Shue also will be responsible for operational profit and loss of track component manufacturing in St. Jean, Quebec. Craig Davis, general manager of rail distribution, will be responsible for operations of the rail yard and welded train fleet in Columbia City, Indiana. Rich Burnside, director of supply chain, will assume indirect purchasing for L.B. Foster, company officials said in a press release.

Bechtel Corp. is part of a team leading a project to construct 19.3 miles of underground rail tunnels for the Sydney Metro in Australia. This month, the project reached a milestone as five 1,000-ton boring machines passed the halfway point in carving the tunnels. Additionally, the team launched a boring machine under Sydney Harbor, Bechtel officials said in a press release. Bechtel is overseeing the delivery of the tunneling contract, which was awarded to the John Holland CPB Ghella Joint Venture.

Masabi’s Justride mobile ticketing software development kit has allowed the Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) to integrate mobile ticketing into the Transit multimodal trip planning mobile application. RTD riders can now purchase a light-rail tickets directly through the Transit app, RTD officials said in a press release. 

Succession Planning for Railroads Investing in the Next Generation (SPRING) announced it has entered into an alliance with NVT Staffing to enhance its hiring capabilities and recruiting efforts nationwide, SPRING officials said in a press release. NVT Staffing specializes in providing temporary, temp-to-hire and permanent placement employees.