Rail supplier news from Herzog, Trinity, Hill International, Wabtec, Ansaldo and RSI; and in memoriam: ShipXpress' Charith Perera (July 25)

Troy Elbert has been named president of Herzog Services Inc. He's served the company for nearly 20 years in various positions. Elbert took up the duties of Rick Ebersold, who on June 5 retired as president after nearly 25 years with Herzog Services and a total of 43 years of service at various Herzog companies.

For the second quarter, Trinity Industries Inc. logged net income of $94.6 million, or 62 cents per common diluted share, compared with $212 million, or $1.33 per common diluted share, during the same period last year. Revenue came in at $1.18 billion versus $1.68 billion last year. Meanwhile, quarterly revenue for Trinity's rail group dropped to $693.2 million from $1.11 billion in 2Q 2016. Operating profit for the company's rail group fell to $88.8 million from $227.7 million in the same quarter last year. The rail group's decrease in revenue and profit was primarily due to lower rail-car deliveries and changes in product mix, Trinity officials said in a press release. At the quarter's end on June 30, Trinity's rail group had a backlog worth $4.29 billion, representing 43,360 cars. At the end of the first quarter, the business unit had a backlog of $4.72 billion, representing 43,360 cars.

Hill International has received the Outstanding Rail Project of the Year award from the Metropolitan Los Angeles branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension in Southern California. The company served as program manager for the first segment of the 11.5-mile extension of a Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) line. The award recognizes projects that further advance the field of civil engineering and provide exemplary display of ASCE's values, Hill International officials said in a press release. The company now serves as program manager for Metro's 12.3-mile Gold Line extension from Glendora to Montclair, Calif.

Linda Harty has been elected to Wabtec Corp.'s board. She'll serve on the board's audit committee and as a director until her term expires at the company's 2018 annual meeting. Harty is vice president and treasurer of Medtronic plc, a medical device company headquartered in Ireland. She joined that company in 2010 and also serves as a director on Parker Hannifin Corp.'s board. In addition, Harty chairs Parker Hannifin's audit committee.

Ansaldo STS was awarded a $40 million contract to upgrade signaling for a section of Malaysia's Klang Valley railway, which is managed by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad. The scope of the contract includes the upgrade of an outdated signaling system mainly focused on a 25-mile double-track section between the Rawang and Salak Selatan stations. The project is the first of three phases in the Klang Valley railway's double-track modernization program, Ansaldo officials said in a press release.

The Railway Supply Institute announced that its scholarship committee has selected six students to receive scholarship awards for the 2016-2017 academic year. The students will receive between $2,600 and $5,000 each for a total of $27,600 in scholarships. The recipients and their company affiliations are: Emily Chudzik, Wabtec Corp.; Fabiola Herera, Greenbrier Mexico; Yelizaveta Kovach, Gunderson; Timothy Mathison, Loram Maintenance of Way; Makayla Pearce, Standard Steel; and Jordan Rowold, Amsted Rail.

ShipXpress Inc. founder Charith Perera died July 8. He was 58. He's survived by five children and his wife, Chinta. For 16 years, he served as chief executive officer of ShipXpress, which provides cloud-based software solutions for Class Is and short lines. He previously served as director of marketing for CSX, where he worked for 17 years.