Rail supplier news from Konecranes, Alstom, NRC, Network Rail and Quandel (Feb. 14)

Konecranes and the Virginia Port Authority have signed a contract for the delivery of four cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes. This follows a November 2016 contract for 86 automated stacking cranes. The four new cranes will be delivered to the Virginia International Gateway terminal as part of an expansion of its intermodal yard, which is served by Norfolk Southern and CSX through an operating agreement with the Commonwealth Railway. The first two cranes will arrive in spring 2018, while the last two will arrive in early 2019, Konecranes officials said in a press release. Financial details of the contract weren't disclosed.

Alstom and The CoSMo Co. have announced a strategic partnership to develop a new application aimed at improving the global efficiency of rail systems. The application will enable operators to "consider the entirety of their rail operations" instead of assessing each part separately, Alstom officials said in a press release. It also will allow Alstom to design more efficient transportation networks and meet higher performance and service quality standards. The application will be based on CoSMo's software platform.

The 14th annual National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) equipment auction will take place April 6 in Paulsboro, N.J. The event will be held at the Railroad Construction Co. of South Jersey and Railroad Constructors facility. Items for sale include Mark II tampers, spikers, Gradall earth movers, Pettibone material handlers pickup trucks, backhoes and more, NRC officials said in a press release. Contractors, suppliers and railroads are invited to sell or donate equipment. For equipment consigned to sell, 1 percent of the buyer's premium and 2 percent of the seller's fee goes to fund the NRC Safety, Training and Education program; the seller keeps the rest. All proceeds from donated equipment will go to the training program. More information on the auction be found here.

Network Rail Consulting, a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Britain's Network Rail, has opened a Canadian subsidiary in Toronto. Having a local office will enable the company to be more responsive to existing clients and pursue new opportunities, Managing Director Nigel Ash said in a press release. To lead this new operation in Canada, Network Rail Consulting has appointed Susanne Manaigre as vice president. Her 30-year rail career includes a stint as chief of operations for Southern Ontario's GO Transit/Metrolinx.

Quandel Consultants LLC has made four employees principal partners. The move expands ownership in the company from three partners to seven, Quandel officials said in a press release. The new partners are:
• James Jennings, who most recently served as program management consultant engineering task lead for the Illinois Department of Transportation's Chicago-St. Louis higher-speed passenger-rail project;
• Daniel Schulte, a project manager assisting the Michigan Department of Transportation in implementing projects to rehabilitate 135 miles of mainline railroad between Dearborn and Kalamazoo.;
• Melanie Johnson, the project manager leading the preparation of an environmental assessment and service development plan for a proposed increase in frequency on Amtrak's Milwaukee-Chicago Hiawatha route; and
• Charles Hoppesch, who served as project engineer during the preliminary engineering phase for the proposed Northern Lights Express passenger-rail route between Minneapolis and Duluth, Minn.