Rail supplier news from NRC, Bombardier, Siemens and CDM Smith (Dec. 28)

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC) announced that Cosmo Lawrence Laurello has been unanimously selected as this year's only entrant into the NRC Hall of Fame. After earning his civil engineering degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1961, Laurello worked for Koppers in Pittsburgh. In 1965, he joined his father at Delta Railroad Construction. After his father died in 1979, Laurello became president and chief executive officer of Delta. Under Laurello's watch, Delta became "one of the country's premier railroad contractors," NRC officials said in a press release. Laurello will be formally recognized Jan. 9 at the 2016 NRC Conference in San Diego, Calif.

Bombardier Transportation and its Chinese joint venture last week marked the opening of passenger service on the remaining 16 stations of the Shanghai line 12. With the new Movia metro trains introduced into passenger service at the opening, Bombardier has now delivered all 246 Movia metro cars for the 25-mile underground line. The first section of the route opened Dec. 29, 2013, followed by an additional extension on May 10, 2014.

Siemens and its consortium partner Kapsch CarrierCom Deutschland GmbH are currently equipping a new section of rail from Ebensfeld to Halle, Germany, with railway control, signaling and a technology known as Global System for Mobile Communications-Rail (GSM-R). Conventional fixed signals are no longer being used, as communication between the vehicle and the line is transmitted via GSM-R technology. The new technology permits speeds of up to 186 mph and enables trains to travel at shorter intervals, Siemens officials said in a press release.

CDM Smith Inc. has hired Keith Powley as senior construction and program manager. In his new role, he'll work with leadership in the company's North America unit to build business in the southern United States. Powley has more than 30 years of experience managing large civil and municipal projects, including transit-rail construction.