Rail supplier news from PowerRail, ABB, Nebraska Central Dispatch, MEN Mikro and Tideworks (July 18)

PowerRail Inc. has announced the formation of a new sister company known as PowerSeal Solutions™. The move is aimed at helping the rail industry solve locomotive leak issues while increasing reliability, PowerRail officials said in a press release. PowerSeal Solutions will manufacture all of its products in-house and will perform its own analysis and testing processes. The new company also will provide the same product lines currently offered by PowerRail in all applications.

ABB has obtained a $20 million contract from Great Britain's Network Rail to provide a trackside power electronics solution for new high-speed trains along the East Coast Mainline route. To run on electricity, the trains will need about three times more power than is currently available. ABB developed a "static frequency converter" solution that will adapt the feed from the existing Northern Powergrid local distribution network. This is expected to result in a total cost saving of 60 percent compared with building a new high-voltage connection, ABB officials said in a press release.

Nebraska Central Dispatch has rebranded itself as Rio Grande Pacific Dispatch (RGPD), the company announced late last week. The rebrand is designed to strengthen connections to parent company Rio Grande Pacific Corp., as well as more accurately depict the company's operations, RGPD officials said in a press release. The company's dispatching services originated as part of the Nebraska Central Railroad Co. more than a decade ago. RGPD's leaders decided it was time for a change after the dispatching center was relocated to Fort Worth, Texas, in 2016, company officials said.

The Center for Transportation and Logistics Neuer Adler e.V. has presented an innovation award to MEN Mikro Elektronik for the development of its Railway Data Center platform. The technology meets the "increased requirements for modularity and connectivity" in the rail industry, MEN Mikro officials said in a press release. In addition, the platform consolidates all data processing and communication on a train and in train-land communication.

Tideworks Technology Inc. has appointed Thomas Rucker president as of Sept. 1. Currently, he is vice president of operations at Manzanillo International Terminal, where he manages liner customer relationships, strategic planning and terminal productivity. Rucker will succeed Michael Schwank, who has been president since 1988. Tideworks provides comprehensive terminal management and planning software solutions.