Rail supplier news from ProTran, Nebraska Central, Cubic and Bombardier (Nov. 29)

The Regional Transportation District of Denver (RTD) is expected to award a contract to Protran Technology to provide a complete railway worker warning system, according to the agency's website. The system includes a "Protracker" device mounted in the train's cab to warn train operators of nearby track workers who are wearing "personal alert devices." In August, RTD issued a request for proposals for such a system.

Cubic Transportation Systems obtained a $4.8 million contract modification from the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) to upgrade its automatic fare collection system. The upgrade will enable MTA to accept mobile payments and adds features such as a customer web portal. To date, Cubic provided software and technical support for MTA's automated fare collection system. Under the contract modification, the company will upgrade the NextFare™4.0 revenue management system to NextFare 7, according to a Cubic press release.

Nebraska Central Dispatching Services (NCD), a subsidiary of Rio Grande Pacific Corp., has begun dispatching services for the Denton County Transportation Authority's (DCTA) A-train and the Dakota Southern Railway. On Oct. 1, NCD assumed dispatching services for DCTA; earlier this month, the company began dispatching service for the Dakota Southern Railway. NCD's Fort Worth-based dispatch center supports about 1,100 crew starts, and typically issues over 1,800 track warrants and 200 bulletins each month.

Bombardier Transportation has received a $620 million order for 40 OMNEO double-deck electric multiple units from French rail operator SNCF. The units will go into service in the Normandy region of France. The order is part of a contract signed in 2010 to provide up to 860 double-deck trains to the French Regions, according to a Bombardier press release. To date, the French Regions have ordered 253 trains of the OMNEO product family under the 2010 framework contract.