Rail supplier news from RCE, Alstom, Siemens and Cambridge Systematics (July 14)

Rail Construction Equipment Co. has rebranded itself as RCE Equipment Solutions Inc. The new name reflects the company's "growth and diversification goals," RCE officials said in a press release. Although the company has been primarily focused on rail maintenance equipment, RCE within recent years has received several requests for custom equipment design projects outside the rail market. RCE Equipment Solutions will serve as the umbrella company for three different divisions: RCE Rail, which continues to cater to the rail market; RCE Energy, which develops machinery for the energy sector; and RCE Engineering. Meanwhile, RCE's facility in Rockford, Illinois, is undergoing an "extensive" expansion, company officials said. To support the additional products, the company added 11,000 square feet of production space and 6,000 square feet of additional engineering and support space.

In Alstom's first fiscal quarter, the company booked $2.18 billion worth of orders compared to $1.03 billion for the same period in its last fiscal year. The quarter runs from April 1 through June 30. In addition, Alstom logged sales of $2.13 billion, up 6 percent. The company's orders this year include two contracts for almost 100 light-rail vehicles in Canada, a fleet modernization project in the United States and a metro system contract in Vietnam. By 2020, Alstom expects its sales to grow by about 5 percent each year.

Siemens on Wednesday unveiled a prototype of a new electric multiple unit (EMU) train for the Rhine-Ruhr Express (RRX). The company will begin testing the train at its test and validation center in Wegberg-Wildenrath, Germany. All seven pre-series trains will be commissioned at the center and complete extensive tests in the coming months before beginning their first runs on the public rail network. The units can travel at speeds up to 99 mph and feature a driver assistance system for look-ahead breaking and acceleration, Siemens officials said in a press release. The RRX is slated to begin service in the greater Rhine-Ruhr region by 2018's end. 

Cambridge Systematics' shareholders late last month elected former Transportation Research Board Executive Director Bob Skinner to the firm's board. The board now includes seven members, including five external directors. Before taking the top job at TRB, Skinner led the board's policy study activities. Prior to that, Skinner served as vice president of Alan M. Voorhees and Associates, a transportation consulting firm. In a volunteer capacity, Skinner also sat on Metrolink's commuter-rail safety review panel.