Rail supplier news from RSI, Bombardier, J.B. Hunt and PFL Petroleum (July 1)

John Byrne has been named vice chairman of the Railway Supply Institute's Committee on Tank Cars. He recently retired from GE Capital after nearly 38 years, where he served as manager of regulatory compliance and quality. In previous positions with the company, he managed repair facilities, quality management systems, audit programs and fleet product safety. Byrne also represented GE Capital on the Association of American Railroads' Tank Car Committee and its various task forces. He began his rail career at the former rail-car leasing firm North American Car Co. in Chicago.

Bombardier Transportation's Australian joint venture with Downer EDI has obtained a contract to supply an additional 10 three-car commuter trains to Western Australia's Public Transport Authority. The deal is an extension of an earlier contract for the Perth "B series" electric multiple unit trains. The new $384 million contract also includes maintenance through 2026 for both the "A" and "B" series train fleets, according to a Bombardier news release. The trains will be manufactured at Downer's plant in Queensland, Australia, with electrical pre-assembly completed at Bombardier's Australian manufacturing facility in Victoria. Delivery of the first train is slated for the end of 2019.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. has opened enterprise sales branch offices in San Antonio, Texas, and Portland, Maine. Opening the new offices is part of the company's ongoing effort to provide "best-in-class supply chain solutions" across the United States, said Senior Vice President of Transportation Eric McGee in a press release. The company provides transportation solutions to customers throughout North America.

PFL Petroleum's EasyTrade platform recently launched rail storage space as an addition to the Railcar Workspace. Customers can now use the platform to bid/offer storage space by state and across North America. Previously, there was no other way to find aggregated storage information around the continent, PFL Petroleum officials said in a press release. The new platform allows customers to get a sense of availability and rates in one place.