Rail supplier news from RailComm, Hanson, Siemens, Ansaldo, OPW and T-Rail (Nov. 8)

Joe Forgione, who has more than 30 years of experience in leading private and public technology companies, has been named president and chief executive officer of RailComm L.L.C. He succeeds Joe Denny, who earlier this year announced he would step down after nearly 15 years of service since founding RailComm in 1999. Denny will continue his involvement with the company as founder and board chairman, as well as in an operational capacity leading RailComm's new product initiatives and customer and strategic partnerships.

Hanson Professional Services Inc. recently submitted preliminary plans for the design of the Carpenter Street underpass between Ninth and 11th streets in Springfield, Ill. The plans were submitted to the city, the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Federal Railroad Administration, the Illinois Commerce Commission, Norfolk Southern Corp., Union Pacific Railroad and utility companies. The underpass is the first stage of the Springfield Rail Improvements Project, which is part of the Illinois High-Speed Rail Chicago-to-St. Louis program.

Siemens has obtained a $93.7 million order to supply signaling and control equipment for a 559-mile freight rail line in the Nacala Corridor, which extends from the coast of Mozambique across the country via Malawi to the town of Moatize. Siemens will supply the Train Sentinel positive train control system, the train integrity monitoring, Westrace type solid-state interlocking, a telecommunication system based on a microwave network and a Tetra system for track to train data transmission.

Ansaldo STS was chosen by CNR Equipment Engineering Co. Ltd. to build the first TramWave® catenary-free system in China, implementing the agreement that was signed in 2012 with CNR Dalian and with the Taiwanese company GRC. The agreement calls for the construction of tramways with this technology for the first time in Chinese territory. Signed by CNR, the contract is valued at $34.8 million.

OPW has promoted Dan Chew to business development manager for Asia Pacific. In his new role, he will focus on business development for the Asia Pacific region, while looking after the Northeast Asia sales territory. Prior to his promotion, Chew was regional sales manager for Northeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand markets. OPW also appointed Chris Cooper to regional sales director for Australia and New Zealand, which had been Chew's territory. Prior to joining OPW, Cooper was commercial director for Gilbarco Veeder-Root's Middle East and Africa business.

T-Rail Products Inc. President Lisa Tuningley has been named a finalist in the Deloitte Start-Up category of the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards program. About 3,000 women entrepreneurs throughout Canada were nominated for this year's recognition. Tuningley and the other finalists will be honored Nov. 27 at the 21st Annual Awards Gala in Toronto, where six winners will be announced. The award program recognizes women entrepreneurs "who make impressive contributions to the local, Canadian or global economy," according to a press release.