Rail supplier news from Thales, Ansaldo STS and TUV Rheinland (Dec. 18)

Thales signed a contract with Hungarian infrastructure company NIF to equip the 44-mile Gyoma-Bekescsaba-Lokoshaza route with modern interlocking and electronic train-control systems. The $110 million contract will be completed with local partner Dunantuli Kft, according to a Thales press release. The order covers the design, delivery, installation and commissioning of ELEKTRA electronic interlockings for four railway stations on the twin-track Gyoma-Bekescsaba section, as well as an ETCS Level 2 center at Bekescsaba rail station.

Ansaldo STS recently issued an update on the status of its contracts in Libya for the construction of the coastal line with the Libyan Railways, and with Zarubezhstroytechnology (ZST), which is owned by the Russian Railways, for the Sirth-Benghazi line. Ansaldo received advanced payments and issued advance payment bonds for the projects. The contracts were suspended due to war events, Ansaldo officials said in a press release. ZST later asked that the advance payment for the Sirth-Benghazi line contract be returned and said it intended to terminate the contract. Ansaldo maintained the termination was invalid, and that ZST was entitled only to a partial return of the advanced payment. On Nov. 25, the Tribunal of Milan authorized Crédit Agricole to repay a portion of the advance payment, which Ansaldo has already returned. The dispute's next stage will follow the ordinary forms unless a settlement is negotiated, Ansaldo officials said. Meanwhile, the Libyan Railways contract remains suspended until it's practical to restart work, they said.

Raj Sapru has joined TÜV Rheinland's San Francisco office as associate director of Sustainability Advisory Services. He will help lead TÜV Rheinland into a new chapter of professional services, focusing on Information and Communications Technologies, manufacturing and health care sectors, according to a company press release. Prior to joining the company, he served as director of advisory services at Business for Social Responsibility in San Francisco.