Rail supplier news from Thales, dFuzion, Red Hat, Loadsmart and STV (April 27)

Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency has awarded a contract to Thales for the design, delivery, installation and testing of a signaling system and ETCS L2 test system for the KouvolaKotka-Hamina line. Thales already has delivered new signaling solutions for Finland, and the extension to Kouvla-Kotka-Hamina will improve the railway network in southern parts of Finland, Thales officials said in a press release. Kotka-Kouvola-Hamina will be the first ETCS L2 test track in Finland and will launch a nationwide train control system update to ETCS L2.

dFuzion Inc. announced the launch of rMetrix® 2.0, a vehicle-track interaction system designed to calculate ride quality and comfort to quickly identify and prioritize safety and maintenance issues. rMetrix 2.0 incorporates the latest in sensor technologies – high resolution GPS receivers and small industrial grade form-factor inertial measurement sensors. rMetrix delivers actionable data direct to rail inspection and maintenance teams, according to a company press release.

Red Hat Inc., a provider of open source solutions based in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced that Alstom has transformed its railway communication through an edge computing strategy built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform, and Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

Loadsmart, a Chicago-based digital freight technology company, has launched a new mode optimization capability to offer multiple instantly bookable rates for a single full truckload (FTL) shipment. Backed by data and analytics, the update provides the necessary information for shippers to select the most cost effective and environmentally sustainable modes for FTL shipments. These valuable insights can help shippers reduce their carbon footprint, save time on rate discovery and avoid FTL tender rejections, company officials said in a press release.

Ali Mir, West region planning director for transportation at STV Inc., has been promoted to vice president. Mir joined STV in 2012 and has been instrumental in the development of environmental and transit planning initiatives within the private sector as well as for municipal, state and federal agency clients, according to a press release. Under his leadership, STV’s West Coast planning practice has tripled in size.