Rail supplier news from Timken, Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, CIT, Westport and Nomad Digital (Sept. 17)

The Timken Co.'s board has approved a plan to separate its steel and bearings/power transmission businesses through a spinoff, creating two publicly traded companies, according to a company press release. The new engineered steel company will operate as an independent, publicly held company. Ward Timken Jr. will serve as chairman and chief executive officer. The bearings and power transmission business will continue to operate as The Timken Co. Upon separation, James Griffith will retire from the company, Richard Kyle will serve as president and CEO, and John Timken Jr. will assume the role of non-executive chairman. The spinoff is expected to be completed within 12 months.

The city of Calgary, Alberta, has awarded Siemens an order to supply 60 S200 light-rail vehicles valued at $180 million. The vehicles will be built at Siemens factory in Sacramento, Calif. The full order is scheduled to be filled by December 2016, according to a company press release.

Last week, Alstom officially unveiled and delivered the first of 22 Citadis trams ordered by Nottingham Express Transit (NET) for its extension project in Nottingham, England. The delivery was part of NET Phase 2, a project that involves the construction of two new tram lines and 29 stations.

Bombardier Transportation has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World index and Dow Jones Sustainability North America index for the seventh consecutive year. The company is among the 333 companies worldwide included in this year's annual review of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. Bombardier also ranks among the 140 most successful companies in the North America index, according to the company.

CIT Group Inc. has appointed Israel Kaufman executive vice president and treasurer. Reporting directly to Chief Financial Officer Scott Parker, Kaufman will be responsible for the functional areas of CIT's treasury group, including funding, asset/liability management, hedging, international treasury, cash management, capital management and rating agency relations. Prior to joining CIT, Kaufman was global treasurer of Geller & Co.

Westport Innovations Inc. has named Thomas Rippon vice president, mining and rail. His experience includes a long tenure at General Motors in North America and Asia. In his new role, Rippon will assume some of the responsibilities of Nick Sonntag, Westport's executive VP and Westport Asia's president who retired last week.

Nomad Digital announced it has been listed in The Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100, which charts Britain's fastest-growing private technology, telecom and digital medial firms. Nomad is the only transport technology company to be listed for a third consecutive year, according to a company press release. Nomad is ranked 52nd in this year's list.