Rail supplier news from VYCON, Miller Ingenuity, Larry McGee, Hanson, Bombardier, Harsco, STV and Alstom (April 4)

VYCON, a designer and manufacturer of environmentally friendly, high-speed kinetic energy storage systems, has completed delivery of a kinetic energy storage system at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Metro Red Line Westlake/MacArthur Park station. The equipment will be used in Metro's Wayside Energy Storage Substation-WESS project, which is funded by a grant of $4.4 million provided by the Federal Transit Administration under the Transit Investments for Greenhouse Gas and Energy Reduction program. VYCON's contract is valued at $3.6 million for the supply of the main core equipment and the commissioning of the entire system, according to a company press release.

Railway component solutions company Miller Ingenuity acquired the Larry McGee Co. A specialist in the sale of rail service and supply companies, RR Mergers & Acquisitions served as an adviser to Larry McGee, which provides a range of onboard and office-based communications interface panels and systems for the railroad and transit industries.

Hanson Professional Services Inc. opened a new office in Tallahassee, Fla. The firm has offices in several other Florida cities. The new office will "complement the services we provide in Florida and nationwide,” Hanson President and Chief Executive Officer Sergio Pecori said in a press release.

The value of the contract between Bombardier Transportation South Africa Ltd. and Transnet Freight Rail for the delivery of 240 electric TRAXX Africa locomotives is $1.2 billion. The contract was signed and became fully effective last month, according to a Bombardier press release.

Harsco Rail recently hired Craig Fairley as plant manager of the company's production facility in Columbia, S.C. Fairley has held several senior positions during his career, including stints as site lean deployment leader and director of operations at Acuity Brands Lighting, and as a plant manager at AGCO Corp.

Vinny Kissoon has been promoted to vice president of STV. He will continue in his role as a chief estimator with STV's Construction Management Division's Project Controls group. Based in New York City, Kissoon has served STV for 15 years and has more than 28 years of experience as an expert in project controls for transportation, education, civil works and facility projects nationally.

Alstom presented its latest achievements in tram design at two exhibitions inaugurated this month at the Lieu du Design in Paris and the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan.