Rail supplier news from Wabtec, GE, Mott McDonald, Skanska, Stantec, Bombardier and TekTracking (Jan. 16)

Wabtec Corp. and General Electric Co. on Monday announced the U.S. Department of Justice closed its review of their pending merger. Through a more than $11 billion transaction announced late last year, GE would sell a portion of GE Transportation assets to Wabtec; complete a spinoff or split-off of a portion of GE Transportation to GE shareholders; and merge GE Transportation with a wholly owned Wabtec subsidiary. The transaction — which would position Wabtec as a Fortune 500 company with operations in more than 50 countries — is expected to close by the end of the first quarter pending the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions. "By bringing together GE Transportation, a global digital industrial leader and supplier to the rail, mining, marine, stationary power and drilling industries, with Wabtec's broad range of freight, transit and electronics solutions, we will have the capability and expertise to invent smarter ways to move and improve the world," said Wabtec President and Chief Executive Officer Raymond Betler in a press release.

A Mott McDonald/PGH Wong Engineering joint venture was awarded a $125 million contract from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) to provide general engineering services for the second phase of the BART Silicon Valley extension. The joint venture will perform design and engineering work for a five-mile tunnel, four station areas, two ventilation structures and other systemwide work. The partners also will help advance design work in preparation for the VTA’s federal funding request in spring 2020. The second phase involves a 6-mile extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit service into downtown San Jose and Santa Clara, California, utilizing a single-bore tunneling method designed to minimize construction disruptions.

Skanska USA won a $60 million contract from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to perform work for East Side Access, the authority's largest capital project. Skanska will construct an 800-foot tunnel structure and install tracks and switches at the Harold Interlocking, which connects MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains to Grand Central Terminal. The award is the final heavy civil contract for the project, Skanska officials said in a press release. The firm expects construction to start in spring and continue through mid-2021. The Harold Interlocking is the busiest interlocking in North America. The $11 billion East Side Access project calls for bringing LIRR service into a new eight-track terminal and concourse below Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.

Stantec has announced it will serve as the lead designer for the first phase of the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red and Purple line modernization program. The Chicago Transit Board last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to a Walsh Construction Co.-Fluor Corp. team to engineer, design and construct elements of the first phase. Stantec previously was selected as the preferred lead designer for the joint venture in fall 2015. The program’s first phase involves reconstructing, modernizing and building 1.9 miles of elevated tracks, including bridges and support structures, along Chicago’s busiest transit corridor. The work also calls for reconstructing and modernizing four of the Red Line’s oldest rail stations, and building a new rail bypass to relieve congestion at a century-old junction north of Belmont Station.

Bombardier Transportation has received the “Guaranteed French Origin” certification from the Pro France association for the Francilien and OMNEO/Regio 2N trains. It's the first time that designation has been granted to the rail industry, Bombardier officials said in a press release. Guaranteed French Origin certifies the French origin of a product based on an independent audit that ensures adherence to stringent standards. An audit confirmed that the production of the Francilien and the OMNEO/Regio 2N trains complied with the required criteria, Bombardier officials said. Bombardier produces both trains at its plant in Crespin, France.

TekTracking LLC in late 2018 launched the Safety Light Monitor (SLM), a patent-pending sensor platform designed to measure and verify the operation of safety lights used in grade crossings, wayside signals and similar safety critical lighting applications. The SLM is a wireless, self-powered and self-charged multi-sensor device that can operate more than 10 years without intervention, TekTracking officials said in a press release. The SLM can be mounted to the top of the sunshield on a safety critical light. The monitor’s sensors measure safety light intensity, light color, orientation of signal head and down-track viewability, sound, ambient temperature, shock and vibration.