Rail supplier news from Wi-Tronix, KLW, HAZON, Alstom and RATP (Aug. 24)

Wi-Tronix LLC has equipped Iowa Interstate Railroad Ltd.'s (IAIS) locomotive fleet with the  Violet™ streaming event recorder and video analytics system. The technology enables the railroad to connect its assets to a digital network, Wi-Tronix officials said in a press release. IAIS has used Violet's artificial intelligence-based video analytics to complete video surveys of its mileposts. Violet aggregates petabytes of video data in an Internet of Things approach to create actionable information. The platform consists of an event recorder, digital video recorder, locomotive data acquisition recording system and crash-hardened memory module.

Knoxville Locomotive Works (KLW) has been awarded the Environmental Protection Agency's Tier 4 emissions certification for its SE Series four- and six-axle locomotive designs. The company is the only freight locomotive manufacturer to have achieved Tier 4 certifications for switch and line haul duty cycles, KLW officials said in a press release. The certifications include the switch duty cycle for KLW models rated at 2,000, 2,200 and 2,300 brake horsepower (bhp), as well as the line-haul duty cycle for models rated at 2,400 through 3,200 bhp. The company's locomotives are designed to deliver improved fuel savings and tractive effort compared to their conventional locomotive counterparts, said KLW Chairman Pete Claussen.

HAZON Solutions has used drones to inspect more than 100,000 linear feet of rail bridges. Early last year, Norfolk Southern Railway commissioned HAZON to conduct drone-based inspections. Since then, HAZON has conducted more than 64 bridge inspections across the Eastern United States. The company's drones use high-definition still frame, video and thermal imaging cameras to cover a bridge's entire length. HAZON inspection teams fly within 15 feet of rail bridges to capture the best quality pictures possible, company officials said in a press release. HAZON previously  inspected power transmission lines in the energy sector and launched a drone fleet management software known as HAZON DMS. 

Alstom has signed an eight-year, $159 million contract with Swedish public transit company Arriva for the maintenance of 99 Coradia Nordic regional trains. Under the  agreement, maintenance operations will start in December 2018. Arriva previously obtained a contract to operate Swedish transit agency Skanetrafiken's trains, and Alstom was included in the bid as maintenance solution provider. Alstom's scope includes full maintenance except cleaning. The company will use digital tools such as the TrainTracer solution for predictive maintenance. The work will be carried out at the depot in Raus, Helsingborg.

RATP Dev North America has appointed Robert Smith senior vice president of operations for the company's west region. In addition to overseeing operations in the region, Smith will help develop new business with light-rail, metro and bus systems. Smith previously served as chief transit officer at the Chicago Transit Authority. Before that, he served as chief executive officer of the Maryland Transit Administration in Baltimore. Throughout his career, Smith has managed light-rail, commuter-rail, bus and paratransit services.