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Alstom obtained a $132 million contract from ZGB, through its subsidiary RGB, for 20 Coradia Continental regional trains in Germany. The contract includes an option for an additional 13 trains. The trains will be manufactured at Alstom's plant in Salzgitter, Germany, and are due to enter service in December 2015. The fleet will be maintained by the Alstom Train Life Service competence center in Braunschweig.

Siemens is equipping 230 traction units belonging to the SBB-Swiss Federal Railways with Trainguard-200 On-Board Units. The computers are compatible with the European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 1 and 2, and the national train protection system ZUB 121, according to a press release. The order's value is "in the middle double-digit million euro range," Siemens officials said. SBB plans to replace its existing train protection facilities with the ETCS Level 1 by 2017's end.

Trinity Industries Inc. subsidiaries Trinity Industries Leasing Co. (TILC) and Trinity Rail Leasing 2012 L.L.C. have closed a two-tranche rail-car asset-backed securitization in the aggregate amount of $333.8 million at an average weighted life of approximately eight years at closing. The transaction is secured by rail cars and their associated operating leases, and the obligations are nonrecourse to Trinity and TILC. Proceeds from the financing will be used to repay a portion of TILC's rail-car leasing warehouse, future growth of TILC's lease fleet and general corporate purposes, according to a company press release.

Harsco Rail recently announced three key leadership appointments: Joseph Dougherty, vice president-international, who will lead the company's sales, administration and operations in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Russia/CIS regions; Jay Gowan, vice president of sales for North and South America, who will take on additional sales responsibility for business in Australia and New Zealand; and David Baxter, director of global commercial operations, who will lead product management, market research, marketing communications and sales quoting teams.

Dutch rail operator Arriva Netherlands is rolling out wireless Internet on all of its trains through an agreement with Nomad Digital. A pilot system was tested on 10 trains in 2011, and since then Nomad wireless routers were fitted on the remaining 51 trains and an additional 38 new Stadler trains slated to enter service by 2012's end. By January 2013, Arriva's entire fleet will offer free WiFi service to riders, according to an Arriva press release.

Portuguese information technology company SISCOG has developed a prototype for Barcelona railway company Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC). The prototype is designed to support the automatic and optimal planning of drivers' duties, taking into consideration the FGC labor rules and data from the Barcelona-Vallés line, according to a company press release. The project was recently demonstrated at a two-day workshop.