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• GE Transportation signed a memorandum of understanding with TransMashDiesel and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy to establish an Evolution Series diesel engine manufacturing plant in Astana, Kazakhstan. The parties plan to spend about $90 million to build the 97,000-square-foot facility, at which about 400 Evolution Series diesel engines would be produced annually to serve customers in the Commonwealth of Independent States region. The parties would form a joint venture to manufacture, sell, service and provide spare engine parts. The plant is expected to be in operation by 2013’s end, with the first engines scheduled to roll off the assembly lines in early 2014. “We are looking forward to advancing sustainable infrastructure growth in the rail, marine and stationary power industries across the CIS region,” said GE Transportation President Lorenzo Simonelli in a prepared statement.

• Siemens has received a $73 million contract from the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) to build 18 S70 light-rail vehicles. To be manufactured at Siemens’ Sacramento, Calif., plant, the vehicles are scheduled to be delivered beginning in August 2014. The units were ordered as part of the 7.3-mile Portland-Milwaukie light-rail extension, which will connect Portland State University in downtown Portland, inner Southeast Portland, Milwaukie and North Clackamas County. TriMet now has ordered 40 S70 units and more than 100 total light-rail vehicles from Siemens.

• Wabtec Corp. recently signed contracts valued at $34 million to provide components for 473 subway cars to be built for MTA New York City Transit by Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. Wabtec will supply brakes, couplers and current collectors (through Wabtec Passenger Transit); door operators and related equipment (through subsidiary Vapor Stone); and event recorders (through Wabtec Railway Electronics). The cars are scheduled to be delivered between 2013 and 2015.

• GATX India Private Ltd. (GIPL), a subsidiary of GATX Corp., has purchased 10 new rakes, each consisting of 45 container flat cars, which GIPL has agreed to lease to Arshiya Rail Infrastructure Ltd. The agreement marks GIPL’s entry into the Indian rail-car leasing market. GIPL is the first leasing company to be registered under the Indian Railways’ car leasing scheme, said GATX President and Chief Executive Officer Brian Kenney in a prepared statement, adding that car leasing in India provides a growth opportunity for GATX.

• RailComm will expand its wireless remote-control derail system at Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co.’s RIP track facility. A customized local control panel, located within the shop, will be modified to include the new derail locations. The panel is designed to provide wireless remote control to the derails and includes a keypad for security and logging. All control panel operations are recorded and stored on a wirelessly linked computer workstation, which enables supervisors, managers and other authorized personnel to review the operation logs and manage the system security, according to RailComm.

• Parsons Brinckerhoff named Jeff Mann manager of special projects in the firm’s Transit and Rail Technical Excellence Center. To be located in the Raleigh, N.C., office, he will be responsible for assisting clients with planning activities, and developing and managing transit and rail projects. Mann previously served as assistant vice president of policy and development-South Region at Amtrak, where he led strategic planning, high-speed rail, state-supported service, corridor and commuter-rail service development for a nine-state region between Virginia and Florida. He previously served as property and public affairs manager for the North Carolina Railroad Co.