Rail supplier updates from Harris, Amsted, Alstom, Tiger Cool and Parsons Brinckerhoff (June 26)

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) board approved a 20-year, $70.7 million contract with Harris Corp. in Rochester, N.Y., for the design, construction and maintenance of an enhanced radio system for the MTA Police Department. MTA's 2010-2014 Capital Program provided the funding for the venture. The contract calls for the installation of modernized radio equipment at 69 sites throughout 14 counties. The MTA Police Department serves the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and the Staten Island Railway.

Amsted Rail is making capital investments in its Griffin wheel facilities to increase annual wheel capacity by more than 10 percent at its five North American locations. The project also is aimed at allowing plants to flex annual capacity to meet short-term increases in demand, company officials said in a press release. Implementation has begun and is expected to be complete in all facilities by early 2016.

Alstom recently handed off an H3 hybrid locomotive to Volkswagen during a ceremony in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The new hybrid shunting locomotive will be used at Volkswagen's Wolfsburg plant for zero-emission freight transport. Compared to conventional shunters, the new H3 locomotives produce up to 50 percent less carbon dioxide emissions and 70 percent less pollutant emissions overall. Alstom is responsible for maintaining the locomotives for 10 years.

Tiger Cool Express LLC named Cortney Keenan vice president of marketing. In the new role, Keenan will be responsible for pricing, marketing services, contracts, and coordination of sales and operations. Hired on as a pricing manager in 2013, she was promoted to director of pricing in 2014. Before joining Tiger Cool, Keenan served as a consultant for Accenture and a financial analyst for CSX Corp.

Philip Stephens was appointed senior principal technical specialist in the Chicago office of Parsons Brinckerhoff. He'll serve as a quality task lead for the Illinois Department of Transportation's Chicago-to-St. Louis high-speed rail program. He'll also oversee all program management sub-consultants and contractors. Stephens has more than 20 years of management experience in applying quality standards for the design and construction of large transportation infrastructure projects.