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• Yesterday, Bombardier Transportation marked the opening of the extended first phase of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link in Johannesburg, South Africa. The new self-contained integrated rail system features a fleet of Bombardier Electrostar intercity trains and Bombardier CityFlo 250 train control technology, Bombardier officials said in a press release.

• Harsco Corp.’s Harsco Rail segment reported its second-quarter operating income increased to $22.5 million from $21.6 million a year ago. Sales in the quarter decreased 10 percent to $78 million compared with $86 million in second-quarter 2010. Income benefited from $8 million in pre-tax dollars as a result of a change in estimated costs related to the first phase of the China Ministry of Railways equipment order, Harsco officials said in a prepared statement. Excluding the item, operating margins in the quarter were 18.6 percent vs. 25 percent a year ago.

• Brandt Road Rail Inc. has launched Brandt Rail Services in Georgetown, Texas. Steve Orrell, former president, chief executive officer and co-founder of Georgetown Rail Equipment Co., will lead Brandt Rail Services. “This new division will bring the Brandt-engineered quality into a new arena with railroads throughout the U.S.,” said Orrell in a prepared statement. Brandt Road Rail designs and manufactures railroad maintenance-of-way equipment.  

• Wavion™ has deployed its “Beamforming-based” Wi-Fi base-stations for high-speed intranet access at a Ferrovalle container yard in Mexico City. The network, which is used by field staff workers equipped with Wi-Fi tablets, is designed to provide real-time data, voice and video communications. The network enables field staff workers to track containers, send images, file reports and assemble trains in record time, Wavion officials said in a prepared statement.

• Nomad Digital Ltd. is opening a new office in Paris, from which it plans to continue selling the company’s train communications systems in France. The firm has appointed Olivier Bourhis to lead the new unit, a Nomad press release stated.