Emepa of Argentina has closed its rolling stock maintenance and overhaul workshop at Pérez in Santa Fe province with the loss of 70 jobs. Aiming to concentrate production at its Laguna Paiva facility, Emepa says that it will retain Pérez pending conversion for other industrial use in the medium term.
Canadian wagon repair company Vidal Street Industrial Park Inc has implemented RailcarRx’s cloud-based repair management system to automate its billing and inventory management processes.
Another 13 companies joined UNIFE at its 2017 general assembly. They are: Andiman & Co, ContiTech Luftfedersysteme, Elma Electronic, ELPA, Funkwerk Systems, Gerflor SAS, Global Display Solutions, HIMA Paul Hildebrandt, Kapsch CarrierCom, NGRT, Nkt Cables, Prover Technology and Sertec Engineering.
On June 26 shareholders in UK consultancy WS Atkins plc voted to approve the acquisition of the company by SNC-Lavalin Group of Canada. This was due to become effective on July 3, with Atkins shares expected to be de-listed from the London Stock Exchange the following day.
The Railsponsible sustainability initiative has introduced a new membership model which allows companies to join regardless of the type of supplier assessment system they have in place. There are now two types of member, A members primarily use EcoVadis and B members using other assessment systems.
Following a request by a prequalified investor, on June 23 the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund announced that it had extended the deadline for the submission of binding offers for rolling stock business EESSTY until November 3.
Novosibirsk Electric Locomotive Repair Plant’s Locomotive Technologies business and Sinara Transport Machines’ STM-Service unit are to launch a locomotive maintenance joint venture on July 1.
Alstom has obtained ISO 37001 certification for its anti-bribery management system, following an audit carried out between March and May at seven sites in Europe. Further audits are to be undertaken in other regions. ‘We are very proud to be among the first companies in the world to receive this certification’, said CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge. ‘It demonstrates our strong commitment to ethics and validates the considerable efforts made internally to increase communication and awareness of our ethical procedures and values’.
On June 27 Sweden became the latest signatory of the 2007 Luxembourg Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. Swiss financial advisory and asset management services company Apex Rail has joined the Rail Working Group which represents the rail industry in regard to the implementation of the protocol.
Embedded computing technology company Kontron is to merge with S&T Deutschland Holding.
The Greenbrier Companies received orders for nearly 11 000 wagons worth at $1·01bn during its third quarter to May 31, including 6 000 for Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance. The backlog as of May 31 was 31 000 wagons worth $3·10bn. Deliveries totalled 2 600 wagons in Q3, down from 3 900 in Q2.
Payments and mobile ticketing technology developer Cardtek has joined the OSPT Alliance.
UK-based depot equipment, carriage wash, fuelling point and monitoring systems supplier Garrandale Group has launched an Australian subsidiary in Melbourne, having recently won a contract to design and manufacture an automatic water-recycling carriage wash system for the Sydney Metro project. ‘We are looking to expand our international presence, and our long-term plan is that 50% of business will be overseas in three years‘, said Garrandale Managing Director Tim Brown.
