The Indian cabinet has approved the closure of the Ministry of Railways’ Burn Standard Company Ltd wagon manufacturing and repair business. It said the decision had been taken ‘in view of the continuous poor physical and financial performance of the company for more than 10 years despite financial assistance and other support provided by government, and low probability of its revival in the future.’ The government will provide a grant of Rs 4·2bn towards severance packages and clearing current liabilities, and a loan of Rs350m will be written off.
The European Union Agency for Railways has launched an online survey on its website seeking information from all companies and organisations that are affected by the Fourth Railway Package on their readiness for the implementation of the Technical Pillar.
Deutsche Bahn has extended its long-term distribution agreement with Amadeus, which will continue the distribution of DB products through its Amadeus Rail Web Services and Amadeus Cytric Travel & Expense networks.
In an effort to make it easier for companies to do business with Indian Railways, Research Design & Standards Organisation is holding events in various cities where potential suppliers can meet RDSO officials and learn about the online vendor registration system.
Bombardier Transportation says it is the first rail company in Australia to obtain EN15085 Railway Applications for Welding of Railway Vehicles & Components certification. The Welding Training Centre at the Dandenong site in Victoria is now an accredited facility for developing local welding capabilities for delivering industry-recognised certifications to staff, external suppliers, and industry partners.
The enhanced version of the UK’s RISQS rail market supplier assurance platform has been opened to pre-register suppliers. This is intended to provide a ‘smarter, quicker and easier’ platform with improved audit capabilities. New supplier members can pre-register to be visible to buyers when it goes live on May 1. RISQS acts as a gateway for suppliers to enter the market, providing assurance for 110-plus buyers including Network Rail and Transport for London to do business with confidence with 4 300 companies.
Conrad Machine, which leases track maintenance equipment to US railways and manufactures components for the rail and energy sectors, has been acquired by Conkright Enterprises. RR Mergers & Acquisitions advised Conrad Machine on the transaction.
