Alstom booked €2·6bn of orders in Q1 2018-19 between April 1 and June 30, compared to €1·9bn over the same period last year. Group sales were up 14% to €2·0bn, and the backlog on June 30 was €35·5bn, with around 30% being services.
Steer Davies Gleave has shortened its name to Steer. ‘With a growing presence across the globe and a broadening portfolio into sectors beyond transport, including health, energy and economic development, we have made the decision to rename’, the company said on July 16. ‘Transport remains at the core of our business, but we are increasingly helping clients maximise opportunity and realise value within this changing landscape.’
Foresight Autonomous Holdings has increased its stake to become the largest shareholder in technology company Rail Vision Ltd with 35% of issued and outstanding shares and 34% on a fully diluted basis. ‘We believe that, like in the automotive space, the next step is to provide trains with sensors and processing capabilities, to prevent accidents, reduce downtime, and increase productivity’, said Foresight CEO Haim Siboni. ‘Rail Vision is a leader in cognitive vision systems that detect objects before a train and make real-time decisions. We strongly believe that Rail Vision’s capabilities will become the standard in this market.’
CAF has acquired a stake in in Orbital Critical Systems, which supplies safety and security technology for the aerospace and rail industries. One of its main customers is Airbus, and it works with CAF on railway signalling. Orbital has offices in Spain and Germany, 100 staff and annual turnover of €5m
On July 17 Wabtec announced that it would close the Microphor plant in Willits, California by the end of Q1 2019, affecting 18 jobs. Production of sanitation systems for rail and other applications is to be consolidated at the Wabtec site in Greenville, South Carolina, ‘in an effort to better meet common customer demand and achieve manufacturing synergies’.
Embedded hardware and onboard system supplier Eurotech has joined public transport IT association ITxPT.