Alstom is investing €10·5m in a second production line and onboard transformer manufacturing capabilities at its plant at Fez in Morocco, which currently produces harnesses and electrical cabinets. The additional 13 000 m2 facility will be operational in 2023, with a capacity of up to 200 transformers/year.
The Greenbrier Companies has joined the RailPulse group of wagon owners, manufacturers and operators which was formed in 2020 to accelerate the adoption of telematics across the North American freight network. ‘Greenbrier brings a tremendous amount of industry experience and capacity to the RailPulse team, and we look forward to integrating their expertise into the development and deployment of the platform’, said Mike McClellan, Vice-President of Strategic Planning at founding member Norfolk Southern. ‘This is just another indication of the growing appeal of the transformative possibilities offered by telematics for the benefit of all parties in the rail ecosystem: railroads, shippers and railcar owners alike.’
Rail cybersecurity company Cylus has raised US$30m in a Series B round led by US firm Ibex Investors and joined by Vertex Growth Fund, Strides International Business, Magma Venture Partners, Vertex Ventures Israel, Israeli entrepreneur Zohar Zisapel who is a member of the Cylus board, and Glenrock Israel. This brings the company’s total funding to more than US$57m. William Heinrich, former CISO of Amtrak and BNSF, and Mark Grant, former CISO of CSX Transportation, are to join the company’s advisory board.
An MoU to co-operate to examine the use of hydrogen technology in rail transport has been signed by Alstom and Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, which produces 150 000 tonnes of hydrogen per year.
Baltimore-based RailPlan International has sold its passenger rolling stock Maintenance Services Group to Canadian company Milman Industries. ‘This acquisition will strengthen and expand service to our customers in the transit sector throughout the USA, as RailPlan becomes part of the Milman Industries international company, Diesel Electric Services’, said Milman Industries founder and President Milad Mansour. The transaction was supported by RR Mergers & Acquisitions.
Goal Systems and T-Systems International are to partner to facilitate the integrated use of their planning and optimisation systems in the European transport market.
Sasser Family Companies has appointed Brian Frizzell as Division President of Rail, leading its Chicago Freight Car Leasing and CF Rail Services wagon repair subsidiaries.
VTG has scored 96 out of 100 in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark ranking, putting it 22nd among the 550 companies participating worldwide in the Infrastructure benchmark test, and second in the peer group of a total of six western European rail freight companies. ‘With a GRESB ranking that places us among the top 4% of sustainable investments, we are underscoring VTG’s attractiveness to our financing partners, as we are also leading the way in the environmental, social and governance space’, said Chief Financial Officer Mark Stevenson.
Anne Darnall has joined WSP USA as National Transit & Rail Deputy Market Sector Leader, based in Charlotte.
Having been certified for its anti-corruption management system in France and India in 2020, Systra has had its ISO 37001 certification renewed by Eurocompliance in these two countries and extended to the UK and Ireland.
