AEA Technology Rail of Great Britain announced on August 25 the purchase of Nederlandse Spoorwegen Technisch Onderzoek, the technical research division of Netherlands Railways. AEA is paying 3m guilders for NSTO, which is based in Utrecht and has 125 staff. The company is to be renamed AEA Technology Rail BV and will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British company.
The acquisition is expected to strengthen AEA’s capabilities in the fields of materials behaviour and wear, and environmental noise reduction, as well as providing the consultancy created through the privatisation of BR Research with a base on the continent of Europe. AEA Technology Rail Managing Director Cliff Perry says that the changing rail market in Europe ’offers considerable opportunities for our suite of products’.
- AEA Technology Rail has signed a memorandum of understanding with IIT Research Institute of Illinois to provide technical and manufacturing support for the introduction of IITRI driving simulators and interactive distance learning systems to the British market. The partners plan to make ’cost-effective high-performance simulation technology’ available to every Train Operating Company in the country.
