Rail supplier news from Hub, FTS, Alstom and TransmetriQ (July 23)

Hub Group Inc. has agreed to acquire the intermodal assets of Martin Transport Ltd.'s intermodal division for $51.8 million in cash. Marten Intermodal provides temperature-controlled intermodal service to about 100 food and beverage shippers, Hub Group officials said in a press release. The transaction is anticipated to close by the end of third-quarter 2025. "We are excited to more than double Hub Group’s temperature-controlled container fleet and leverage our existing intermodal network to serve Marten Intermodal’s customers” said Phil Yeager, Hub Group’s president, CEO and vice chairman.

FTS Rail CEO and founder Peter Bartek has been selected to serve on the U.S. Department of Transportation Advisory Board. Bartek is among the 12 business leaders, industry experts and innovators that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appointed to the board, according to a USDOT press release. The board members will advise Duffy on how USDOT can modernize transportation systems. Bartek has over 30 years of experience and over 50 patents in rail safety, according to his LinkedIn page. 

Alstom will supply propulsion components for an additional 435 R211 subway cars for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) New York City Transit (NYCT). The manufacturer, Kawasaki Rail Car Manufacturing Co. Ltd., announced the order from MTA for the 435 additional subway cars in February. Alstom is utilizing a second option agreement with Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. to make the propulsion systems for the additional cars. With the exercise of the second option, more than 80% of the NYCT fleet will be equipped with Alstom's propulsion system, Alstom officials said in a press release. The propulsion systems will be manufactured at Alstom's Hornell, New York, manufacturing facility.

TransmetriQ, a Railinc brand, recently launched a new visibility solution designed to eliminate errors in the process of moving containers between ocean vessels and railroads. TransmetriQ uses GPS-based vessel date, AI-driven ETA modeling and centralized event reporting from over 41 shipping lines, 6,000 ports and over 600 railroads. The visibility solution addresses long-standing customer pain points such as inaccurate ETAs and offers 75% more accurate ETAs, TransmetriQ officials said in a press release.