Supplier news from Alstom, Hitachi Rail and Railserve

Alstom has acquired a 20-acre site in Newark, Delaware, where it will construct a new maintenance facility to serve Amtrak's NextGen Acela passenger trains. The company is investing more than $55 million between the purchase of the property and site improvements, Alstom officials said in a press release. Once operational, Alstom will employ about 100 people at at the facility. The site was chosen in part for its direct access to Northeast Corridor tracks. The new maintenance facility will be large enough to serve two trainsets at once, with a third outdoor track for storage. Alstom anticipates opening the new facility in summer 2028. Additionally, Alstom will adapt existing warehouses on the property for storage and offices for a parts distribution center.

Alstom has also recently expanded its involvement with U.S. academic institutions in a commitment to rail workforce development. The company is establishing an engineering scholarship fund at a college near one of its New York manufacturing plants; joining the advisory board for New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management; and becoming a founding sponsor of the Transportation Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Hitachi Rail in partnership with Japan-based Sumitomo Corp. has been awarded a contract to design, supply, install, test and commission a new automatic fare-collection system across seven new stations for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Jakarta North-South Line phase two project in Indonesia. Hitachi Rail will serve as system integrator and solution provider for the automatic fare-collection system, which will improve MRT Jakarta's transit infrastructure, improve operation efficiency and offer flexible payment options to riders, Hitachi Rail officials said in a press release. The contract also covers development of system interfaces and fare-collection software for 13 stations created during MRT Jakarta North-South Line phase one. 

Railserve, a Marmon Rail company, this week launched YardGUARD, an integrated rail-yard safety system that incorporates real-time engineered controls into switching operations. YardGUARD combines six safety components into one system that can provide real-time visibility and alerts across multiple critical areas of yards, Railserve officials said in a press release. The system is configured to each facility where it's deployed and is embedded into Railserve's operating model. It integrates sensing, vision, communications and cloud-based monitoring technology for a layered safety approach.

Railserve also has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Israel-based Rail Vision Ltd. for expanded collaboration on Rail Vision's ShuntingYard perception systems. The MOU follows Railserve's successful initial deployment of the ShuntingYard system through a commercialization agreement signed in January 2024. Through the new MOU, the companies will discuss additional deployments, potential new use cases and other commercial opportunities, Rail Vision officials said in a press release.