Modern Railways – April 2019

http://www.modern-railways.com April 2019 Modern Railways 91

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Operations, Planning, Economics and Management

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Symposium on alternative approaches for new and

refurbished sleeper vehicles, 8 April, Swindon

Details at http://nearyou.imeche.org/eventdetail?id=15411

West Midlands Trains, lecture, 10 April, Derby

Details at http://nearyou.imeche.org/eventdetail?id=15589

How to deliver a better safer railway, lecture, 16 April, Shortlands

Details at https://events.theiet.org/

how-to-deliver-a-deliver-a-better-safer-railway/

Scottish Rail Freight Strategy, lecture, 18 April, Glasgow

Details at http://nearyou.imeche.org/eventdetail?id=15808

Modern Railways Fourth Friday Club

and Rail in the North conference,

26 April, Manchester

Details at http://www.4thfriday.co.uk/rail-in-the-north/

EMC in Railways, conference, 1 May, Birmingham

Details at https://events.theiet.org/emc-in-railways/

ATO: Integration to achieve a truly interoperable

system, seminar, 9 May, London

Details at http://events.imeche.org/ViewEvent?e=6826

Metro Futures – the Next Generation, lecture, 9 May, Newcastle

Details at http://nearyou.imeche.org/eventdetail?id=15999

Haymarket’s HSTs, technical visit, 16 May, Edinburgh

Details at http://nearyou.imeche.org/eventdetail?id=15809

Official publication:

Modern Railways

Trade associations in partnership

THE RAILWAY Industry Association

has signed a memorandum of

understanding with its counterpart

the Australasian Railway Association

(ARA). The partnership was confirmed

at a reception hosted by the British

Consul-General in Australia as part

of a UK rail trade delegation visit. It

will see the two associations work

more closely together, benefiting

both organisations’ memberships,

and helping to boost each

country’s export potential in rail.

The agreement includes sharing

of information relating to research

and innovation, skills and training,

and closer working arrangements

in trade fairs and rail exhibitions.

Fingerprint drug testing promoted

ROWE HANKINS is to offer the

world’s first portable fingerprint-based

drug test to the rail sector.

The company says by analysing

sweat from fingerprints it can

determine if someone has recently

used cocaine, opiates, amphetamines

or cannabis. Rowe Hankins

has partnered with Intelligent

Fingerprinting to market the system

to operators and other organisations

across the industry. It features an initial

screening test, with sample collection

taken in a matters of seconds and

screening results available within

10 minutes. In the event of a positive

result, a fingerprint collection kit

for laboratory analysis enables the

collection of additional fingerprint

samples for laboratory confirmation,

which are then sent away for analysis.

The company says the method could

replace the current urine and saliva

tests used across the industry.

Unipart acquires Westcode

UNIPART RAIL has acquired 100%

of the share capital of Westcode UK

Ltd and Westcode Incorporated. The

acquisition took place on 1 March.

The businesses will continue

to trade as Westcode Inc and

Westcode UK Limited under the

Unipart Rail brand in their respective

territories. Westcode supports

an extensive range of air supply

equipment and has a comprehensive

range of door system products.

Unipart says the acquisition of both

the UK and USA Westcode businesses

supports its growth and acquisition

strategy in targeting both overseas

markets and customers through

companies which complement the

current products and service portfolio.

George Tillier, Managing Director,

Unipart Rail North America, will

manage the US operation with Paul

Widdowson, President, reporting

to him. Graham Jackson, Managing

Director, Unipart Rail, will lead the UK

branch of the business with Tony Park,

Managing Director, reporting to him.

Meanwhile, Unipart has

secured a two-year extension

to its joint venture contract with

Sydney Trains for the delivery

of maintenance and logistics

services for a section of Sydney’s

metropolitan passenger rail fleet.

As part of the UGL Unipart joint

venture, the two-year extension

will be effective from July 2019.

The contract covers provision of

heavy maintenance and supply

chain services to more than

1,050 passenger rail cars and is worth

A$395 million to the joint venture.

The joint venture began seven years

ago and has utilised a combination

of UGL’s heavy maintenance skills

and Unipart’s supply chain and lean

expertise. UGL is the 70% majority

shareholder in the joint venture.

Wabtec completes GE merger

WABTEC HAS completed its merger

with GE Transportation, formerly a

business unit of GE. The combined

company is expected to have

revenues of more than US$8 billion

in 2019 and has a multi-year backlog

of more than US$23 billion. GE

announced its intention to sell

the Transportation business in

November 2017, with the Wabtec

merger announced in May 2018.

The aim of the combined

company is to create a leading

equipment, aftermarket services

and digital solutions provider for

the transportation sector, and to

improve utilisation and accelerate

the path to automation. An

expanded footprint of technicians

and repair shops will provide ‘a more

streamlined services experience’,

for example by integrating Wabtec

products within locomotive control

systems and by leveraging GE

Transportation’s expansive remote

monitoring and diagnostics systems.

Following the deal, Wabtec

shareholders own approximately

50.8% of Wabtec and GE

shareholders 24.3% on a fully

diluted basis. GE holds a 24.9%

economic interest in Wabtec and

received around US$2.9 billion

in cash at the closing of the

deal. The combined company

has around 27,000 employees

in 50 countries and is based in

Wilmerding, Pennsylvania.

Ride India challenge completed

Made it: 23 rail industry staff have completed the Railway Children’s annual

Ride India challenge. Participants cycled 450km in six days across India’s Golden

Triangle and raised over £46,000 for the charity. Representatives from a range of

industry companies took part, including the challenge’s headline sponsor Thales.

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