The VUZ railway test centre at Velim in the Czech Republic is now buying all its electricity from suppliers of renewable power.
2XM has launched a consulting business to advise private and government organisations on rail, transport and other critical infrastructure projects in Australasia. Former SNC-Lavalin Managing Director Mark Hughes has been appointed as MD, bringing experience of major infrastructure projects in the UK, Malaysia and Australia. The consultancy will draw on the global expertise of parent company TXM Group, which has offices in the UK, USA and UAE and provides access to experienced teams that have worked on electro-diesel trains, the Transport for Wales Rail Transformation Programme, Crossrail and the Hitachi IEP Service Recovery Programme in the UK as well as supporting businesses such as Keolis with international franchise bids.
Africa Finance Corp has created AFC Capital Partners headed by Ayaan Zeinab Adams as CEO as an independent asset management arm, which plans to raise US$500m in the next 12 months and US$2bn over the next three years for investment in African railways, ports, roads, bridges, telecoms, clean energy and logistics. ‘AFC Capital Partners will enhance our firepower in driving integrated infrastructure solutions that are core to Africa’s development in the post-Covid era’, said Africa Finance Corp President & CEO Samaila Zubairu.
Alstom has installed 91 photovoltaic panels at its traction systems factory at Trapaga in Spain. These are expected to generate 46 000 kWh per year to power internal consumption in lighting, offices, 24 h equipment and power outlets.
Polish rolling stock manufacturer Pesa is to use Dassault Systemes’ 3Dexperience Platform to speed up its design processes and shorten the time to market for new products.
Hexagon has launched a Security & Surveillance portfolio for rail, combining LiDAR, thermal and video surveillance systems with security, resource management and collaboration software to manage the complete lifecycle of incident management. ‘Rail networks have a broad spectrum of security needs, and Hexagon’s Security & Surveillance portfolio uniquely spans different hazards, capabilities and teams’, said Juergen Dold, President, GSI, at Hexagon. ‘It offers scalable solutions that seamlessly transition from simple security monitoring to emergency response to collaboration among diverse teams during complex operations.’
Sofia Berger has been named executive leader of the Transportation national business line at WSP USA from September 20. She is currently deputy director of the group’s Advisory business. Dana Lowell has joined the firm as national lead for zero emissions on the Transit & Rail team.
Mike Hyde is to join Trainline as Chief Data Officer in early October. He joins from Workplace by Facebook, where he was Data Science Director, and has previously worked for Microsoft and led data and insights at Skype.