Alstom is to install 6 600 m² of solar panels to produce green electricity at its bogie frame factory in Mátranovák. The 1·5 MW solar park will meet 23% of the factory’s electricity needs, implemented as an onsite Power Purchase Agreement through a 15-year deal with E.ON. ‘We have replaced lighting with energy-saving bulbs, insulated offices and modified the heating system. As part of this approach, we will now produce greener electricity’, said Gáspár Balázs, CEO of Alstom Hungary.
The United States District Court for the District of Delaware has dismissed all antitrust claims filed in a lawsuit challenging the merger between Wabtec and GE Transportation. The Court said no harmful effects on competition resulting from the merger had been shown and also dismissed remaining antitrust allegations. The Court did not grant Wabtec’s motion to dismiss alleged breach of contract and other claims, which Wabtec said it ‘intends to vigorously defend’. On June 13 Kyra Yates, Vice-President of Investor Relations at Wabtec, said ‘we are pleased with the court’s ruling, which affirms the value and integrity of the Wabtec-GE Transportation merger for the industry and all its stakeholders’.
Alstom is to provide C$106 000 over three years to support Ontario Tech University Engineering students considering careers in the rail industry. This funding comes during the lead-up to the launch of an undergraduate Railway Engineering specialisation in September, which has been developed with the support of Alstom and other organisations in the industry. A similar French-language programme supported by Alstom will also launch at Polytechnique Montréal.
On June 11 Willem Goosen, CEO of European Loc Pool, was elected to the management committee of the Rail Working Group which oversees implementation of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. Howard Rosen, Konrad Schott, Martin Fleetwood, Jamie Holley and Benjamin von Bodungen were all re-elected to the Management Committee at the AGM.
The latest companies to join European rail supply industry association UNIFE are Lütze Transportation, NKE Austria (AT), Blu Wireless Technology, Westermo Network Technologies, SRT, Kombud Group, Huber+Suhner, Strukton Rail, Diehl Aviation Gilching, Nymwag, Tejasa TC - Silentflex, Windhoff Bahn & Anlagentechnik and Loram.
Operating concessionaire Auckland One Rail Ltd has awarded CAF a five-year contract to provide engineering services, training and spare parts for 95 electric multiple-units supplied since 2011. The Spanish company said this would ensure continuity of its activities in New Zealand.
Alstom has been awarded the ‘Made in Mexico’ label by the Ministry of Economy. This recognises its commitment to the national industry and Sustainable Development Goals. ‘With a history of more than 70 years in Mexico, Alstom has established itself as a key player in both national and international rail sectors. Through our site in Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo, we have developed robust manufacturing capabilities that allow us not only to serve the domestic market, but also to export trains, carbodies, and components around the world’, said Maite Ramos, Managing Director of Alstom Mexico & North LAM.