This week’s news from the global railway supply chain.
Stadler opened a 4 600 m2 welding facility at its Salt Lake City factory on September 25, enabling aluminium car bodies to be welded on-site rather than shipped from Stadler facilities in Europe. This is expected to create up to 20 new welding jobs by the end of 2026, and take domestic content up to 80%. During the ramp-up phase, welding specialists from Stadler’s competence centre in Hungary are on site to share best practice and ensure a seamless transfer of expertise. Stadler said it is analysing all supply chains with the aim of further reducing the proportion of non-US components.
On October 2 A Stucki Co announced the acquisition of wagon wheelset reconditioning services provider Wheelworx, which has 105 employees at manufacturing facilities in Calera, Alabama, and Pekin, Illinois. Stucki said it is building an integration plan to maintain production capabilities and customer service while creating opportunities for employees across both organisations. ‘This acquisition strengthens our capabilities in wheelset production, repair and logistics and enables us to capitalise on our longstanding relationships with railcar suppliers’, said Stucki CEO Ron Port.
Vossloh completed the €450m acquisition of concrete sleeper manufacturer Sateba from TowerBrook Capital Partners on October 1. Sateba has 1 000 employees and 19 production sites in 10 European countries with a capacity of around 4 million sleepers per year, which will add to Vossloh’s concrete sleeper plants in North America and Australia.
Polish infrastructure manager PKP PLK has formally joined the EULYNX initiative developing open, modular standards for railway signalling and traffic management. ‘Joining EULYNX is an important step towards modernizing Poland’s railway infrastructure’, said PKP PLK CEO Piotr Wyborski. ’Thanks to a common European standard, we will achieve greater system interoperability, improve safety and service quality and enhance the competitiveness of rail transport in Poland.’ Mirko Blazic, Technical Lead of EULYNX, said having one of Europe’s largest infrastructure managers as a member ‘strengthens our collective market influence and underlines that standardisation is the cornerstone of safe, efficient and digitalised rail systems’.
In September the US International Trade Commission announced a preliminary affirmative decision that there is a reasonable indication that the domestic freight rail coupler industry has been materially harmed by imports from the Czech Republic and India sold at less than fair value. Petitions were filed in July by the Coalition of Freight Coupler Producers. The ITC’s final phase investigation is likely to occur in the summer of 2026, and could led to duties on the low-priced imports for a minimum of five years. ’US antidumping and countervailing duty laws must be enforced to protect US companies from unfair trade practices, said Daniel B Pickard of law firm Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, lead counsel to the petitioner.
Italian rail, industrial and mining electrification and data infrastructure company Tesmec has completed the signing of a pool financing operation for a total amount of €55m, structured through four agreements with several financial institutions. This will enable the partial early repayment of existing medium-to-long-term debt, and supporting the groups industrial plan and investments. Tesmec was assisted by law firm Chiomenti, while the banks were advised by PedersoliGattai.
Wabtec and national railway KTZ have agreed to finance social projects in Kazakhstan. ‘For KTZ, it is important not only to develop infrastructure and renew the locomotive fleet, but also to provide real support to the population living and working near the railway. This is our joint contribution with Wabtec to the sustainable social development of the regions, the future of the railway, and the younger generation’, said KTZ Chairman Talgat Aldybergenov.
Travel booking platform Omio now offers Czech national operator ČD’s tickets, including routes to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. ‘This partnership marks a major milestone for Omio and is a key piece of the puzzle for a complete European multimodal offering’, said Veronica Diquattro, President B2C & Supply Europe at Omio. ČD’s Passenger diector Petr Vondráček said the agreement is a step ‘towards strengthening the accessibility of our services for passengers from all over the world. Through this partnership, we are opening up to a wider group of customers.’
Law firm Addleshaw Goddard has joined the Rail Working Group established to represent the position of the rail industry relating to the adoption and implementation of the 2007 Luxembourg Rail Protocol. AG’s rail team advises clients across the UK, Europe and the Middle East on a variety of railway schemes including the development of new railways, passenger concessions, rolling stock leases, ticketing and fares, rail freight and railway regulations.
Alstom is seeking to fill upwards of 150 positions at its regional headquarters and train development site in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Québec. The new employees will work in several areas including engineering, procurement, finance, IT and digitalisation and project management. ‘This period of expansion will allow us to continue developing our local expertise and innovation capabilities, as well as strengthening our role as a regional economic driver’, said Marie Couillard, General Manager of the site.
Systra has acquired Ardanuy Ingeniería, which has more than 350 employees working on rail, metro and urban transport projects in Spain, Portugal, Latin America, India and the Baltic region.
Medium-distance night train start-up Dreamstar Lines has joined the Association of Innovative Passenger Rail Operators group which advocates for policies to promote the expansion and enhancement of passenger rail service across the USA. ‘We believe we are uniquely positioned to address systemic failures in US transportation and rail service with a private-sector alternative that is customer-focused and based on innovation’, said Dreamstar CEO Joshua Dominic. ‘We see a clear opening to catalyse a broad transformation of the industry. Its not just a business opportunity. Its a once in a century opportunity to redefine how Americans travel, connect and live.’
Association of American Railroads subsidiary MxV Rail has named Lee Nelson as Executive Director of the Security & Emergency Response Training Center. He brings over two decades of hazardous materials emergency response expertise, including roles at Canadian National Railway and Ambipar’s Advanced Rail Training Center.