Wabtec

Rail technology provider Wabtec is joining forces with Dutch company Intermodal Telematics to create telematics technology for rail cars.

The Greenbrier Companies, GATX and Wabtec all reported quarterly earnings this week. Among the themes expressed during earnings calls was pervading market uncertainty domestically but an abundance of international opportunities.

Progress Rail is asking a federal court to order Wabtec to divest of its GE Transportation unit, hold up its end of two agreements and correct statements it made about Progress Rail and its locomotive manufacturing program.

Looming rail car retirements and high rates for rail car scrapping — not rail volumes — are driving the rail car market, according to the CEOs of rail car leasing companies and rail equipment manufacturers.

Reduced North American rail traffic isn’t dampening the outlook for these rail equipment manufacturers and rail car lessors.

FreightWaves chatted with Wabtec’s Philip Moslener, who leads Wabtec’s advanced technologies team, about why companies should conduct research in hydrogen in locomotives.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory and Wabtec are in the middle of a four-year project aimed at developing a locomotive engine that can incorporate both diesel and hydrogen.

Class I railroads CSX, CN, CP and KCS tout recognition for their sustainability efforts, while rail technology provider Wabtec gets a nod for its battery-electric locomotive.

Wabtec says the acquisition of Super Metal will expand the rail tech provider’s presence in international markets.

Railcar manufacturers expressed five themes in recent earnings calls. Their consensus: There is still much to be upbeat about.

News briefs involving short line acquisitions, Class I rail headcount in August and rail technology developments.

Improvements in rail service and “unparking” locomotives are market signals that could bode well for Wabtec in the back half of this year.

Companies tout it as ‘largest investment in modernized locomotives in rail industry history’

Union Pacific on Wednesday enlisted Wabtec to modernize 600 locomotives to improve fuel efficiency, reliability and haulage ability.

CN will implement Wabtec’s precision dispatch system over the next year.

This week’s rail news roundup includes CSX’s to offer SMART-TD members advance payments to improve relations and Wabtec’s latest acquisition.

Near-term deployment of long-term technologies such as automation isn’t as far away as one might think.

With Wabtec’s help, NS will retrofit locomotives so that they can last 20 more years.

Union Pacific will test B20 biodiesel and R55 renewable diesel on the locomotives that it acquired from Wabtec. The western U.S. railroad also said it reduced fuel consumption for three years in a row.

The donation will help relief efforts in Poland.

North American rail equipment manufacturers have customers and offices in the region, and they’re assessing what steps to take next as the situation unfolds.

Adjusted earnings per diluted share increases 20.4% to $1.18.

Wabtec and Progress Rail selected as suppliers

UP will examine the locomotives’ performance at its yards and in California and Nebraska and see how the locomotives can be deployed for long-haul service.

Rio Tinto is the second Australian mining company that will use Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive in mining operations.

Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern submit a plan to regulators detailing how they will merge their operations.

The Canadian railway is purchasing battery-electric freight locomotives from Wabtec and it is testing renewable fuel blends with Progress Rail.

Underneath the supply chain disruptions and the chip shortage are customers that need Wabtec’s components to improve their rail operations, executives said during the third-quarter earnings call.

Recent rail news includes investments, technology purchases and cleanup fees.

The three have signed agreements committing to work together on developing advanced locomotive power technologies.

Significant investments in technology and equipment are required to optimize rail networks across the United States, according to Wabtec’s Nalin Jain.

The rail manufacturer has been modernizing locomotives to improve their fuel efficiency and longevity.

Two groups announced this month their separate efforts to increase supply chain visibility. One technology tool focuses on locating railcars and another aims to forecast volumes at the Port of Los Angeles.

CSX will be using Wabtec’s technology aimed at reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency for locomotives.

Wabtec and General Motors have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop and commercialize GM’s advanced battery technology and its fuel cell technology for Wabtec’s locomotives.

Wabtec’s battery-electric locomotive can reduce a train’s fuel consumption by 11%, a three-month study involving the company, BNSF and the San Joaquin Pollution Control District found.

A market recovery is underway for railcar lessors and equipment manufacturers, but the market also has a ways to go before it bounces back completely, according to industry observations.

Wabtec is working with railroad customers to transition from diesel power to cut emissions.

Wabtec’s chief technology officer chats with FreightWaves about ways technology can help the freight rail industry decarbonize.

Rail technology provider Wabtec plans to acquire Nordco as Wabtec eyes the railcar mover market and the technologies associated with it.

Wabtec, short line operator Genesee & Wyoming and Carnegie Mellon aim to establish public-private institute that would research, demonstrate and commercialize advanced freight rail technology.

The AAR released climate policy proposals encouraging partnerships and market solutions that promote competition and carbon capture, utilization and storage technology.

Prospective North American and international customers are inquiring about Wabtec’s battery electric, heavy-haul locomotive, which is undergoing advanced tests with BNSF. The company reported its fourth-quarter results on Thursday.

AAR disregards that straight electric locomotives are easier to maintain. Plus each electric locomotive could be as powerful as perhaps two diesel-electric units.

BNSF and Wabtec conduct advanced tests on a battery-electric locomotive by putting it in service in California with two Tier 4 diesel locomotives.

Wabtec shares its “30 by 30” strategy for combating climate change. Greenbrier plans to track its emissions and energy intensity in 2021.

The international market for freight rail services and equipment is pulling ahead of the North American market, but that should catch up eventually, Wabtec said during its third-quarter earnings call.

The rail equipment and technology provider is one of many companies that have laid off or furloughed employees because of the lower-volume environment exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Digital yard management company continues summer growth streak.

Information sharing is part of Executive Director Gene Seroka’s quest for more efficient operations.

A district court judge has signed off on a $48.9M class-action settlement for employees of two of the nation’s largest railway suppliers that are alleged to have engaged in no-poaching agreements.

Wabtec’s former chief technology officer departs for CN; Wabtec appoints a new leader to the role.

Multimillion-dollar backlog will help the rail equipment and locomotive manufacturer stay afloat, executives said.

The rail equipment and locomotive manufacturer eyes freight opportunities abroad amid a sluggish North American freight rail market.

The rail equipment and locomotive manufacturer benefits from its merger with GE Transportation.

Wabtec says the $29 million acquisition of RELCO will expand its freight services offerings.

The rail equipment and technology manufacturer sees international opportunities as an area for business to grow.

The rail equipment manufacturer will close its Boise facility and move operations to Erie.

“If a shipper can share some of its production forecast information to railroads, railroads can plan better to meet that capacity. Conversely, if railroads can open up and show where their empty railcars are to the shipper so that the shipper has a bit more confidence that the right number of railcars are going to show up, then the shipper can more confidently choose rail.”

Train products manufacturer and supplier Wabtec lowered its sales guidance for 2019 but kept its projections for how much profit it expects to make from its operations.

Autonomous trains might be fully running in remote Australia, but it will take awhile before those kinds of trains will be rolling down the North American countryside.

A number of rail equipment lessors and manufacturers have been merging and consolidating in recent months as a way to leverage themselves against marketplace changes brought about by precision scheduled railroading. Meanwhile, industry observers are watching whether railcar utilization grow in 2019.