Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. will boost its Lafayette, Ind., large-engine facility’s production capacity for new engines and aftermarket parts, including those for rail applications.
The company on Aug. 13 reported that it will refurbish equipment, purchase additional equipment, and construct a new building at the Lafayette campus so it can expand its capacity to manufacture and test new engines and genset packages and provide aftermarket components. The Lafayette Engine Center opened in 1982 and employs about 1,900 people; the expansion is slated to add 100 new jobs.
“Currently, the Lafayette Engine Center produces products for rail applications,” a spokesperson for Caterpillar, the parent company of Progress Rail, told Railway Age. “The large, multi-year capital investment in our large-engine division will increase capacity for both new engines and aftermarket parts to further help us satisfy growing customer demand. As part of that, Caterpillar is reinvesting and expanding the Lafayette campus. Driven in part by cloud computing and generative AI, we are excited for the opportunity to further invest in our business to ensure we continue to deliver for our customers.”
Progress Rail is responsible for the sales and support of CAT® engines and systems for the rail industry, including locomotive traction power from 200 bkW to 3,500 bkW; head-end/hotel power from 300 3kW to 725 ekW; and maintenance-of-way power from 8 bkW to 2,000 bkW.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to further invest in our Lafayette Engine Center to continue to deliver for our customers,” said Bart Myers, Caterpillar Senior Vice President of Large Power Systems who has responsibility for the Lafayette campus. “We are grateful to the State of Indiana and the City of Lafayette for their support as we make this investment to ensure adequate capacity while enhancing safety for our employees.” The success of the Lafayette Engine Center, he pointed out, “is rooted in our people, our commitment to safety and our dedication to technical innovation and continuous improvement in the interest of customers’ business success.”
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WSP
Engineering, environment and professional services firm WSP on Aug. 16 signed the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) pledge along with ten other companies, including the Regional Transportation Authority of Northeastern Illinois (RTA), Metra commuter railroad, Illinois Tollway, CDM Smith, Loop Capital, Parsons Corporation, Turner Construction Company, and TYLin, at the House of Hope in Chicago, Ill.
“These organizations’ commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion—particularly in engaging Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs)—is a testament to the national significance of this initiative,” EIP reported via social media.
EIP was founded by Denver International Airport CEO Phillip A. Washington (former head of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority), former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari and others “in anticipation of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act [which was signed in November 2021] and to answer President Biden’s call to leverage infrastructure spending to build wealth in underserved communities.”
Joe Sczurko, WSP’s U.S. Region President, said at the signing event that it was “important for us to make the commitment to sign the EIP pledge,” as EIP “embodies community, opportunity and future” and “provides us the platform to be a leader in securing opportunities and a brighter future for many communities across the country, especially through our support of HUBs.”
Also in attendance were Phillip Washington (Chair of EIP), John Porcari, Dorval Carter Jr. (President of the Chicago Transit Authority/CTA and Vice Chair of EIP), Rev. James Meeks (Pastor Emeritus of Salem Baptist Church of Chicago and President and CEO of the Hope Foundation), and David Doig (President of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives).
According to WSP, in Illinois it has supported equitable contracting and employment opportunities for small and minority business owners. The firm is the general engineering consultant for the Illinois Tollway, and in this role oversees 50.5% minority and women partners holding leadership positions. WSP said it is also part of a joint venture team on the owner’s representative contract for CTA’s Red Line Extension project. The team includes Infrastructure Engineering Inc., a minority-owned Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE).
In related developments, the pledge was also signed by New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority in March; by 14 public- and private-sector infrastructure executives in November 2023; and by STV in June 2022.
AtkinsRéalis
AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. on Aug. 19 reported being one of two suppliers selected to update Network Rail’s interlockings, level crossings, networks, trackside equipment, and telecommunications in the Eastern region of the U.K., which includes more than 6,000 miles of track. London-based Amey was announced as a project partner earlier this year. The contract, 2A (Generalist Signaling and Telecommunications), is under the Eastern Routes Partnership (ERP) framework, Network Rail’s main route to market for projects in the Eastern region. Lot 2A is said to have an overall value of up to $195 million (£150 million) over five years, with an option to extend up to another five years in annual increments to $390 million (£300 million).
The Eastern region, which runs from the borders of Scotland to London, includes some of the busiest rail lines in the U.K. and represents nearly one-third of the U.K.’s rail network. Much of the existing track and signaling are said to more than 40 years old.
“The ERP framework is key to effectively maintaining our infrastructure to deliver a sustained improvement in train performance over the next five years,” said Jake Kelly, Managing Director, Eastern Region at Network Rail. “It’s designed to strengthen our relationships with our supply chain partners, letting us utilize their skills and experience. ERP also lets us take a more collaborative approach by bringing our engineers, delivery teams, and the suppliers together, earlier, to identify the minimum viable product.”
“The Eastern region is critical to the U.K.’s overall transportation network, connecting millions of people every day across some of our biggest cities and moving the highest amount of freight across all regions,” said Richard Robinson, President, U.K. and Ireland, for AtkinsRéalis. “We are looking forward to working with Network Rail … to improve the experience for passengers and freight operators alike by reducing journey times, optimizing traffic flow, and prioritizing safety.”
According to AtkinsRéalis, other U.K.-based rail projects it is delivering include re-signaling in the southeast of London (currently in its final phase) and multidisciplinary rail signaling work in Northern Ireland. Additionally, AtkinsRéalis said it has designed a signaling test facility in England, and its Advanced Signaling Method (ASM) was the first systems integration product to gain formal product approval from Network Rail.
In related news, AtkinsRéalis, Alstom, and Polytechnique Montréal earlier this year reported signing an agreement to develop railway and public transit engineering training that they said would “directly address both mobility and decarbonization issues.” Also, AtkinsRéalis recently announced it will be working for ECCO III Enterprises Inc., which was awarded a 44-month contract to upgrade New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Broadway Junction Complex to “improve efficiency, enhance user experience and ensure it is optimized in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act”; it is AtkinsRéalis’ first design-build project in New York City.
