The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has begun preparatory work on the next phase of the Culver (F) Line Signal Modernization project in Southern Brooklyn. The $253 million project, which had its original late March start date pushed back in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, will replace 70-year-old technology between Church Ave. and Coney Island with a Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) system.
Siemens Mobility has appointed Yves Desjardins-Siciliano as Canadian CEO for Siemens Mobility Limited. Desjardins-Siciliano “aims to build Siemens Mobility’s presence in Canada and lead its team in the provision of transportation solutions to Canadian service providers,” the company said.
Siemens Mobility has entered into an exclusive partnership with Ondas Networks, a developer of private-licensed wireless data networks for mission-critical industrial markets, to bring a Siemens-branded portfolio of its wireless radio communication systems to the North American Rail Market.
Among the final duties that former MTA New York City Transit Vice President Network and Resignaling Pete Tomlin discharged before he left the agency following Andy Byford’s resignation as President was demonstrating an innovative piece of new technology—UWB (Ultra-Wide Band), wireless technology that offers faster and less-expensive installation of modern CBTC (communications-based train control) by eliminating much of the onboard and wayside equipment traditionally required for advanced-technology signaling. Tomlin—arguably one of the finest signaling and train control people on the planet—collaborated with suppliers Thales and Piper Networks in an impressive public demonstration of UWB.
Sacramento Regional Transit (SacRT) has awarded Siemens Mobility a $100 million contract for 20 new light rail vehicles (LRVs), the first new order from Sacramento since the late 1980s, when SacRT ordered 36 U2A vehicles from Siemens Mobility.
Siemens and Alstom have begun using their 3D printing capabilities to produce items to protect passengers, staff and medical practitioners during the coronavirus pandemic.
Siemens Mobility announced it will continue to update Calgary’s current light rail vehicle fleet with 15 additional S200 LRVs. The vehicles will replace Siemens’ original U2 vehicles, most of which have been running for almost 40 years.
Siemens USA has named Marsha Smith Chief Financial Officer, an expanded responsibility to her current role as CFO for Siemens Mobility North America, a position she has held since 2017. Her appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2020. Smith will succeed Heribert Stumpf, who will be retiring after 38 years with Siemens.
RAILWAY AGE, SEPTEMBER 2019 ISSUE: The passenger rail market in the U.S. is, in a word, “challenging.” Many would say “problematic.” Aside from funding that’s entirely dependent on government, today’s market is deeply affected by partisan politics and stringent manufacturing requirements—who builds what, and where—among other concerns. Railway Age Editor-in-Chief William C. Vantuono spoke with Siemens Mobility President USA and Canada Marc Buncher about how this Germany-based but undeniably North American supplier views the market.
For the first time in the U.S., Siemens Mobility will be showing at Railway Interchange 2019 (RSSI Booth #4137) its TPS Online Movement Planning Solution, currently “one of the most talked-about technologies since successful deployment across Europe including the U.K., Germany, France and Scandinavia, where it is currently supporting Norway’s autonomous train operations.”
