Progress Rail Services Corporation , a fully owned subsidiary of

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...

since 2006, is a supplier of railroad and transit system products and services headquartered in

Albertville, Alabama Albertville is a city in Marshall County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,386. It is the largest city in Marshall County. His ...

. Founded as a recycling company in 1982, Progress Rail has increased the number of its product and service offerings over time to become one of the largest integrated and diversified suppliers of railroad and transit system products and services in North America. Progress Rail markets products and services worldwide and maintains 110 facilities in the United States, 34 in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, 4 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, 2 in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, 5 in UK, 1 in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and 1 in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Progress Rail is organized into two divisions: Infrastructure and Rolling Stock.

History

"Progress Rail" traces its roots to a recycling company founded in Albertville, Alabama, United States in 1982. With the merger of Progress Rail's owner Florida Progress Corporation and

Carolina Power & Light Company Carolina Power & Light (CP&L), later doing business as Progress Energy Inc., was an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution utility based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company was founded on July 13, 1908 as the result of the merg ...

in 2000, it became owned by the new entity Progress Energy. Progress rail serv logo

In February 2005, Progress Energy announced it was selling Progress Rail to

One Equity Partners One Equity Partners is a private equity firm with over $10 billion in assets under management which primarily deals with the industrial, healthcare and technology sectors in North America and Europe. One Equity Partners was the merchant banking a ...

for $405 million. The sale closed on March 28, 2005, with Progress Rail becoming a separate private company. On May 17, 2006, Caterpillar Inc. announced it would purchase Progress Rail from One Equity Partners for $1 billion in cash, stock and debt. The acquisition by Caterpillar was announced as part of its long-term strategy, ''Vision 2020''. In July 2011, the company announced it was to assemble EMD locomotives at a plant leased in the state of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

, Brazil.

Acquisitions

NS_4004_Progress_Rail_PR43C_at_Anniston_Alabama_2014-03-21_02-27

On May 24, 2008 Caterpillar agreed to acquire all of the capital stock of MGE - Equipamentos e Serviços Ferroviários Ltda., a

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

, Brazil-based locomotive component and transit car services company to become part of Caterpillar's Progress Rail Services Corporation. The acquisition of MGE marked Progress Rail's first entry into the

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

market. On June 1, 2010, Caterpillar announced Progress Rail would buy

Electro-Motive Diesel Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its s ...

from Berkshire Partners LLC and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC for US$820 million. The purchase was completed on August 2, 2010, making Electro-Motive Diesel a wholly owned subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Corporation. During 2010, Progress Rail acquired two makers of signal equipment, Coast to Coast Signal Engineering and C&S Signaling, as well as a

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

subsidiary involved in the signal industry; now Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems. In 2019, Progress Rail acquired Cleveland Track Material, Inc. which was a subsidiary of Vossloh Cogifer.

Federal investigation

During October 2013, Caterpillar announced that a federal criminal indictment had been secured against Progress Rail Services. In 2017, the company pleaded guilty to the charges, including dumping parts into the ocean. A $5,000,000 fine was paid as well as $20,000,000 in restitution.

Products

Locomotives

Progress Rail currently offers EMD freight, passenger, repowered and used locomotives. * Progress Rail PR22L * Progress Rail PR30C * Progress Rail PR43C

Signals

Progress Rail's Signal Division makes grade crossing and wayside signals.

References

External links

* , company website {{Railway signalling Caterpillar Inc. subsidiaries Companies based in Albertville, Alabama Manufacturing companies established in 1982 Locomotive manufacturers of the United States Railway signalling manufacturers Rail infrastructure manufacturers 1982 establishments in Alabama