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 ...

since 2006, is a supplier of railroad and transit system products and services headquartered in Albertville, Alabama. 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, 5 in the UK, 4 in Canada, 2 in Brazil, 1 in Italy, and 1 in Germany. 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 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 ...

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 one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, 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 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, 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 considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

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

Electro-Motive Diesel Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motive ...

from Berkshire Partners LLC and Greenbriar Equity Group LLC for

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

subsidiary involved in the signal industry; now Progress Rail Inspection & Information Systems. In February 2012 Progress Rail permanently closed the EMD London, Ontario plant after labour dispute shuttered the manufacturing plant. In 2019, Progress Rail acquired Cleveland Track Material, Inc. which was a subsidiary of Vossloh Cogifer.

Federal legal matters

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

* {{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