Public | |
Industry | Rail transport |
Fate | Acquired by Ansaldo STS S.p.A. in 1988. |
Predecessor | Union Electric Signal, Interlocking Switch & Signal |
Successor | Ansaldo STS USA, Inc. |
Founded | 1881 |
Founder | George Westinghouse |
Headquarters | Pittsburgh, U.S. |
Area served
|
Worldwide |
Products | Railway signalling equipment, communication systems and services, grade crossing signals |
Number of employees
|
900 (2005) |
Union Switch and Signal (US&S) is a supplier of railway signaling equipment, systems and services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As of January 1, 2009, US&S is known as Ansaldo STS USA.
George Westinghouse founded Union Switch & Signal in 1881, consolidating the assets of the Union Electric Signal Company (founded by track circuit inventor William Robinson) and the Interlocking Switch & Signal Company (which had pioneered interlockings). In 1925 US&S acquired the Hall Signal Company, primarily to obtain the latter company's patents for searchlight signals.
US&S operated as an independent company until 1917, when it became a subsidiary of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO). In 1968, American Standard purchased WABCO and reorganized US&S as a separate division.
In 1988, Ansaldo purchased US&S from American Standard. In November 1993, US&S became a publicly traded company with shares listed on Nasdaq. In December 1996, US&S merged with the other signaling investments of Ansaldo. As a result of that merger, US&S is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Ansaldo STS, a global supplier of signaling, control and automation systems. The company was renamed Ansaldo STS – USA in January 2009.
Throughout its history, US&S had manufacturing facilities in the borough of Swissvale, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The Swissvale plant was closed in 1985 and demolished in 1986. US&S moved manufacturing operations to a facility in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina. It maintained a research facility in Pittsburgh. Other facilities include a service and repair shop in Kingston, Ontario.