30th Apr 2008 07:01
Balfour Beatty PLC30 April 2008 News Release 30 April 2008 BALFOUR BEATTY AWARDED RAIL SYSTEMS WORK FOR THE NEW ==================================================== GOTTHARD BASE TUNNEL IN SWITZERLAND =================================== Multi-disciplinary rail contract likely to be worth approximately €250 million ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ to Balfour Beatty Rail ---------------------- Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction, services andinvestment group, announces that, as part of the consortium, Transtec Gotthard,it has been awarded the rail systems work for the Gotthard Base Tunnel inSwitzerland by AlpTransit Gotthard AG. The contract is likely to be worthapproximately €250 million to Balfour Beatty. Transtec Gotthard comprises Balfour Beatty Rail, Atel Installationstechnik,Alcatel-Lucent and Alpine-Bau Mayreder. The entire project cost is estimated at€1 billion. The Gotthard tunnel will be the longest railway tunnel in the world and willbypass winding mountain routes to establish a direct route for high-speedpassenger and heavy freight traffic. Commenting today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said: "We are delighted that our consortium has been selected to carry out this majorlong-term project which will utilise a number of Balfour Beatty'smulti-disciplinary rail skills. We believe that our high-speed, high-performancerail experience is second to none and will continue to prove attractive to railnetwork owners around the world as rail infrastructure investment accelerates." The project will involve the design, installation and commissioning of railinfrastructure equipment for the tunnel and includes the equipping of bothsingle track tunnels which are each 57 kilometres long, as well as the adjoiningopen North and South sections totalling approximately 11 kilometres in length upto the connection with the existing rail network. On completion, it is expected that the current 3 hour 40 minute travel time fromZurich to Milan will be reduced by approximately one hour. Balfour Beatty's responsibilities for the installation programme include totalproject management, complex logistics, trackwork, overhead catenary and part ofthe medium voltage supply lines for the tunnel works and a wide range of otherrail control technology. Work on-site is expected to start at Biasca adjacent to the south portal at theend of 2009, with a construction period of approximately seven years. Commercialrail services are due to start through the tunnels in 2017. The work on the track, the overhead line system and elements of the power supplysystem will be carried out in joint venture by Balfour Beatty Rail GmbH, basedin Munich, which became part of the Balfour Beatty Group in 2000 when it wasacquired from Adtranz, and by Balfour Beatty Rail Projects (BBRP) based inDerby. ENDS Enquiries to:Tim SharpTel: 020 7216 6884www.balfourbeatty.com Notes to Editors---------------- 1. Balfour Beatty Rail is the world's leading multi-disciplinary fixed railinfrastructure contractor with annual revenues of approximately £800 million. Ithas long-term relationships and major current projects for Network Rail, LondonUnderground, BAA, the Olympic Delivery Authority, Deutsche Bahn, AlpTransit,Italian State Railways, Swedish State Railways and many other network owners. 2. Balfour Beatty Rail is carrying out major rail infrastructure developmentprojects between Hamburg and Lubeck in Germany, Malpensa to Milan, Bologna toMilan and Florence to Bologna in Italy, Botnia and Blekinge in Sweden andTianjin and Shenyang in China. It is constructing a major new commuter railwayon Boston's South Shore in the US, is responsible for all the rail systems forBAA at Heathrow Terminal 5 and is active on both the UK's overground andunderground networks. 3. Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction, services andinvestment business, well positioned in infrastructure markets which offersignificant long-term growth. We work in partnership with sophisticatedcustomers who value the highest levels of quality, safety and technicalexpertise. Our skills are applied in appropriate combinations to meet individualcustomer need. Its financial position, with significant net cash and with strongoperating cash flows, offers continuing flexibility to add additional capacityand expertise to the business mix and to make appropriate investments in PPP andother long-term growth opportunities. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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