Contract Awarded

BICC PLC
12 August 1999

              BALFOUR BEATTY AWARDED ANOTHER MAJOR RAIL CONTRACT
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Balfour Beatty, part of the BICC Group, has been awarded the £30 million
contract by Railtrack for the complete renewal of the Permanent Way and
Overhead Line Equipment as part of Railtrack's £165 million Leeds 1st project
on the East Coast Main Line.

Balfour Beatty Rail Projects will be responsible for the installation of new
track and points along a two-mile stretch of the western approaches to Leeds
station.

The work, which will take two and a half years, includes two new approach
lines to the West End of the scheme.  It will greatly increase the capacity of
the station and make journeys to and through Leeds faster and more reliable.

CEDG will join Balfour Beatty as part of the design and build team.

The award of this contract by Railtrack follows the recent naming of Balfour
Beatty as preferred bidder for the Wessex maintenance contract, valued at
around £180 million, and the award to Balfour Beatty of the £48 million
contract for re-modelling track and ancillary services at Willesden as an
addendum to their £100 million Euston Alliance project on the West Coast Main
Line.


Enquiries to:-

Tim Sharp
BICC Group
Tel: [phone]