Contract Awarded in Balfour Beatty Joint Venture

BICC PLC
12 November 1999



BALFOUR BEATTY JOINT VENTURE AWARDED FIRST OF THREE
CONTRACTS FOR WEST COAST MAIN LINE ELECTRIFICATION
==================================================

Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services
group,  announces today that, in joint venture with GTRM, it 
has been awarded a first-stage contract, valued at £130 million, to provide
overhead line electrification on the West Coast Main Line.  Two further
substantial contracts for the electrification of the line will be awarded to
the joint venture in June 2000 and December 2000.

The design will be carried out by a joint venture of WS Atkins and Balfour
Beatty, both of whom have a wealth of experience in major rail electrification
projects.

This contract is part of the £2.2 billion modernisation of the West Coast Main
Line which will permit trains to travel at 140 mph on the route, cutting
dramatically journey time between London, the Midlands, the North-West and
Scotland.  It will also improve the reliability of the lines along the length
of the route.

Mike Welton, Chief Executive of Balfour Beatty, said:  'This contract, which
will take the form of an alliance between the Balfour Beatty/GTRM construction
joint venture, the Balfour Beatty/WS Atkins design joint venture and
Railtrack, further strengthens our reputation for international leadership in
rail engineering and technology development.'

Balfour Beatty is currently working on the £100 million contract to remodel
the rail approaches to Euston station and the £48 million Willesden extension
to that project, both also part of the West Coast Main Line project.

Balfour Beatty is also working on the $450 million electrification project for
Amtrak between Boston and New Haven on the US North-East rail corridor and the
latest extension to the Mass Rapid Transit System in Singapore.

Enquiries to:
Tim Sharp
BICC Group
Tel: [phone]



Notes to Editors
----------------

1.  Balfour Beatty Rail is the leading UK railway engineering company, with
    annual sales of approximately £450 million.

2.  In addition to its project work for Railtrack, it is also responsible for
    a number of major rail maintenance and track renewal contracts.

3.  It is currently working on a major infrastructure project as part of the
    Channel Tunnel Rail Link.