Re Contract

Balfour Beatty PLC
05 April 2004


5 April 2004



        BALFOUR BEATTY AWARDED FIVE-YEAR NETWORK RAIL RENEWALS CONTRACTS
                  LIKELY TO BE WORTH IN EXCESS OF £500 MILLION
                  ============================================
                        

Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,
announces today that Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services has been
awarded a number of five-year plain line track and switches and crossings
renewals contracts by Network Rail.

The contracts, which will begin in April 2004, are for plain line and switches
and crossings renewals across the Southern Region and in East and West Anglia,
including London North East. The contracts have an estimated first year value of
£113 million. There is an option for the contracts to be extended for a further
five years.

Commenting today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Mike Welton, said: 'We are
delighted to have successfully concluded our negotiations with Network Rail for
a very substantial proportion of the new renewals programme which is aimed at
improving the condition of Network Rail's assets. We look forward to working
with Network Rail in improving the efficiency of renewals delivery and helping
to deliver a safe and efficient railway.'

The plain line contracts are for the replacement and renewal of life-expired
sections of track, typically from 100m to 3,000m in length. Switches and
crossing contracts are for replacement and renewal work at junctions.

                                      ENDS
Enquiries to:
Tim Sharp
Tel: [phone]
www.balfourbeatty.com


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

1. Balfour Beatty Rail is working on a 7.5 year, £500 million track renewal
contract for the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria and Sub-Surface Lines for
Metronet under the London Underground Public Private Partnership.

2. Balfour Beatty was recently awarded the £40 million contract to construct
track lines 4 and 4a of the Santiago Metro, Chile by Empresa de Transporte de
Pasajeros Metro SA.

3. In December of last year, Balfour Beatty announced it had secured
€150 million of rail electrification and power supply work for a range of
European rail network owners.

4. Balfour Beatty is constructing the new rail link and railway station at
Heathrow's Terminal 5 for BAA, valued at £140 million.

5. Progress towards the planned handover of Balfour Beatty's rail maintenance
contracts in Kent and Anglia is proceeding satisfactorily.



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