Re Contract

Balfour Beatty PLC
10 April 2002


            $300 MILLION OF NEW US RAIL CONTRACTS FOR BALFOUR BEATTY
     
             Specialist US Rail Services Contractor Also Acquired


Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,
announces today that it has been awarded over $300 million of new rail
engineering work in the USA.  It has also acquired from Knox Kershaw its
specialist rail plant and services business for an initial consideration of $3.5
million, rising to a maximum of $6.2 million depending on performance.

Commenting on these developments, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Mike Welton,
said today:

'I am pleased to be able to announce these very positive developments for our US
rail business.  Winning these substantial new contracts builds further on our
already strong presence in the growing US rail market.  The Greenbush project,
which will utilise our trackwork, signalling, electrification and civil
engineering skills, demonstrates the importance of our multi-disciplinary
capabilities in addressing the developing needs of the US market.  Rail is a
growth industry and Balfour Beatty is well placed to grow with it.'


New Contracts

The largest of the new projects is for the re-establishment of the Greenbush
Line Rail Corridor for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Rail
Transit.  This design and build contract, which will be carried out in joint
venture, will create a new 18-mile commuter line along Boston's South Shore,
using the footprint of a disused line.  It involves the creation of complete
signal, power and communications systems, new track, seven new stations, new
park and ride facilities and a complete rail crossing system.  The project is to
mobilise shortly and is scheduled to be complete in mid-2005.

Metroplex, Balfour Beatty's US trackwork specialists, and Balfour Beatty Rail
Systems, its signalling contractor, have successfully conducted projects for
MBTA in the recent past.

In California, Balfour Beatty has been selected by the San Diego Metropolitan
Transit Development Board to construct the 2.8 mile extension of the San Diego
light rail transit system, including bridges and stations.  Here, too, the
contract builds on an existing joint venture relationship.  It is scheduled for
completion in 2004.


Acquisition

Knox Kershaw Special Services, which has been acquired from its owners, is a US
market leader in the provision of specialist rail maintenance services to the
Class 1 railroads in the US.  These include a variety of infrastructure
cleaning, undercutting and distribution services.  The business, which is based
in Montgomery, Alabama, has annual sales of approximately $6 million and employs
a variety of complex specialist plant and equipment.  Such work is the subject
of increased outsourcing in the USA.

The acquisition will provide Balfour Beatty with an increased level of business
with Class 1 railroads in a sector where federal regulation requires minimum
levels of continuous maintenance activities.

Balfour Beatty's turnover in rail engineering and services is likely to approach
£800 million in 2002.


Enquiries to:

Tim Sharp
Tel: [phone]
www.balfourbeatty.com


Notes to Editors


1.  In rail, Balfour Beatty had 2001 sales in the US of approximately $130
    million.

2.  Marta Track Constructors Inc and Metroplex Corporation are leading US
    trackwork contractors.  They are currently constructing a 50-mile extension 
    to the DART system in Dallas, Texas.  They are also working on three other 
    major contracts amounting to some $150 million in value.  These are to 
    construct the BART San Francisco Airport Extension, the Alameda Corridor 
    Rail Project in Los Angeles and the Southern New Jersey Light Rail System.  
    In addition, they have been awarded the contract to maintain the new Alameda 
    Corridor rail link.

3.  In February 2001, Balfour Beatty acquired the Rail Systems Division of
    ABC-NACO, the US industrial group, for a total consideration of $21.5 
    million. The business has been renamed Balfour Beatty Rail Systems Inc, and 
    operates nationally in the US, but with particular focus on California, the 
    North East and the South East.  Its largest current project is the $51 
    million turnkey signalling contract for SEPTA, a Pennsylvanian transit 
    authority.

4.  Balfour Beatty was responsible, in joint venture, for the $500 million
    electrification contract for the North East Corridor from New Haven to 
    Boston for Amtrak.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange