Re Contract

Balfour Beatty PLC
08 August 2002

   BALFOUR BEATTY CONSORTIUM WINS €300 MILLION CONTRACT FOR FIRST SECTION OF
                      MILAN-TURIN RAIL ELECTRIFICATION


Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,
announces today that it has signed, as a member of the Saturno Consortium, a
€300 million contract for the electrification of the new high-speed railway line
between Turin and Novara.  This is the first stage of the project to electrify
the entire route from Turin to Milan.  It is anticipated that contracts will be
awarded for the remainder of the Milan-Turin route and for two other major
schemes from 2003 onwards.



The work will be carried out by the Italian rail electrification business
acquired by Balfour Beatty in December 2001, which is now part of Balfour Beatty
Rail Power Systems.



Commenting on the award today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Mike Welton,
said:  'This contract is an important addition to the very substantial order
book which our Italian rail electrification business already had at the time of
acquisition late last year.  We look forward to playing a full part in the
Italian government's 10-year rail plan under which €40 billion has been
allocated to rail improvements over the next 10 years.'



The Milan-Turin line is 125 kilometres long.  Upon completion of the full
project, the Milan-Turin journey time will reduce from 1 hour 45 minutes to just
50 minutes.  The line will also serve Milan Malpensa airport.



Balfour Beatty Rail Power Systems, as a member of the Saturno Consortium, is
already working on Italian projects which will connect Rome to Naples, Bologna
to Florence and Milan to Bologna.  It is also a major player in the German,
Austrian, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek markets as well as concluding
major contracts in Malaysia, China and Brazil.



Balfour Beatty is the world's leading fixed rail infrastructure contractor with
2002 sales in rail forecast to exceed £800 million.  Its range of skills covers
major multi-disciplinary projects, trackwork, electrification and power supply,
specialist plant and track components, signalling and renewals and maintenance.



The world market for rail is growing under the influence of increasing traffic
volumes, mass transit solutions for urban congestion and the increasing
involvement of the private sector.





Enquiries to:

Tim Sharp

Tel: [phone]

www.balfourbeatty.com






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