Deal Signed

Carillion PLC
11 May 2000



Carillion's Arrow consortium on board for Nottingham PFI tram project

A consortium including UK construction to services company Carillion has today
completed a £173 million deal to design, build, finance, operate and maintain
a rapid transit system in Nottingham.

It will be Britain's first city centre tram project to be developed under the
Private Finance Initiative, and will be known as NET the Nottingham Express
Transit.

The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has approved a
notional PFI credit of £173m, the largest award made to a local authority led
transport scheme.

Arrow Light Rail was appointed preferred bidder for the 30 year concession in
1997 and the contractual negotiations have now been successfully completed.

The Arrow  consortium - which will design, build and operate the 14 kilometre
tram system - comprises UK construction to services group Carillion, who will
undertake all the construction work and track-laying; Derbybased Adtranz, who
will supply the trams and the signalling systems; and a joint venture between
international tram operator Transdev and local bus operator Nottingham City
Transport will operate and maintain the system.

NET is being developed on behalf of the promoters Nottingham City and
Nottinghamshire County Councils.

Work on the project will begin immediately and the construction of the system
is due to be completed within three and a half years. Operating service will
commence in Autumn 2003 and run for a period of 27 years.

Keith Sargeant, the General Manager of Arrow Light Rail, says, 'Following the
conclusion of the outstanding financial and legal issues, and the signing of
the deal, work can now start in earnest. The teams are already in place and
well prepared, and everyone is very enthusiastic about the project getting
under way'.

It is anticipated the route will contribute significantly towards reducing
traffic congestion in the city.   It is estimated that about two million car
journeys will be saved with the introduction of NET in addition to other 
economic and environmental benefits to the Nottingham area.

The route runs on-street in the City centre and adjacent to the Robin Hood
Line for the northern half of its journey.

A key feature of the system is the integration with bus and rail services
along the corridor, with buses feeding passengers to tram stops,and
opportunities to interchange at three rail stations.

An additional responsibility for Arrow will be the operation of a number of
park and ride sites, providing over 3,000 spaces at Hucknall, Moor Bridge,
Wilkinson Street, The Forest and Phoenix Park.

The tram will be a sleek and striking design, with 100% low floor to meet the
needs of all the passengers.  One feature will be the ability of the trams to
climb hills of up to 1 in 12 gradients and turn sharp bends.  The system is
being designed to carry around 11 million passengers a year.

For further information contact

Carillion
John Denning or John Davies 01902 316444
Adtranz
Kathryn Lancaster   01332 266470
Transdev
Francois-Xavier Perin 0208 400 6052
Nottingham City Transport
Mark Fowles 07971 270813

Notes to editors:

Carillion is a UK leader in Private Finance construction with 13 financially
closed projects, primarily in the health, secure establishments and transport
sectors.  Carillion, in the last few years, has secured or become preferred
bidder for construction contracts worth around £860 million and maintenance
contracts worth around £310 million.   Carillion already has considerable
experience in rail; with its joint venture partners Carillion is currently
responsible for around 30 per cent of the UK rail maintenance market and
previous major track laying contracts have included the Channel Tunnel and the
Jubilee Line on the London Underground.

Adtranz
The global Adtranz group is one of the leading providers of total rail systems
and tailor-made solutions for rail transport services worldwide. The company
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG.  The product range of the
group extends from people movers, tram and metro systems, commuter and
regional trains, inter-city and high speed trains, to electric and diesel
locomotives, signalling and fixed installations, plus customer support and
total rail systems. Adtranz has a global workforce of some 24,000, including
around 4,400 people in the UK at locations in Derby, Crewe, Doncaster,
Manchester, Swindon, Reading, Plymouth, Chart Leacon, Ilford, Aylesbury,
Dartford, Glasgow and York.

Transdev
Transdev is an international public transport operator with over £600 million
revenue under its management and over 12,000 employees. Transdev operates over
70 public transport networks in
France, including  modern tramways in Grenoble, Nantes, Strasbourg, and
Orleans, a modern underground system in Toulouse, and is currently building
new tramways in Rennes, and Montpelier. All the tramways have been developed
in joint partnerships with the Local Authorities.
It operates 8% of London's buses through its subsidiary London United, a 200
tram network in Melbourne, Australia, and a light rail system in Porto,
Portugal.
The Nottingham Tram project brings with it the opportunity of a minority
ownership for Transdev in Nottingham City Transport.  This is the first
development in the UK of the French 'mixed economy' public transport company
principle, which has successfully served local communities throughout France
for many years, and can be regarded as the best achievement so far of
PublicPrivate Partnerships.

Nottingham City Transport
Nottingham City Transport, the area's leading bus operator, has served the
citizens of Nottingham for over one hundred years and is looking forward to
the new challenges that the tram will bring, as an equal partner in the
venture with Transdev, Adtranz and Carillion.  The company which employ's 1300
staff and operates over 400 buses from five garages has a turnover of over £30
million per year.