Balfour Beatty selected for construction of Eagle commuter rail project in Denver, United States

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces today that it has been selected, as part of the Denver Transit Partners (DTP) team, to construct the Eagle P3 commuter rail project in the Denver metropolitan area of the United States.

As well as Balfour Beatty Rail and Parsons Brinckerhoff, Balfour Beatty’s professional services arm, the DTP team includes Ames Construction, Hyundai-Rotem USA (Hyundai), Alternative Concepts, Inc. (ACI), Fluor/HDR Global Design Consultants, PBS&J, Interfleet Technology, Systra, Wabtec and many others. The DTP venture is led by Fluor Corporation and Macquarie Capital Group Limited.

The DTP team has been selected as preferred bidder by the Denver Regional Transportation District (Denver RTD) and will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the multi-billion dollar Eagle project which includes:

• East Corridor: a new 23.6 mile commuter rail line from Union Station to Denver International Airport;
• Gold Line: a new 11.2 mile commuter rail line from Union Station to Wheat Ridge;
• A two-mile initial segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor;
• Approximately 50 new electric-powered commuter railcars; and
• A new commuter rail maintenance facility.

Once financial close is achieved, Balfour Beatty will be responsible for a 50% share of the engineering, procurement and construction contract and a 33% share of the operations and maintenance contract.

Commenting today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said:

“We are delighted to be a key part of the DTP team for this transformational project for the citizens of Denver. This project demonstrates the capabilities the Balfour Beatty Group can deliver for major infrastructure owners. We look forward to continuing our successful relationship with our partners and the community to deliver this prestigious project.”

The Eagle Project is part of RTD’s FasTracks Plan, a 12-year multi-billion dollar transit expansion programme to build and operate new commuter and light rail services and expand transportation offerings throughout the eight-county Denver area.

The final contract and financing of the Eagle P3 project is expected to be concluded before the end of 2010.