Railtrack On Track At Leeds.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 3, 1999--Railtrack PLC has awarded almost (pound)50 million worth of contracts as the first stages of the (pound)165 million scheme to redevelop Leeds City Station and the local rail network - just a month after the project got the official go-ahead.

Preliminary work has already begun on site to prepare for the biggest rail engineering shake-up and station redevelopment seen in the city for more than 30 years.

Railtrack has moved to get the project underway since it received formal approval from the Railtrack board in January. To date contract deals have been agreed or are being struck with:

- Adtranz for the signaling aspect of the scheme to the tune of

around (pound)30 million. Design and survey work is progressing

and the contract is set to be formally signed off next month - Birse Construction for bridge works, new embankments, new

platforms and a temporary station at Whitehall, costing about

(pound)15 million - Bullen Consultants for around (pound)2 million co-ordinating

implementation of design works. Designs are currently being

worked on - Halcrow UK for design work of the station part of the project

which will include a new station roof, footbridge and enhancement

works worth some (pound)750,000 - Racal for signaling and telecomms trackside cable diversion work

currently on site, to the tune of (pound)500,000 - Various consultants and contractors undertaking minor works and

investigations costing around (pound)500,000 - Geotechnics for site investigation works including the sinking of

boreholes to aid civil engineering works, costing about

(pound)100,000 - Fountain Forestry for scrub clearance work of the lineside worth

around (pound)20,000.

Bovis Construction signed a deal last year to take on the role of Railtrack's management contractors for the scheme. Further deals are set to be struck for other elements of the project in the next few months.

Under the Adtranz deal - which will deliver the vital new signaling element of the scheme - Railtrack is entering into a bold partnership designed to focus all staff involved into giving top quality speedy delivery against tough cost targets. A similar partnership deal is also established with Birse Construction who have worked in a similar vein with Railtrack over the last 20 months and completed a number of projects on time and to budget.

Railtrack has entered into this partnership in which costs and risks are shared, encouraging staff of both companies to pool expertise and engineer the most effective, least disruptive solutions to the challenge of rebuilding the entire track layout at Leeds.

This style of co-operative working is a new way forward for the rail industry, highlighting Railtrack's determination to deliver key elements of its investment program on a safe, top-quality, value-for-money basis, and reflects latest construction industry best practice.

In developing the Leeds project Railtrack has consulted widely with train operating companies, West Yorkshire PTE and other key stakeholders in Leeds to ensure the scheme is well-managed and delivered on time with minimum disruption to passengers and station users, as well as other travelers and neighbors in the city center.

Completion of the scheme will mean Railtrack has the ability to sell a number of new train paths to operators probably on a revenue share basis - improving the frequency and speed of services.

The project at Leeds also marks the first crucial phase of the proposed (pound)1 billion upgrade of the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland and is currently Britain's fastest railway.

In the past 18 months delays at Leeds have reduced by some 25 percent by the adoption of a more focused approach to train performance.

Redevelopment of Leeds has scope to not only reduce delays further still but increase the number of trains through the station's critical west end approaches from 28 trains an hour to 40. The station and its approaches were designed in the 1960s for 500 trains a day - Railtrack currently manages up to 900 trains through Leeds each day and the potential for handling even more is growing.

Gerald Corbett , Chief Executive, Railtrack PLC said: "The Regulator on 9 December in his corporate finance determination told us that if we behaved like a utility he would treat us like one - low risk, low rate of return. He challenged us to come up with an alternative. Leeds is the first example of this alternative. Railtrack taking demand risk, and starting work without selling a single path. We are responding to the Regulator's challenge."

All recent press releases can be found on the Railtrack web site at the following address:

http://www.railtrack.co.uk/corporate/notice