A group of construction and infrastructure groups including FTSE 250 firm Balfour Beatty (LON:BBY) has been selected as preferred bidder to build the multi-billion dollar Eagle P3 commuter rail project in the Denver metropolitan area of the US. 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.

The Denver Transit Partners (DTP) team that won the contract comprises Balfour’s Rail arm alongside its Parsons Brinckerhoff professional services operation. The team also includes Ames Construction, Hyundai-Rotem USA, Alternative Concepts, Inc., Fluor/HDR Global Design Consultants, PBS&J, Interfleet Technology, Systra, Wabtec and many others. The DTP venture is led by Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) and Macquarie Capital Group. It was selected as preferred bidder by the Denver Regional Transportation District (Denver RTD) and will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Eagle project.

The project will involve the construction of a new 23.6 mile commuter rail line from Union Station to Denver International Airport and a new 11.2 mile commuter rail line from Union Station to Wheat Ridge. There will also be a two-mile initial segment of the Northwest Rail Corridor along with approximately 50 new electric-powered commuter railcars and a new commuter rail maintenance facility.

Balfour Beatty’s 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. In early trade this morning Balfour’s shares dipped 0.4% to 252p.

Last month, Balfour reported that trading so far in 2010 had been in line with expectations, with a number of good contract wins and an order book moving ahead of the 2009 year-end figure of £14.1bn. Since acquiring Parsons Brinckerhoff for US$626m last September,…

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