Balfour Beatty finds way to San Jose with electric line
It’s more than 40 years since Dionne Warwick first asked, but Balfour Beatty today found the way to San Jose — and scooped a $700 million (£540 million) reward for doing so.
Well, the British infrastructure giant is electrifying a 52-mile Silicon Valley rail corridor between San Francisco and San Jose rather than discovering the route altogether.
But the work — which sets the foundations for the high-speed trains to operate on the route — has excited Balfour, and investors, as it’s the firm’s biggest US contract.
The deal drove shares up 2.3p to 243.3p.
Balfour will be electrifying the line that’s become one of the Bay area’s fastest-growing rail services as staff of rapidly growing tech firms make up many of the 65,000 daily commuters who use it to avoid congested highways such as the 101.
Leo Quinn, chief executive of Balfour Beatty, said the firm’s rail work in Colorado had helped it to win the deal.
“Our extensive experience in managing complex rail projects leaves us well qualified to deliver this significant scheme,” he added. “This award contributes to our strategy to increase our design-build rail market share in the US.”
The work will start this autumn and take four years, with Balfour providing a 300-strong workforce.