Two railway infrastructure contracts in Australia

New South Wales
The state government of New South Wales has awarded a
contract with a total project value of 860 million Australian
dollars (490 million euros) for the rail connection between the
northern and western suburbs of Sydney. ALSTOM, as part of the
Thiess-Hochtief-ALSTOM group, will be the major systems
subcontractor to the Thiess-Hochtief joint venture. This section,
between Chatswood and Epping, is a major part of the New South
Wales government proposal to complete an underground rail link
from Chatswood to Parramatta.

The project consists of constructing two underground rail
tunnels, over a distance of approximately 12 kilometers, to
reduce existing network congestion.

ALSTOMs scope covers the design and construction of
rail systems elements of the tunnel fitout, including project
management and systems engineering, overhead wiring, tunnel
services, signaling, ventilation and power supplies.

Revenue service is planned to begin in mid-2008.

Victoria
A joint venture between Thiess Pty. Ltd. and ALSTOM has
been chosen as the contractor for an upgrade of railway
infrastructure between Sunshine and Ballarat (107 kilometers),
and Werribee and Geelong (41 km). The upgrade forms part the
state of Victorias Regional Fast Rail Project, which will
help improve the link between the regional communities and
Melbourne.

The Thiess-ALSTOM joint venture will be responsible for the
design, construction and commissioning of track, civil, signal
and communication work to achieve the states specified
travel times for each corridor. Construction will commence late
2002 with all works to be completed by mid 2005.

The two packages have a combined value of 200 million
Australian dollars (114 million euros), of which ALSTOMs
share is 50 percent.

Thiess and ALSTOM in Australia
Thiess and ALSTOM have a long and successful history of
working together on infrastructure projects throughout Australia,
including the Sydenham Electrification Project in Victoria and
the Blacktown to Richmond Signaling Project in New South
Wales.

The companies have proven experience in the construction and
maintenance of Melbournes metropolitan railway network.
Thiess is currently providing infrastructure maintenance services
to M>Train and M>Tram. ALSTOM is providing XTRAPOLIS
trains and infrastructure asset management to Connex and CITADIS
trams and tram maintenance services to Metrolink.

With more than 35 product lines and a presence in over 60
countries, ALSTOM's Transport Sector offers cutting-edge
products and services to four distinct types of customers:
urban transit authorities and operators; intercity passenger
rail operators and rolling stock owners; rail freight
operators; and intercity railway infrastructure owners.
ALSTOM's Transport Sector, with 4.4 billion euros in sales in
2001, is among the world's leading suppliers to the railway
industry.

Press information:

Helen Connolly

Tel. +33 (0)1 41 66 91 43

helen.connolly@transport.alstom.com