Jacobs Engineering Granted Contract for Network Rail Link to Heathrow Airport

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

revealed Wednesday that it has been granted a contract by Network Rail to continue its support for enhancing rail links from the Great Western main line to Heathrow Airport in the Great Britain. The financial terms were not disclosed. According to the company, the work was a key part of a project to enhance connections to the Britain's busiest airport. It would also establish an international gateway for west England. Jacobs Engineering said that the planned rail link allows passengers in the entire west England and beyond to travel to the Heathrow Airport directly from Reading, as well as, Slough without the need to change at London Paddington. The company expects the move to ease congestion on roads and reduce carbon dioxide emissions that were equivalent to 30 million passenger road miles a year. Aside from that, it is expected to list economics for enterprises in the region. Its SVP for Buildings and Infrastructure, Bob Duff, commented, "We started supporting Network Rail on its feasibility plans for this essential rail link in October 2011. Being able to continue our collaboration in an effort to help Network Rail realize the extensive social, economic and environmental goals of this important project is exciting. We are leveraging our experience with the DCO process to support the delivery of sustainable design and compelling application." Jacobs stated that it worked with Network Rail and its predecessors for over four decades, supporting projects in infrastructure, operations and asset management. Its other rail projects in the Britain included Blackfriars Station, the Thameslink Program, the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvement Program and the On Network Works for Crossrail at Stockley. The stock traded $0.31 or 0.58 percent higher at $54.18 at the time of writing this.