Leighton’s €1.8 billion Sydney high speed rail plan

A consortium led by Hochtief subsidiary Leighton has been awarded a €1.85 billion (US$ 2.33 billion) contract to design and build a high speed rail project in Sydney, Australia.

The scheme for a 36 km rail route, is part of the North West Rail Link – which Leighton has already been working on for the past year with a separate €800 million (US$ 1.036 billion) contract. It has been tasked with operating the rail service for 15 years on its completion.

In Melbourne, Leighton subsidiary John Holland, as part of a joint venture, will build and operate a prison for approximately 1,000 inmates in a contract worth a further €450 million (US$ 583 million).

Marcelino Fernández Verdes, chief executive of Hochtief and Leighton, said, "In line with the Federal Government’s commitment to fund new infrastructure in coming years, state governments and private sector investors are committing to civil and social infrastructure that meets the needs of their local communities and we are proud to be assisting with this investment.

“Much of this total infrastructure growth is expected to be funded by PPPs - around €35 billion (US$ 45.35 billion) in PPP projects are expected to start by 2020.”