GEC Alsthom expects deal

GEC Alsthom expects deal

PARIS (Reuter): GEC Alsthom said yesterday it had signed an agreement with Indonesian railways on building a city underground rail network and that the agreement should produce a contract worth about US$1 billion.

GEC Alsthom, a joint venture between French Alcatel Alsthom and British General Electric Co Plc, said in a statement it and a unit of Bimantara had signed the deal yesterday.

It said the first step envisaged was a feasibility study to work out the details of the construction project for the East Java city of Surabaya.

"GEC and Alsthom and the Bimantara group will create a consortium to deal with the study, the construction and the operation of two (rail) lines of which the first North-South one will be 20 km long," said the statement.

"This project should lead to a contract in the region of $1 billion," said the statement.