TA GIVES US&S CONTRACT AT NEARLY 127 MILLION DOLLARS

Union Switch Wins Coveted $127 Million Contract To Provide Automatic Train Control System in New York

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Union Switch & Signal Inc. (US&S), a subsidiary of Ansaldo Signal N.V. (Nasdaq: ASIGF - news), has won a contract valued at nearly $127 million to design, furnish and install an Automatic Train Supervision (ATS) system for New York City Transit (NYCT).

The New York control center contract is the latest in a string of successes for Ansaldo Signal companies. In August, Ansaldo Signal announced the awards of a US$29.8 million contract to US&S for a driverless train control system for the Copenhagen MiniMetro project; a FF 87 million contract to French subsidiary CSEE Transport S.A. for microprocessor-based interlockings for the Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais (SNCF) Mediterranean TGV line; and contracts worth 250 billion Italian lire to Italian subsidiary Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario SpA for the Grand Rete operations control centers for the Italian State Railways.

The new ATS system in New York will modernize control of the NYCT's Subdivision A. It will integrate all supervisory functions of the system operation including central computer-based train tracking and traffic control, wayside signaling, automatic vehicle identification (AVI), voice and data communications and interface to existing supervisory control and data acquisition systems. Also included in the new ATS system are interfaces to accommodate future additions such as automatic fare collection.

``Competition for this contract has been intense,'' US&S President and CEO Gary E. Ryker said. ``The New York control center is one of the highest-profile and most coveted projects in the North American transit market,'' Ryker continued, ``and the award of the contract to Union Switch is a testament to our expertise in rail signaling and control technology. We believe our superior technical proposal, plus the unmatched experience of our project management team, were key factors in our capture of this contract.''

US&S is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA and maintains manufacturing facilities in Batesburg, SC. It is part of the Ansaldo Signal group of companies.

EDITORS NOTE:We began advertising for potential vendors on this contract on April 25, 1996. You remember, that was just about the time when the transit Authority Told Willie They were going to lay people off because we didn't, have any money.

EDITORS NOTE 2: Interesting to note that of the three remaining bidders on the job, that US&S came in with the lowest bid. The budget for the job was $127,715,000. US&S came in at $126,875,000, GRS came in at $137,951,229, and STS came in at $138,792,753. Another interesting thing to note is that the TA engineers estimated the job would cost $125,526, 582. I find it absolutely amazing that US&S came so close to the TA engineers estimate. Given the prices that we pay for US&S parts on the pt-42 relay parts, as outlined by me in the "NEWSDAY" article "May 16, 1995, I am astonished at the low bid. I am anxious to see them come in at the contracted price. I assume there is some sort of a bond on the job to insure the completion should some sort of misunderstanding about the price occur at a later date, like when the job is 50% completed.

THINGS TO WATCH FOR: Strict quality control, Time and materials, and, cost overruns. I cant wait to see the final cost. Questions to ask, who is going to take the responsibility of signing off on the job for the TA, who will pick up the tab for repairs for the next several years after the job is completed.

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