Metro News Release

For immediate release: October 15, 2004

Metro’s Board Budget Committee recommends action on the purchase of 120 new rail cars

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) Board Budget Committee agreed to purchase an additional 120 new series 6000 rail cars coming on the heels of the approval of the Metro Matters funding plan. These cars cost $187 million.

The full Metro Board of Directors is scheduled to take action on the recommendation on October 21.

The Metro Matters funding agreement, calls for a six-year commitment on the part of state and local governments in the metropolitan Washington region to fully fund Metro’s capital needs to the tune of $1.5 billion. These needs over the next six years include basic infrastructure reinvestment, exercising the option to purchase 120 new rail cars and upgrades to maintenance facilities and power substations to eventually operate 8-car Metrorail trains. The total cost of this portion of the rail car program is $600.6 million.

" This recommendation today is significant for the residents of the metropolitan Washington region because these new rail cars are needed to accommodate a growing Metrorail system,’said Gladys Mack, Chairperson of Metro’s Board Budget Committee. " With Metrorail ridership growing each year, we will need every rail car in the future to accommodate current and new customers."

" This additional order of rail cars will complement the existing fleet of 950 rail cars, not including the 62 rail cars (series currently on order) which will start arriving next year," stated Richard A. White, Metro’s General Manager and Chief Executive Officer. " We are very pleased that the Committee gave initial approval to purchase the 120 new rail cars. Thanks to the Metro Matters agreement, in the next couple of years, our customers will reap the rewards of having more rail cars in service, and eventually riding an 8-car train in the Metrorail system."

The delivery schedule calls for the first option of the new series 6000 cars to arrive on Metro property by March 2006, followed by a rigorous safety inspection process. The previous order of 62 cars are expected to start arriving in August 2005. Final delivery of the base order of 62 cars and the 120 option rail cars (or completion of the entire 182 car order) would be completed by October 2007.

In July 2002, the Board of Directors selected Alstom Transportation, Inc., to build the cars. Through this procurement process, a technical evaluation team evaluated each of the proposals for technical adequacy, delivery schedule credibility, management approach and past performance. Price was evaluated separately and the selection was made on a " best value" combination of price and technical criteria. Alstom Transportation, Inc., was selected based on having the best overall technical proposal, as well as the lowest price for the 182 cars. This provided the overall " best value" to the Authority.

The value of the initial contract for the 62 rail cars is $129.2 million, an average price of $1.99 or 2 million per car. The potential overall price for the 120 car option is $187 million, or $1.6 million per car. The total cost of this program is $229.1 million.

Alstom Transportation, Inc., is located in Hornell, NY. The carbodies would be manufactured in Barcelona, Spain, and final assembly would be done in Hornell.

News release issued on October 15, 2004.