Yet another blockbuster deal has been signed between two neighbouring railway giants of York - spelling big profits and jobs.

This time Railtrack London North Eastern Zone (LNEZ) has awarded a £250 million maintenance and track renewal contract to Jarvis Rail, the railway specialist engineering firm, both of which are headquartered in Station Rise.

The five-year contract, beginning in April, will see Jarvis maintaining 1,163 route miles of track, more than 2,200 switch and crossing units and more than 6,250 signals in an area known as IMC 2000 Central.

That covers Yorkshire, South Humberside, North Nottingham, the Durham Coast and Lincolnshire - stretching from the Wash to the North Yorkshire Moors and from the Pennines to the North Sea.

Mike Draper, development manager for Jarvis, said the deal was bound to mean new jobs on top of its 4,350 employees, but exact figures were still being assessed.

The deal is the latest in a wave of successes Jarvis has had in pitching for its share of the £27 billion that Railtrack has pledged to spend nationally on railway infrastructure over the next ten years, successes which have boosted Jarvis's pre-tax profits, announced in March, of £41.6 million on a turnover of £627 million.

Kevin Hyde, the delighted chairman of Jarvis Rail said: "The Regulator has set some challenging new targets in respect of train performance, track quality and signalling, and we face them with confidence"

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