HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 4, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Worldwide industrial services and products company Harsco Corporation (NYSE:HSC) announced today that its Harsco Track Technologies (HTT) railway track maintenance division has been awarded a major new contract for rail grinding services that is expected to generate new service revenues in excess of $70 million over its term.
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HTT will design, build, own and operate a dedicated fleet of rail grinder machines that will be deployed under a multi-year contract of up to ten years in duration, including optional renewals. The units will be constructed in HTT's U.S. production facilities in South Carolina, Minnesota and Michigan and will enter service in early 2006.
Announcing the contract, HTT division president Robert Newman said, "This latest award directly reflects our strategies for increasing the services component of our business, consistent with Harsco's overall strategies for growth. Compared with 2003 when service revenues were only one fourth of HTT's total, we expect they will be close to 40 percent next year, on higher revenues."
Rail grinding has emerged as one of the railroad industry's most effective preventive maintenance and safety practices for extending the life of its track. Grinding removes surface defects which can deteriorate the rail and also restores the proper wheel-to-rail contact pattern, which greatly reduces the chance of cracks that can cause rail breakage.
Harsco's HTT division is one of the railway industry's leading rail grinding specialists, having developed and produced over 50 such systems for major U.S. and international railroads. Overall, the division is North America's largest provider of railway track maintenance services and equipment and the second largest in the world, serving as a primary source for over 140 types and models of work equipment used in the maintenance, renewal, and new construction of railway track.
Harsco Corporation is a $2.5 billion diversified industrial services and engineered products company whose market-leading businesses provide mill services, access services, engineered products and services, and gas containment and control technologies to customers worldwide. The company employs 18,500 people in more than 40 countries of operation. Additional information about Harsco, including its Harsco Track Technologies division, can be found at http://www.harsco.com.
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