VINCI-led team bags €800m contract for French rail project.

A joint venture of VINCI and Spie Batignolles has received a contract, worth €799m, from Société du Grand Paris for the construction of package 1 of Grand Paris Express Line 18 in France.

Under the contract, the JV will be responsible for the digging tunnels spanning 11.8km using two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and construction of Antonypôle, Massy Opéra and Massy-Palaiseau stations.

The work for package 1 also includes 13 ancillary engineering structures, 10 branches linked with the tunnel, and 850m of cut and cover.

Expected to create 700 jobs, the contract is planned to be completed in 83 months, during which 148 full-time jobs will also be created for people in social integration programmes.

Of the total contract, 20% is reserved for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

In a statement, VINCI Construction said: “As part of the Grand Paris Express programme, the consortium is currently executing, on Line 15 South, the works packages between Fort d’Issy-Vanves-Clamart and Villejuif Louis Aragon, as well as the Noisy-Champs station works package, and is responsible for extending Line 14 South towards Orly.”

The first section of the new line will connect Orly Airport to Massy-Palaiseau. The first phase of the project is planned to be operational by 2024.

Scheduled for completion by 2030, the Grand Paris Express Line 18 will connect Orly airport to Versaille serving along the way the Innovation and Research clusters of the Saclay Plateau, as well as the Yvelines and Essonne “départements”.

Led by VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI companies have 75% stake in the joint venture.

Other VINCI subsidiaries in the JV include VINCI Construction France, Dodin Campenon Bernard and Botte Fondations.

The JV also includes Spie Batignolles Génie Civil and Spie Batignolles Fondations.