Sapphire wins S$57m contract for Beijing Metro extension

MAINBOARD-LISTED Sapphire Corporation has landed a 276 million yuan (S$57 million) rail engineering contract for the second phase of the Beijing Metro's Changping Line.

Its wholly-owned subsidiary, engineering firm Ranken Railway Construction Group Co, will undertake civil engineering works for part of the 12.6 km, 12-station Changping Line South Extension. The contract is scheduled for completion by Dec 31, 2020.

Ranken's contract includes a 675.2-metre interval between south Xi'erqi Station and Qinghe Station, said Sapphire. It also includes the north and south sections - which span 400 metres and 574 metres, respectively - leading out of Qinghe Station as part of the upcoming Beijing Metro Line 19.

Teh Wing Kwan, group CEO of Sapphire, said: "This new contract in Beijing expands Ranken's role in one of the world's busiest metro networks, given continual improvement of rail infrastructure in the top-tier Chinese cities."

Ranken's order book stands at some 2.8 billion yuan. The group is also in the midst of evaluating a potential consultancy contract for a metro rail project in Bangladesh.