Balfour Beatty today announced that Parsons Brinckerhoff has won three US contracts to manage high speed rail projects in Illinois, Ohio and Florida.

Balfour Beatty acquired professional services group Parsons Brinckerhoff for £380 million in September last year.

The Illinois Department of Transportation selected Parsons Brinckerhoff as programme manager for the 284-mile high speed rail route from Chicago to St Louis.

Around $1.1 billion (£730 million) of federal high-speed rail funding has been targeted for this project.

In Ohio, the department of transport has selected a Parsons Brinckerhoff -led team to provide consultant services for the development of a new intercity passenger rail service on an existing rail freight corridor in the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati corridor, a distance of approximately 250 miles.

Balfour Beatty chief executive Ian Tyler said: "We are delighted to have won these contracts.