Harmon Industries
NASDAQ: HRMN
For Immediate Release

Charles M. Foudree
(816) 229-3345
[email protected]




Harmon and Bart Partner To Complete AATC Program

Monday, December 8, 1997 --Harmon Industries Inc. announced it has signed a Letter of Intent with the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) in San Francisco for the completion and implementation of an Advanced Automatic Train Control (AATC) system. AATC will be Harmon's trade name for a new communication-based train control, marketed specifically to transit properties.

Implementation of the AATC system will allow BART to control increased train traffic resulting from the San Francisco airport extension, which is expected to run in 2001. Negotiations between BART and Harmon will take place throughout the next two months, and a final award of contract is expected in January 1998. The total contract value is expected to be approximately $40 million.

Harmon Industries was recently awarded an exclusive license agreement by Hughes Aircraft Company for the manufacturing and exclusive marketing rights of a unique data radio network technology for train control throughout most parts of the world. Harmon's contract with BART will be the first application of this technology to a commercial project in the world.

Based on Enhanced Position Location Reporting System (EPLRS), the AATC system is a highly reliable, wireless data communication network with the ability to accurately determine the location, speed and direction of vehicles. The AATC system installed for the BART contract will control trains moving at 90-second headways and operating at 80 miles per hour.

Harmon's AATC system has an open architecture design for application to different operational requirements and will allow other signal system integrators to utilize the technology. AATC will be the platform for proposals Harmon makes to other potential transit property customers which intend to use communication-based train control systems worldwide, beginning with the New York City Transit Authority, expected to start upgrading its signal system in 1998. Harmon recently demonstrated the Hughes technology on an operating subway line of MTA/NYTCA for officials from several transit agencies and consulting firms.

"We are excited to implement the AATC system for the first time with BART," said Björn E. Olsson, president and chief executive officer of Harmon Industries, Inc. "Their reputation as a state-of-the-art transit authority confirms the commercial viability of this revolutionary technology and BART's confidence in Harmon."

Harmon Industries, Inc., a pioneer in wireless communication in the railroad industry, is a leading supplier of signal and train control products to freight and rail transit systems throughout North America and the world. The company is traded in the over-the-counter market and is quoted on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol HRMN . For further information, please contact Charles M. Foudree, executive vice president-finance and chief financial officer, Harmon Industries, Inc., 1300 Jefferson Court, Blue Springs, MO 64015. The telephone number is (816).

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