£1.5bn station tender process fully underway for construction of Crossrail central London stations

Following the award of the major tunnelling contracts last month, Crossrail today started the tender process for a further four central London stations – Bond Street, Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road and Whitechapel.

A notice has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union inviting expressions of interest to construct these major new stations. The total combined value of these four main construction contracts is in the region of £975m.

This now means that the tender process for all new Crossrail central London stations is underway. The procurement process for Farringdon and Paddington Crossrail stations commenced last year. The total value of the six central London Crossrail stations is £1.5bn.

The four station contracts being advertised today are:

* C412 Bond Street station;

* C422 Tottenham Court Road station;

* C502 Liverpool Street station; and

* C512 Whitechapel station

Crossrail intends to award the main construction contracts for all central London stations by the end of 2011.

Rail Minister Theresa Villiers said: “As the first major procurement notice for 2011, this is a significant and welcome step towards the completion of a railway which will transform travel into London, putting 1.5 million more people within 45 minutes of London’s business areas and supporting our economic recovery.

“The Government supports Crossrail as the project will support and enable growth not only in London but across the UK.”

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor’s transport advisor, said: “With the main construction contracts advertised we can see that Crossrail is on track and progressing well after the Mayor succeeded in putting forward a convincing argument to Government in order to secure funding for Europe’s biggest transport project.”

Andy Mitchell, Programme Director, Crossrail said: “Following the award of the major tunnelling contracts last month, procurement for all the central London Crossrail stations is now underway.

“2011 will be a year of significant continued progress for Crossrail with further high-value contracts to be awarded providing a much-needed boost to UK construction as well as creating major employment opportunities.

“This year will see the remaining tunnel contracts awarded, manufacture of the tunnel boring machines will begin, the new Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy will open its doors, construction of the tunnel portals will continue and main contracts for all central London Crossrail stations will be let.”

Crossrail today also confirmed that it has now finalised the shortlist for C405 Paddington station. The following organisations have been invited to tender:

* Costain and Skanska;

* Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall and Vinci;

* BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Agroman and Kier Construction;

* Laing O’Rourke and Strabag; and

* Carillion Construction Ltd

The shortlist for Farringdon Crossrail station will be announced at a later date. Crossrail is currently assessing pre-qualification submissions.

Over the last year some of the UK’s best known architects have worked with world-class engineering firms to finalise the designs for eight of the new Crossrail stations. The results are stunning, sustainable and world-class designs of which London can be proud. The new stations will take inspiration from the past and from their own localities but have a fresh modern twist. The work at these new stations will be on a scale not seen since the Jubilee Line Extension opened in 1999.

Each of the new Crossrail stations will have a distinctive but consistent design. Designers have also been appointed to incorporate architectural components that will be used throughout the platform and tunnel environments in each station to create an integrated line-wide identity.

This design work encompasses wall and floor finishes, lifts, escalators, lighting and signage suitable for use in all the new stations. This systematic approach will create a unified look, maximises value for money and yet allows each station to retain its individual identity. Crossrail intends to establish an externally funded public art programme later this year so that art can be incorporated into stations.