Friday 26 Mar 2010
NETWORK RAIL ISSUES MAJOR DESIGN AND BUILD TENDER FOR CROSSRAIL SURFACE WORKS
- Region & Route:
- National
Network Rail has issued its first major design and build tender for the surface section of Crossrail. The invitation to tender covers a two-mile stretch from Plumstead to Abbey Wood in south-east London. It includes the design and build elements for the new Abbey Wood station, which is the terminus Crossrail station on the Kent spur.
The station work will include two new Crossrail platforms, while lifts and escalators will provide improved access. In addition, a four-track railway will be created, requiring Network Rail to improve five bridges and build two new overhead electrified railway lines between Plumstead and Abbey Wood.
Robbie Burns, programme director, Network Rail, said: ”This work will deliver the capacity requirements to carry 12 Crossrail trains an hour from the central tunnel section to Abbey Wood.
“The transformed Abbey Wood station will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the surrounding area and provide opportunities for local employment, meeting the development aspirations of the two London boroughs it services, Greenwich and Bexley.”
Network Rail is responsible for the design, development and delivery of the parts of Crossrail that are on the existing network, covering 70km of track and 28 stations from Maidenhead in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east.
The following contractors have pre-qualified to form the tender list:
- Carillion plc
- Colas Rail Limited (with Morgan Est)
- Volker Fitzpatrick Ltd (with Bovis)
- Balfour Beatty Limited
Notes to editors
Crossrail
Crossrail will run 118km from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21km tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. It will bring an additional 1.5 million people within 60 minutes commuting distance of London's key business districts. When it opens in 2017, Crossrail will provide new transport links with the Tube, Thameslink, National Rail, DLR and London Overground.
Network Rail delivering Crossrail
Network Rail is a key partner in Crossrail and is making a multi-billion pound investment in upgrading our network around the Capital to deliver it. This complements Network Rail’s other work to increase capacity and improve performance across Britain.
Network Rail’s work will integrate Crossrail with the national rail network, delivering faster, more frequent trains into central London from the east and west. The work includes upgrading 70km[b1] of track, redeveloping 28 stations, and renewing 15 bridges, as well as removing around two million cubic metres of spoil from the tunnel excavation by rail, reducing the need for construction traffic on the roads.
Unlike the central tunnel, Network Rail will do all of this on an active operational railway, delivering vital upgrade works whilst minimising disruption to train services.
Network Rail has already made a start on Crossrail works at Paddington and Farringdon stations.
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We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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