UK rail contract for Ferrovial Agroman/Laing O’Rourke

In the UK, a £500 million (€836 million) contract has been awarded by Transport for London (TfL) to a consortium including Ferrovial Agroman and Laing O’Rourke to build the Northern Line upgrade from Kennington to Battersea through Nine Elms.

The plan, which forms a core element of a scheme costing around £1 billion, is part of wider improvements to the underground network in central London targeting a 30% increase in capacity.

Work on the Northern Line will create around 25,000 jobs and 16,000 homes, and is set to prove a catalyst for regenerating the Nine Elms area, cutting journey times to the West End of London to 15 minutes.

Scheduled to be built over six years, it is being entirely funded by contributions from developers and investors behind the revival of the Battersea Power station site – which will be designated as part of an Enterprise Zone from 2016.

Construction work on the line has been scheduled for spring 2015 and follows extensive refurbishment work carried out on half of London’s underground stations.

TfL has responded to residents’ concerns over the expected disruption caused during construction of the rail upgrade. Following a public inquiry that ran between August and December last year, it has pledged a series of mitigation measures to reduce the effects of noise and vibration during construction.

Mike Brown, managing director of London Underground, welcomed the development of the line.

He said, “This is an important step in ensuring the delivery of this vital extension which will significantly improve transport links in the area. It is vital that our proposal is delivered cost effectively for our passengers, taxpayers and the local boroughs and developers who are helping to fund the extension.

“As our population grows faster than any other European city, the case for stable and sustained investment in London's transport network has never been stronger.”