LU awards contract to build Northern line extension

21 August 2014
London Underground announces Ferrovial Agroman Laing O'Rourke to build Northern line 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.""
Mike Brown MVO
Managing Director, London Underground
  • Northern line extension will regenerate the Nine Elms area by supporting up to 25,000 new jobs and 16,000 new homes  

London Underground (LU) has today announced its intention to award the contract to design and build the Northern line extension from Kennington to Battersea via Nine Elms to Ferrovial Agroman Laing O'Rourke.  

The contract, worth approximately £500 million, will be for six years and covers the main construction works.

The full cost of the scheme is expected to be up to £1bn, which is being funded entirely through developer contributions from Battersea Power Station and other developers and, from 2016, a new Enterprise Zone.  

The construction of the extension will help kick start regeneration in the Nine Elms area of south London and provide major transport benefits, cutting journey times to the West End and the City to just under 15 minutes. It will also reduce pressure on Vauxhall station, support the existing Northern line south of Kennington and give wider access to leisure and employment opportunities.    

New jobs and new homes

The new infrastructure will support up to 25,000 jobs and 16,000 new homes.  The new jobs enabled by the Northern line extension will have a positive impact on the whole UK economy, whilst the jobs generated in constructing the scheme, including around 50 apprenticeships through the supply chain, will be spread across the UK.   

Mike Brown MVO, the Managing Director of London Underground, 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.`

This contract award is the culmination of a competitive procurement process that began last year when LU issued an OJEU notice asking for expressions of interest from the industry for the design and build contract for the Northern line extension.   A public inquiry to consider the Transport and Works Act Order application to extend the Northern line ran from 19 November to 20 December 2013 and was conducted by an independent Inspector.  A decision on the Order is anticipated in autumn this year.   LU has now completed its evaluation and negotiations and following a 10-day standstill period required by European law LU will enter into contract with Ferrovial Agroman Laing O'Rourke.  

LU is carrying out a huge programme of modernisation, with major stations, trains, track and signalling being modernised or replaced to provide more capacity for a growing city. The line upgrades are at the core of LU's investment programme, which will deliver more than 30% increase in capacity. The upgrade programme is being delivered over the coming years, with work on upgrades to the Northern, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines well underway.   

Redevelopment work to increase capacity at key stations and make them step-free, is underway at a number of stations including Victoria, Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street and more than half of London Underground's 270 stations have now been modernised or refurbished to make them brighter and easier to use, with improvements such as tactile strips, better CCTV and help points, electronic information displays in ticket halls and on platforms, and improved seating and lighting.

  • Tender documents were issued on 9 December 2013 and were returned by the bidders on 17 March 2014
  • Evaluation of tenders was carried out in three stages:

Stage 1 - Preliminary review, for due diligence and completeness of submitted tenders.

Stage 2 - Detailed Evaluation, output from this stage used to select two tenderers to proceed to the next stage of evaluation.

Stage 3 - Negotiation stage, for the resolution of all outstanding issues in relation to the tender submissions received.

  • At completion of Stage 2, two of the four lowest scoring tenderers were deselected from proceeding to Stage 3.
  • At completion of Stage 3 a preferred bidder was identified. A public inquiry to consider our Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application to extend the Northern line ran from 19 November to 20 December 2013 and was conducted by an independent Inspector.
  • The proposed start of construction for the Northern line extension is spring 2015.
  • Subject to funding and permission to build and operate the extension, the new stations at Nine Elms and Battersea could be open by 2020.