Tenders are going out today for most of the remaining Crossrail section in east London that will be above ground.
Invitations are being issued for companies which may be interested in contracts along the surface route where it runs on present Network Rail tracks between Stratford and Shenfield in Essex.
These include major station improvements at Ilford and Romford as well as lengthening platforms at Forest Gate, Goodmayes, Harold Wood, Gidea Park, Chadwell Heath and Brentwood, to take the longer Crossrail trains. Bids are also being invited for lifts to be installed for ‘step free’ access for passengers.
Designing starts early next year and main works get going between 2014 and 2017.
The £16 billion Crossrail scheme includes upgrading 43 miles of surface track through suburbs of east and west London, as well as upgrading 27 stations on the route, beyond where the tunnels surface at Stratford and Silvertown in the east and Paddington in the west.
The new ‘super tube’ gives passengers from Essex and east London direct link to Heathrow Airport and Berkshire, going under ground through the City and West End.
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