A consortium comprising Skanska, Colas Rail, Aecom and Mott MacDonald has been awarded a £400M contract by Network Rail Infrastructure to revamp London Waterloo Station, with work expected to get under way this year.
The contract will involve work to bring the Waterloo International Terminal back into use for domestic train services and to increase the length of some platforms at London Waterloo.
The consortium will also deliver track alterations, signalling, communications, buildings and civils infrastructure along the Wessex Route and at Waterloo, Vauxhall, Clapham Junction, Richmond, Wimbledon and Surbiton stations. The design of a grade separated junction at Woking is also included as part of the contract.
This £400M works package forms part of the £1Bn Wessex Capacity programme, which will increase train and passenger capacity across the Wessex Route.
The overall programme will see £247.5M invested in track renewals; £274M on signalling enhancements; £182M on bridges, tunnels, major structures, culverts, footbridges and earthworks; £127M on building improvements; £88M on electrification; £33M on telecommunications; and £23M on plant and machinery.
When Network Rail originally set out its plans for London Waterloo, Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance managing director Tim Shoveller said: “The route out of London Waterloo across the south and south west of England is one of the busiest in Europe, with Waterloo station alone handling around 100 million passengers per year – a figure which will only rise in the years to come.
“More passengers create a need for more trains which places an even greater demand on an aging infrastructure which is 175 years old in parts. We will be investing heavily in increasing the network’s resilience and reliability and doing everything we can to be able to provide a railway which can accommodate the extra trains needed to cope with growing demand.”