Westminster, the final station on the Jubilee Line Extension, opened on 22nd December just in time to ferry members of Parliament to the Millennium Dome for the New Year celebrations. The line had been opening in sections since 14th May, 1999 and trains had been running along its full length since 20th November without stopping at Westminster. The new station extends 38.2 m below street level to service the JLE lines (which are stacked at this point) and interchanges with the existing Circle and District line. It has 17 escalators, two elevators and four fixed stairways from the JLE platforms to the ticket hall, and another two elevators and two staircases from the Circle and Disrict line. The station forms the foundation for Portcullis House, a new office block opposite Big Ben reputed to be the most expensive accommodation in London at $1.6 million/room. January 2000. The Crossrail and Chelsea-Hackney underground railway proposals have received a $200 million allocation to fund further design work, for which tenders will be invited soon. Administrators will be Sir Alastair Morton's Strategic Rail Authority and Mayor Livingstone's Transport for London, run by Bob Kiley. Both schemes have been on the back burner for years, with Crossrail having completed its final design in the early nineties. Mott MacDonald and Maunsell designed the Crossrail tunnels; Symons/Travers Morgan, Liverpool Street station; Babtie, Farringdon station; Mott MacDonald, Tottenham Court Road station; Halcrow, Bond Street station; and Benaim/Golder, Paddington station. Dr Sauer was NATM consultant. Halcrow had earlier completed the preliminary design for the Chelsea-Hackney line.Crossrail was kicked into touch in favour of the Jubilee Line Extension, a project subsequently consigned to the Chamber of Horrors on account of its time and cost overruns. Before Crossrail can be tendered, Messrs Morton and Kiley have to overcome the public resentment generated by the JLE debacle. In the meantime, they have briefs to remedy the infrastructural dereliction of both Railtrack and London Underground. With the best will in the world, they cannot do both, and Crossrail will be the inevitable loser. Visit www.dr-sauer.com 27/01.A team led by Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering including Balfour Kilpatrick for the mechanical and electrical works and Stent for ground improvement, has secured a GBP115 million contract. The scope of the work is predominantly below ground and comprises the construction of the Northern ticket hall adjacent to King's Cross main railway station. It includes construction and fitout of a three-storey concrete box which will provide improved access to the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines via new escalators and accessible lifts. Fitout works include both architectural finishes and the installation of a full range of building services.Mobilisation has already started and work will start in the summer. The works will be undertaken without impeding the station's 80 million annual passengers. Partial completion of the works in 2008 will allow access for Network Rail to proceed with the redevelopment of the mainline station. When finished in 2011, the station is estimated to be handling 92,000 passengers during the daily morning peak. Works at both the underground and mainline stations will be completed for the 2012 Olympics. Visit www.balfourbeatty.com 23/06.The Morgan Est / Beton- und Monierbau joint venture (MBJV) has been awarded a GBP55 million programme of tunnelling works by Metronet Rail to provide additional underground pedestrian links at King's Cross station. The tunnelling works form part of the new Northern ticket hall that will link the metro station to the King's Cross and St Pancras main line stations and the new Channel Tunnel Rail Link terminus at St Pancras. The contractors will build over 300 linear metres of tunnels ranging from 4 metres to 9.5 metres in diameter. These will then connect and provide passengers with new underground links from the Northern ticket hall to the deep-level Piccadilly, Northern and Victoria lines. The works will also include the construction of stairways, escalator shafts and an elevator shaft which will provide lifts for the mobility impaired within the underground station. The project involves building new works underneath King's Cross main line station and adjacent to St Pancras Chambers, which are Grade I listed, and the Great Northern Hotel, which is Grade II listed. The tunnelling project is due for completion in spring 2008. View schematic here. Read E-News Weekly 23/2006. Visit www.morganest.com and www.bemo.net 23/06.Negotiated call for bids, deadline 4th February, 2008 for the Victoria station upgrade, comprising civil engineering, fit-out and services installations for a new subsurface Northern ticket hall, for extension to existing subsurface Southern ticket hall, new subsurface tunnels to provide access to existing platforms, and other minor works. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=7696-2008, OJ S 7, or contact London Underground Ltd, London, fax +44 2079183800. E-mail chris.eaglen@tube.tfl.co.uk 05/08.Negotiated procedure, deadline 03.11.2008, for design, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of integrated distributed control system (TCCS) for cooling and ventilation equipment for a number of ventilation shafts and stations on the London Underground system, value STG4 million, duration of contract 48 months. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=260596-2008, OJ S 197. Contact Julian Frost at LUL, julian.frost@tube.tfl.gov.uk More at www.tfl.gov.uk 44/08.Invitation to tender by negotiated procedure, deadline 20.02.2009, for repair and maintenance services of underground installations operated by Metronet. Five year overall value of contracts ranges from EUR517 million to EUR595 million. Companies expressing interest will be sent a prequalification questionnaire. Further information from Alan Chowles at Metronet, tel +44 2070 384504, e-mail TPSInfo@metronetrail.com. http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=008978-2009 03/09.