Balfour, Alstom, Costain, Siemens and Murphy through to next round

Crossrail has named three groups in contention for the £25m contract to design, install and commission its central section traction power system.

They are a stand-alone bid from Balfour Beatty Engineering Services, and joint ventures linking Alstom Transport with Costain, and Siemens with J Murphy & Sons.

The works will involve the construction of feeder station sites at Pudding Mill Lane in east London and Kensal Green in west London, where power from the 400 kV National Grid network  will be converted down to 25 kV before being fed into the overhead line equipment that will power the new Crossrail trains.

Four high voltage auto transformer stations will be constructed at Westbourne Park, Stepney Green, Custom House and Plumstead to maintain the voltage along the line.

The Traction Power contract is one of the first power contracts to proceed through the Crossrail procurement process.

Separate contracts will be let for high-voltage supply and tunnel fit-out which includes the installation of power equipment in the tunnels. 

The contract is expected to be awarded in spring 2013.