Three joint ventures and Dragados in running for station upgrade

London Underground has revealed the four bidding groups who have been shortlisted to go through to the next round of bidding for its Bank Station Capacity Upgrade project.

It said the list of pre-qualified bidders was: BFK, a joint venture between BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial and Kier; CVC - Costain, Vinci Grand Projets and Vinci Construction; Dragados; and MBA - made up of Morgan Sindall, Balfour Beatty, and Alpine Bemo Tunnelling.

The project, estimated to be worth between £250m and £500m, is aimed at increasing increased capacity at Bank station, the network’s fourth-busiest interchange, as well as delivering a step-free route between the Northern line platforms, DLR and street levels.

A decision is expected on which group will carry out the work by July next year.

David Waboso, London Underground’s capital programmes director, said it would be using the Innovative Contractor Engagement (ICE) process for the first time to select the winning bidder.

“This process should improve our relationship with the contractor market and get the benefits of early contractor involvement while developing major design and build contracts,” he said.

“The process has been designed to allow bidders to bring their expertise and knowledge to drive innovation that will reduce cost and risk to the project.

“This innovation will be commercially confidential to each bidder so they are able to fully derive the value and competitive advantage of their innovation through the procurement process.”

London Underground said it was looking for the ICE process to deliver increased value in the region of 10% - 20% for the project.