Transport for London (TfL) has said it will retender all underground refurbishment jobs awarded by Metronet that have not yet started on site.

The news will come as a blow to some contractors, among them Costain, who were awarded work before Metronet went bust last Summer. Costain's £50m contract to refurbish Embankment station was awarded in February 2007 and began design work, but was put on hold when Metronet went into administration in July last year.

A spokesman for TfL told CN: 'TfL's priority is to ensure that upgrade work is continued while representing good value and therefore work at other stations not already in construction will be retendered.'

In related news, Contract Journal reports that Tubelines is eyeing Balfour Beatty's £104m London Underground track renewal contract, parts of Metronet's £1bn station programme and £90m London Overground maintenance deal.

The firm wants to expand, partly to compensate for a drop in London Underground Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects after Tubelines stepped up its track replacement and stations programmes. Rail unions are expected to oppose the company's move to bid for work outside of PPP.

Source

Construction Manager