British firms win £300m in Crossrail mega-deals

Crossrail is providing a welcome boost to Britain's struggling construction industry as two international teams claimed mega-deals worth more £300 million on the capital's East-West rail link today.

The prize £200 million-plus deal is the contract to build Farringdon's Crossrail station, transforming it into one of Britain's busiest train stations when completed in 2018. Farringdon will become a major hub linking the Tube, Thameslink and Crossrail services with 140 trains an hour and an estimated 140,000 passengers flowing through the station every day.

A tie-up between building firm Kier, Spain's Ferrovial and Dutch outfit BAM Nuttall has been chosen for the works, which will link Farringdon to Heathrow in 31 minutes.

A rival team of Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall and French giant Vinci has meanwhile claimed the £110 million job to build Whitechapel's Crossrail station and rail platforms to the north of the Tube and overground stations, also due for completion in 2018. Work on both stations will begin early next year.

The contracts being awarded are the last major construction deals on the Crossrail project to come up for grabs after more than £1 billion in contracts for tunnelling under the capital were awarded last year.

Building firms will also chase further big station construction deals at Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road and Liverpool Street next year. A venture between Costain and Skanska has already claimed the contract to build Paddington's Crossrail station.