A consortium comprising engineering companies Balfour Beatty and Carillion was today awarded a £363m contract to build a key new rail line. The contract, awarded by Transport for London (TfL), is for the extension of the East London Line south to Crystal Palace and West Croydon and north to Dalston Junction.

Main construction work will start later this year and the extended line will open in June 2010. Today's contract does not include extending the line further north to Highbury and Islington via the Dalston link but it is intended that this section will be completed in time for the 2012 Olympics.

Tfl's London Rail managing director Ian Brown said today: “The project will also bring wider benefits for London. It will provide an important transport link for the Olympics and bring huge regeneration opportunities to east London by connecting it up to the rest of London's vast transport network. I am delighted that the link to integrate the East London and North London Railways together is to be delivered prior to the Olympics.“

From: £363m Olympic rail contract awarded, This is Money, 23 October 2006

More at: Dalston to Croydon

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