Farringdon is the second central London station to be shortlisted following Paddington last month.

The bidding line up is the same as those named at Paddington, with the exception of Carillion, which has not made the cut this time round.

A Crossrail source told the Enquirer: “We think firms will want to know who has won this big station job before they commit to tender for any of the other four stations put out to tender earlier this year.”

In the invitations to bid for Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel, Crossrail said it was prepared to engage with bidders about taking on up to three of the stations if economies of scale could be found.

The total value of the six central London stations contracts is £1.5bn.

C405 Paddington Station (£250m)

C412 Bond Street Station (£200m)

C422 Tottenham Court Road Station (£200m)

C435 Farringdon Station(£375m)

C502 Liverpool Street Station (£300m)

C512 Whitechapel Station (£250m)

Andy Mitchell, Crossrail Programme Director said: “With the major tunnelling contracts awarded last year, 2011 will be the year of the main station contract awards.”

Crossrail intends to award the main construction contracts for all central London stations by the end of the year.

“Farringdon is a key station on the Crossrail route and will be a major passenger hub for Tube and rail services.

“The scale of the new Crossrail station is such that it will stretch all the way from Farringdon to Barbican.”

The station will connect to three Tube lines and provides the strategic and only connection between Crossrail and an upgraded Thameslink network.

Mitchell said: “In construction terms, Farringdon is a hugely important station as it is the meeting point of the two major tunnelling drives.”

Farringdon Crossrail station is being delivered in conjunction with Network Rail, who are leading on the wider redevelopment of Farringdon as part of the Thameslink scheme.

The Crossrail contract includes construction of both the eastern and western integrated ticket halls, providing access to Crossrail, London Underground and Thameslink services.

When complete, it is planned that over 140 trains per hour will flow through the Farringdon interchange; making it one of Britain’s busiest train stations.

An estimated 140,000 passengers will use Farringdon station every day.