Under the deal Network Rail will upgrade 70km of track and carry out improvements to 27 stations from Maidenhead in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east.
It will also renewing 15 bridges, as well as removing around one million cubic metres of spoil from the tunnel excavation by rail, reducing the need for construction traffic on the roads under the deal.
Network Rail’s work for Crossrail represents one of the largest commercial contracts in the company’s ten-year history, and marks a further significant milestone in the delivery of the project.
Unlike the central tunnel, Network Rail will do all of this on an active operational railway, delivering vital upgrade works whilst minimising disruption to train services.
The biggest single job will be a new Stockley Flyover in west London, which is being designed by Jacobs Engineering.
A source told the Enquirer: “The price is all about delivering improvements that are needed to deliver the new service.
“It is more about platform extensions than delivering more grandiose station improvements that some local councils were hoping for.”