Four battle for £400m Chiltern line

Four teams are set to battle it out for the major revamp of the London Marylebone to Oxford rail corridor.

Marylebone Station (photo by Shout/Rex Features)

The job, which has a capital project value of around £400m, is being hotly contested by Carillion, Empac (VolkerRail/Laing O'Rourke), Balfour Beatty and a Nuttall/Jarvis joint venture.

Costain declined to tender for the work and it is believed Morgan Est missed out on the shortlist.

The job is being financed by Deutsche Bahn, which bought Laing Rail - Chiltern's previous owner - in January 2008.

It includes the upgrade of the Chiltern main line from London Marylebone to Fenny Compton Bank and the East West Line from Bicester to Oxford Station.

One shortlisted contractor said: "This part of the job is probably the most tricky, as it involves working on a live rail line. Around 50 sets of switches and crossings need to be installed, and these will have to be done during possessions and blockades."

A new chord line at Bicester linking the Chiltern main line with the Bicester to Oxford East West line, some 14km in length, will also be constructed.

This part of the job is seen as the easier, as the work will be carried out away from the live railway.

Chiltern Railways is aiming to award the contract towards the end of November, with a view to starting work in late 2010.

Once completed, the line will benefit from higher capacity and quicker journey times, as well as providing passengers with an alternative route between Reading, Oxford and London.