Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT), the sponsors of Crossrail, have given Crossrail Ltd the go-ahead to begin the procurement process for the station fit out.
A contract notice for the works is being published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). An invitation to tender is expected to be issued in late 2013, with work starting in late 2014.
The provision of a station in Woolwich is tied into the Royal Arsenal Riverside housing development, being built alongside it by Berkeley Homes. The developer completed the basic box in March this year, four months ahead of schedule, and handed it over to Crossrail. A deal has now been reached to fund the remaining works required to fit out the station with contributions totalling £54m being provided by Berkeley Homes, the Royal Borough of Greenwich (via a GLA grant and local developer contributions), and TfL.
Any further funds required to make the station fully operational will be provided by Crossrail Ltd from its existing budget.
A Crossrail station at Woolwich was not within the original scope of the project. However, during the passage of the Crossrail Bill, an agreement was reached for Berkeley Homes to construct the station box. This agreement was confirmed in February 2011. Since then TfL and DfT have been in discussions with Berkeley Homes and the Royal Borough of Greenwich to develop an additional funding package for the fit out of the station so that it is ready for trains to serve the station when they start operating at the end of 2018.
Greenwich council leader Chris Roberts said: “The Royal Borough of Greenwich has worked for several years to ensure the Crossrail project includes a station at Woolwich. I am delighted that we have finally put the arrangements in place, at no cost to our local council tax payers. I cannot overstate what a huge difference this will mean for the regeneration of Woolwich and what it will do to cement the regeneration of the area.”
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