Crossrail contract worth £1.4bn handed to Hong Kong firm

MTR Corporation beat the likes of National Express and Arriva to win the concession

An architect's impression of how Crossrail Canary Wharf Station in London may look (PA)

A Hong Kong firm has been awarded the £1.4 billion contract to run Crossrail.

MTR Corporation beat the likes of National Express and Arriva to win the enterprise, which will be eight years with an option to extend to a deacde.

The deal was announced today by Transport for London (TfL); MTR is expected to employ around 1,100 staff with up to 850 new roles. This will include some 400 drivers and more than 50 apprenticeships for people from communities along the cross-London route.

Crossrail, a £14.5 billion project, will see trains running from as far west of the capital as Reading in Berkshire and as far east as Shenfield in Essex, with additional links to south London.

Due to fully open by the end of 2019, the huge undertaking will transform a number of overcrowded central London Tube stations and drastically improve cross-London journey times.

It is estimated that Crossrail will also support the equivalent of 55,000 full-time jobs around the UK, while its construction will generate at least 75,000 business opportunities across the country with 97 per cent of companies in Crossrail's supply chain based in the UK.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “This is great news for passengers across the capital and marks a significant milestone in the project.

“Crossrail will provide a better and faster service for millions of commuters and will help create up to 30,000 additional jobs in central London by 2026.”

He went on: “Crossrail is a part of our long-term economic plan and one of the many rail infrastructure projects benefitting from record levels of Government investment.

"Together with Thameslink, investment in rail in the North and a major electrification programme, we are creating jobs, boosting business and generating lasting economic growth across the UK."

MTR will start running the services from the end of May 2015 between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, taking over the stopping services currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia. They will be using the existing trains that currently operate on the route.

New trains will begin entering service with in 2017. The route through Canary Wharf, the City and the West End will open in late 2018, with the full route running from late 2019.

MTR also operates the London Overground concession with Arriva UK Trains as well as running the metro system in Hong Kong.

MTR chief executive Jay Walder described Crossrail as "a 21st century railway for a 21st century London".

He went on: "Crossrail's success will be finally realised through pioneering and sustaining a culture to deliver world class performance. We will work passionately, with TfL, to achieve this."

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "As hard-working engineers beaver away underneath our feet on the final construction of Crossrail's tunnels, we are putting the final pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together above ground.

"I am delighted that we can now announce the new operator of this landmark railway, bringing it one step closer to welcoming passengers aboard."

He went on: "Crossrail will revolutionise east-west transit in the capital, making London an even more attractive place to visit and invest.

"As has been the trend throughout this project, many hundreds of additional jobs will be created for local people."

Additional reporting by Press Association