Railtrack, Britain’s insolvent railway network operator, has received bids totalling US$539 million (£375 million) for two of its most important infrastructure assets.
London & Continental Railways has bid US$430 million for its stake in the under-construction Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). Tunnelling on the second phase of construction – which includes 22km of tunnelling under east London – is due to start this year.
Meanwhile Network Rail, the government-backed not for profit organisation set up to take over Railtrack, has bid US$116 million to manage London’s St Pancras station – the terminus for the CTRL and the capital’s most sophisticated transport hub, with significant underground construction planned as part of its redevelopment.
