Bank Station Capacity Upgrade, London, UK

Transport for London used NEC3: Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Option C: target contract with activity schedule to increase Bank Station's capacity by 40% - completing one of the most complex station upgrade projects ever undertaken on London Underground to the agreed programme and budget in February 2023, and saving £60 million over the base design through NEC-inspired collaboration. The £700 million upgrade, which included over 1,000 m of new tunnels built centimetres from live railways beneath the City of London, was highly commended for Transport Project of the Year at the 2023 British Construction Industry Awards. Bank Station now serves as a world-class interchange fit for one of the world's leading financial centres.

Open heart surgery on a patient who is awake

Bank Station serves the heart of the City of London, providing an interchange between the Northern, Central, Circle, District and Waterloo and City London Underground lines and the Docklands Light Railway. The upgrade works included a new Northern line southbound platform tunnel and associated approach tunnels to reduce interchange times and ease passenger flows, a new station entrance on Cannon Street, two new lifts providing step-free access to the Northern line for the first time, 12 new escalators, two new 100 m long moving walkways and several new underground passageways. 

TfL project director Lincoln Ofokansi describes the engineering challenge with precision: the station remained fully operational throughout the works apart from a 17-week partial closure of the Northern line. At times the tunnelling works were centimetres away from the live operational railway, in highly congested ground directly beneath the historic City. Over 1,000 m of new sprayed-concrete-lined tunnels were constructed in total. TfL let the design and build contract to Dragados under NEC3 ECC Option C in July 2013, with construction starting in April 2016 after a detailed design stage. 

It was like doing open heart surgery on a patient who is awake. The station remained operational throughout the works, apart from a 17-week part closure of the Northern line. We were sometimes tunnelling centimetres away from the operational railway.
- Lincoln Ofokansi, Project Director - Stations, Transport for London

Best for Bank: NEC collaboration and a £60 million saving

TfL senior programme commercial manager Rob Mitchell says the NEC requirement to act in a ‘spirit of mutual trust and co-operation’ was reinforced by a non-binding management protocol developed alongside the contract. Known as the Best for Bank approach, this set out in plain terms how the parties would conduct themselves and develop mutually beneficial working practices. It was adopted at all levels of the project team and, Mitchell says, led to excellent behaviours and working relationships throughout - complementing the structured NEC processes for early warnings, compensation events and programme management rather than replacing them. 

Dragados operations director Steve Holmes says the combination of an innovative contractor engagement process and NEC-inspired collaboration enabled Dragados to save £60 million over the base design, placing value at the project's core from the earliest stages. All project teams were actively engaged throughout the design process, producing the most optimal solution and underpinning successful delivery to the agreed programme and budget - including through the Covid-19 pandemic, which was managed through the NEC compensation event process without derailing the programme. On completion in February 2023, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan described the transformed station as world-class and fit to serve a financial district of international renown. 

Benefits of using NEC

• NEC3 ECC Option C's focus on programme and risk management enabled TfL and Dragados to share risks and opportunities throughout a ten-year design and construction programme, including navigating Covid-19 without compromising the agreed budget or schedule. 
• NEC-inspired collaboration during the detailed design stage, supported by an innovative contractor engagement process, enabled Dragados to save £60 million over the base design - demonstrating how NEC's collaborative ethos can deliver measurable value engineering outcomes at the earliest project stage. 
• The Best for Bank management protocol, developed alongside the NEC contract, gave the collaborative intent of the NEC spirit of mutual trust and co-operation practical expression at every level of the project team, from senior leadership to site operations. 
• NEC early warning, compensation event and programme management processes provided the structured backbone that kept one of the most technically complex station upgrade projects ever undertaken on London Underground on time and within budget throughout.