The contract to design, manufacture and deliver two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) that will build the Northern line extension for the London Underground (LU) has been awarded to NFM Technologies.

Ferrovial Agroman Laing O'Rourke Joint Venture (FLO), who LU has contracted to design and build the Northern line extension, plans to launch the TBMs in summer 2016, when the machines will begin their seven month 2.5km journey from Battersea to Kennington.

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Each TBM "cutting head", which will do the excavation work, will be over six metres in diameter and the full machine itself will be 106 metres long - equivalent to the length of the pitch at Wembley Stadium.

Two new stations will be constructed, one at the heart of the Battersea Power Station redevelopment and another at Nine Elms to the east, serving new developments such as the US Embassy and the redevelopment of New Covent Garden Market, as well as existing communities.

The Northern line extension will enable the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea areas to be transformed into a major new commercial and residential district with tens of thousands of new jobs and homes. Other transport investments in the area include the transformation of the Vauxhall gyratory, the creation of new dedicated cycle routes through the area, and the upgrading of Vauxhall Tube station to include step free access.

(CD/IT)