It’s been a busy year for the teams working to build Brent Cross West, London’s newest main line station.

In March, the new sidings were completed as part of a £180 million package of railway works to make way for the new station. With up to 300 people working on sidings construction at any time, the project was a massive undertaking.

In April and May, work then continued to move the existing rail lines and rebuild sections of the track, before installing the first part of the station’s eastern overbridge over the mayday bank holiday weekend. The local landscape changed again in August when the western overbridge was lifted in to place. Since then, teams have installed floor and roof beams which reach up to 13.5m in length and weigh up to three tonnes each, and completed the steelwork on the station concourse.

They have also installed the lift shafts and completed the piling work across the station footprint.

Teams from across Network Rail, Amey and VolkerFitzpatrick led by Mace, have worked extra hard throughout the year to make the most of the railway possessions when trains aren’t running over the bank holiday weekends. The possessions usually means the Midland Main Line is closed between West Hampstead and Mill Hill Broadway.

And this festive bank holiday is no different. From Christmas Eve to Monday 27 December  teams will be installing the last two concourse beams with cranes on the east and west side of the tracks. They’ll then complete the decking needed to allow teams to lay the concrete on the concourse floor. The structural steelwork will also be completed on the link bridge and southern concourse meaning that by the end of the festive period the station’s ‘skeleton’ will be complete – a visual sign of the progress being made on the new station. Work will also continue on the platform construction.

The station is quite unusual in the way the concourse and overbridge spans the width of the track and platforms on an upper level. This has been designed to maximise the space available as part of the wider Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration project. However, lifts will ensure access for pedestrians and cyclists when it opens.

Throughout the year, we’ve also championed roles for local people with a variety of apprenticeships, kickstart roles and work experience created for residents of Barnet, Brent and Camden. We’ve championed women in to construction too.  You can find out more about the roles available on our opportunities page.

Find out more about the new station we’re building at Brent Cross West here and about the wider station programme here.