The contract is worth £196m and includes modifications to tracks at Barking station and on an existing 3km section of Network Rail’s Barking - Tilbury line. The contractors will also build a new 1.5km double-track viaduct from Renwick Road overbridge to the new terminus station.

The new station will serve a 10,000-home development with the developers Barking Riverside meeting £172m of the cost of the scheme. Preliminary work is already complete and main construction will start in May.