Transport for London is set to name Costain as its design-and-build partner for the long-awaited upgrade of South Kensington station, the first step towards finally giving one of the capital’s busiest tourist gateways full step-free access.
According to construction industry reports published today, TfL has confirmed its intention to award the contract under its Infrastructure Improvement Framework, clearing the way for enabling works before the end of the year.
The deal, rumoured to be worth more than £100m, is up from the £80m estimate TfL put on the job when it went to market in June last year, the Construction Enquirer reports.
What is planned
The upgrade will bring step-free access to the Circle, District and Piccadilly lines at South Kensington for the first time. A disused eastbound platform for the Circle and District lines will be brought back into customer use, and heritage features across the Grade II-listed station’s platforms will be restored.
The station’s ticket hall is to be overhauled, a new accessible entrance built on Thurloe Street, and the subway linking the station to South Kensington’s museums improved.
Once fully delivered, the improvements are targeted for 2031 — the year the Natural History Museum celebrates its 150th anniversary. The scheme is designed to significantly increase station capacity, tackling overcrowding and improving access for wheelchair users, passengers with buggies and others with mobility needs, who currently find navigating the station extremely difficult.
It is not the first step-free project to reach a milestone this year — Surrey Quays station recently went step-free with a new entrance on the Windrush line, as part of a wider push to make the network accessible.
Funding
The scheme will be funded through TfL’s Business Plan, alongside a £12m contribution from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and a separate contribution from the 1851 Commission, the Construction Index reports.
Work starts this year
The first work is expected before the end of the year. The Construction Enquirer reports that crews will move into an empty retail unit at 34 Thurloe Street for an eight-week enabling package — the first visible sign of the main programme.
The upgrade will be delivered alongside a joint redevelopment of the buildings around the station by Native Land and Places for London, TfL’s property arm, with both schemes run on coordinated programmes to keep disruption in check. The wider redevelopment is expected to restore the station’s historic shopping arcade and deliver around 50 homes, including a new four-storey “Bullnose” building at the station entrance.
South Kensington station is the gateway to London’s museum quarter, used by tens of millions of passengers each year. As well as serving the Natural History Museum, the V&A and the Science Museum, it is heavily used by students and staff at Imperial College London and by visitors to specialist hospitals including the Royal Brompton and the Royal Marsden.
It is worth noting the appointment marks progress in procurement rather than the start of main construction — the station is not yet step-free. TfL is yet to publish a press release confirming the details, and London Streets will update this story when it does.
Reporting based on: The Construction Index, the Construction Enquirer and London Daily News, 22 September 2026.
