The station building is the largest part of the whole project, which also includes the construction of other public transport facilities – the station is served by 72 different bus lines – and renovation of the surrounding area. The contract, announced last week by ProRail, the Dutch rail management authority, is worth €95 million.

Utrecht station, a major hub for rail connections across the Netherlands, was last rebuilt in 1989 to cope with an anticipated 35 million passengers a year. But those numbers are already up to 200,000 a day, travelling on 900 trains a day, and numbers are expected to rise to above 100 million a year. The new building will also answer one of the main complaints from the public: that the station was never clearly visible from the surrounding area.

The new design by architects Benthem Crouwel will provide a large open concourse with an undulating roof, bathed in natural light, linking directly to shops, taxi stands and public transport, as well as the rail platforms. The platforms will have new glass and steel canopies with solar cells generating about 85,000 kW hours a year, which will be pumped into the national grid. Work is expected to begin in the autumn, to be completed in 2014.

The award of the contract to Besix gives them a head start in competing for a series of other station renovations planned in the Netherlands in the coming years, including Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam Zuid.