Official UK procurement notice
Carriage Hire Agreement for 5 No. Mk2e BUO Coaches
Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe hire of 5 MK2E BUO Carriages for use in the Infrastructure monitoring fleet. This is for the continued hire of the same set of vehicle Network Rail has been using since 2019 which have undergone significant bespoke modification to make them compatible for use in Infrastructure Monitoring Train operations. The scope of this contract is for their continued hire up until 2028 (extendable until 2029) and to permit further modifications to be made to help better facilitate Infrastructure Monitoring operations.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 8 May 2026, 09:21 BST
- Last source update
- 3 Aug 2026, 08:18 BST
- Authority reference
44066- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-072972- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06941eFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Technical Reasons; Additional Repeat Extension Partial Replacement; Additional Repeat Further Following Competitive Procedure
- Published justification
Changing suppliers would result in incompatible goods being hired and/or disproportionate technical challenges and costs. Other Mk2E carriages or alternatives hired from the market where they exist would need Network Rail's bespoke Infrastructure monitoring modifications and therefore face interoperability issues or money & time intensive modification costs, which may disrupt Infrastructure Monitoring fleet operations if a switch were to be made. These operations are critical to the safe running of the railway as they identify preventative maintenance requirements.
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 8 May 2026- Transparency notice published8 May 2026, 09:21 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published7 Jul 2026, 15:52 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected20 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published3 Aug 2026, 08:18 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| EASTERN RAIL SERVICES LIMITEDSME20 Jul 2026 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 31 Mar 2029Extensions: Two 6-month increments can be undertaken to extend the contract in total for up to 1 full year. These will be undertaken subject to the Infrastructure Monitoring fleet's continued need for the vehicles. | £2,209,700 | 24 Jun 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Carriage Hire Agreement for 5 No. Mk2e BUO Coaches · EASTERN RAIL SERVICES LIMITEDSME
- Signed
- 31 Jul 2026
- Value
- £2,209,700
- Period
- 31 Jul 2026 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Two 6-month increments can be undertaken to extend the contract in total for up to 1 full year. These will be undertaken subject to the Infrastructure Monitoring fleet's continued need for the vehicles.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- EASTERN RAIL SERVICES LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender