Official UK procurement notice
DFTO Ground Transportation Dynamic Market
Authority: DFT Operator Limited 'DFTO' (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDFT Operator "DFTO" intends to establish and operate a Dynamic Market to enable Train Operating Companies (TOCs) within the DFTO group and the public sector to run further call off competitions for Managed Bus/Coach (Rail Replacement Services) and Managed Taxi Services.
DFTO will act as the contracting authority for the establishment, governance and ongoing management of the Dynamic Market. Individual TOCs will act as Customers and will conduct Call-Off Competitions and award Call-Off Contracts under the Dynamic Market in their own capacity as contracting authorities.
The Dynamic Market will remain open for its duration, allowing Suppliers to apply for admission at any time, subject to meeting the Conditions for Membership. Admitted Suppliers will be invited by Customers to participate in Call-Off Competitions for specific requirements.
DFTO will not be a party to any Call-Off Contract awarded under the Dynamic Market unless expressly stated otherwise.
The structure of this Dynamic Market is intended to support future organisational change within the rail sector and may be utilised by successor bodies to DFTO in accordance with applicable legislation.
The term of the Dynamic Market is anticipated to be 8 years from the date of publication of the intentions notice (Estimated to be 31/03/2026). Please note for the purposes of publishing this notice nominal dates have been inputted and are not reflective of the actual . Contract start and end dates will determined by the users of the Dynamic Market.
CPV: Public transport services by railways · Railway and tramway passenger coaches, and trolleybuses · Road transport services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How DFT Operator Limited 'DFTO' buys Rolling stock (CPV 3462), and who usually turns up
DFT Operator Limited 'DFTO'’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Rolling stock (CPV 3462) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in the delivery region.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
No decision dates published to compare.
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How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
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What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 3462Published estimate£1.5bn
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How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 351 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid24%
2–345%
4–625%
7+6%
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Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
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Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
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Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 2 Mar 2026, 16:27 GMT
- Last source update
- 2 Mar 2026, 16:27 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 31 Mar 2034
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-018632- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06601aFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 28 Mar 2034, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline
- 28 Mar 2034, 23:59 BST
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
2 Mar 2026 → 31 Mar 2034 · 5 dates- Planning notice published234 days ago2 Mar 2026, 16:27 GMT
- Tender notice expected204 days ago31 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Submission deadline28 Mar 2034, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts31 Mar 2034, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected by31 Mar 2034, 23:59 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Planned procurement notice published2 Mar 2026, 16:27 GMTUK3
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender