Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 13 Oct 2026, 21:26 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Framework for Rail Fleet Engineering Support

Authority: Translink (Public body)

Framework agreementServicesAbove thresholdUtilities
Planned pipeline value£30,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Framework period 3 yrsends 1 Mar 2030 · up to 28 Feb 2035 with extensions · starts 1 Mar 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Translink” is establishing a Framework for the provision of Project Management, Technical Support and Business Change Services to support Rail Systems, Engineering and Operations projects across the Translink rail network and associated assets. The Framework will provide access to specialist consultancy, advisory and embedded resource support to assist with the development, delivery, implementation and optimisation of rail projects and programmes

CPV: Management-related services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
3 yrs · up to 8 yrs from 1 Mar 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrs
Contract period: 1 Mar 2027 – 1 Mar 2030 (3 yrs) · up to 28 Feb 2035 with extensions
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “Framework for Rail Fleet Engineering Support” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Translink buys Management-related services (CPV 7942), and who usually turns up

Translink’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Management-related services (CPV 7942) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerTranslink · all categories
The marketManagement-related services (CPV 7942) · Northern Ireland
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 6 of 9 known-size awards · market: division 79 · Northern Ireland, n=26
67%62%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in Northern Ireland.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 2 known-location awards · market: division 79 · Northern Ireland, n=26
1 of 258%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Northern Ireland.

How long to a decision?
i

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 decided notices · market: division 79 · Northern Ireland, n=14
157 days66 days

Half of these awards were announced within 157 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 1 of 9 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 79 · Northern Ireland, n=16
11%19%

Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer17 lots with bid counts · all categories
6% had one bid
The market90 lots with bid counts · division 79 · Northern Ireland
3% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid6% / 3%
Buyer: 1 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 90 lots with published bid counts.
2–329% / 17%
Buyer: 5 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 15 of 90 lots with published bid counts.
4–624% / 27%
Buyer: 4 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 24 of 90 lots with published bid counts.
7+41% / 53%
Buyer: 7 of 17 lots with published bid counts. Market: 48 of 90 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.

2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 794236 monthsPublished estimate£30m
Expected competition
i

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 90 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet3% single-bid risk
Past bids on 90 similar lots
1 bid3%
3 of 90 similar past lots received 1 bid (3%).
2–317%
15 of 90 similar past lots received 2–3 (17%).
4–627%
24 of 90 similar past lots received 4–6 (27%).
7+53%
48 of 90 similar past lots received 7+ (53%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 7 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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.

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.

No supplier with a record in this category fits this lot yet.

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 match score 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
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Utilities
Commercial structure
Framework agreement
Who may use the vehicle
Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
13 Oct 2026, 21:26 BST
Last source update
13 Oct 2026, 21:26 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-096756
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Management-related services
Delivery area
Northern Ireland (UKN)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0786ff Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

13 Oct 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice publishedearlier today
    13 Oct 2026, 21:26 BST
  2. Today
    14 Oct 2026
  3. Market engagementin 10 days
    24 Oct 2026, 00:59 BST

    Translink intend to issue a short questionnaire as part of this Pre‑Market Engagement. This Pre-Market Engagement opportunity can be found here: etendersni.gov.uk ↗ (please enter the procurement title on this PME notice in the search bar on eTendersNI)

    You will need to be registered with eTendersNI. Information on registering with etenders can be found on the 'Help' section and the 'eTendersNI FAQ' section on the landing page.

    Please ensure you download and read the Pre-Market Engagement Questionnaire, which is available from the ‘CfT Documents’ Area of the CfT. Your completed Pre-Market Engagement Questionnaire must be submitted as an attachment via the eTendersNI messaging portal

  4. Contract startsin 138 days
    1 Mar 2027

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    13 Oct 2026, 21:26 BST
    UK2

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

Translink

Contracting authorityPublic undertaking GB-PPON: PTMT-7134-NRMV 22 Great Victoria Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT2 7LXContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure