Official UK procurement notice
Ground Transportation (Rail Replacement Taxi)
Authority: WM TRAINS LIMITED (Public body)
Sectors: Transport & Passenger Services (60) Delivery: North East (UKC)North West (UKD)Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)+6 more
Awarded value £1,600,000published award · exc. VAT
Award in standstill Not publishedno call for competition
Award (standstill) to CMAC GROUP UK LIMITED
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProvision of planned and unplanned taxi services for staff and customers. WMT has a significant reliance on road transport services to support the operation of its rail network, particularly for traincrew movements.
Given the critical nature of these journeys, any disruption in the provision of taxi transport has the potential to directly impact operational performance, train service delivery, and customer experience.
The proposed direct award would provide service continuity while allowing WMT sufficient time to undertake a comprehensive competitive procurement exercise for a longer-term solution.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Lot 1Awarded
60000000 Transport services (excl. Waste transport)
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
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 17 Sept 2026, 16:35 BST
- Last source update
- 17 Sept 2026, 16:35 BST
- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0774cd
- Why no open competition
- Urgency
- Published justification
This direct award is being made under PA23 justification Sch. 5 paragraph 13 "Urgency" 13 Where- (a) the goods, services or works to be supplied under the public contract are strictly necessary for reasons of extreme and unavoidable urgency, and (b) as a result the public contract cannot be awarded on the basis of a competitive tendering procedure. and paragraph 14 where urgency is unavoidable as it (a) is not more…
attributable to any act or omission of the contracting authority, and (b) could not have been foreseen by the contracting authority. WMTL intended to extend the services of the current supplier for a further 12 months under the existing provisions of the previous UCR 2016 and current contract to allow for a PA23 compliant tender. However, this was set aside due to the current supplier advising recently that they would be unable to provide services for after a short time with a significant cost increase. WMTL will need to issue a direct award as a matter of urgency in order to continue managed taxi rail replacement services in order to mobilise an interim supplier within the time frame that services will be suspended with current provider. Rail Replacement services are a necessary and business critical process for the business and industry. The successful supplier will be expected to deliver the following outcomes and critical success factors: a. Enable customers to access rail replacement transport services whenever train services are cancelled, amended, or disrupted, including on-the-day incidents. b. Provide supplementary or contingency transport capacity, particularly on infrequent routes, where rail or existing replacement services are forecast to be oversubscribed. c. Ensure customers and staff are transported in a safe, secure, and reliable environment throughout their journey. Without the Rail Replacement services, potential for operation of trains could stop due to lack of train crew. This Direct Award will be advertised as an interim award while a compliant tender is taking place under the Dynamic Market already set up by DFT Operator Limited for Train Operating Companies to use. At this current time, a limited number (4) of suppliers have been allowed entry into the Dynamic Market, so the available pool of preferred supplier to manage this contract in the interim is finite.
Review and risk notes
- Risks
- N/A
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecastAwards 1some still in standstill
Awarded value £1,600,0001 award exc. VAT
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMAC GROUP UK LIMITEDGround Transportation (Rail Replacement Taxi) Interim Contract1 Nov 2026 — 31 Oct 2027 | £1,600,000 | — | Standstill |
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 17 Sept 2026- Contract signature expected9 Oct 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Transparency notice published17 Sept 2026, 16:35 BSTUK5
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- CMAC GROUP UK LIMITEDAwarded supplierView supplier profile →
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender