Official UK procurement notice
Metro to Washington · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive T/A Nexus (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAs the Passenger Transport Executive for Tyne and Wear, Nexus is responsible for the maintenance and development of public transport networks across the region, including the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Nexus is undertaking a project, known as Metro to Washington, to extend the Metro system by 13km. The new route will link with existing stations at Pelaw and South Hylton via Washington and plans include three new stations at Follingsby, Washington North and Washington South.
Metro to Washington is a transformative project that will unlock access to highly skilled jobs and opportunities, deliver clean, green, accessible and modern integrated transport, and build a resilient and secure public transport solution to meet demand in Washington in the wider region.
The project is estimated to cost in the region of £900 million and will involve the construction of three new stations, including civils and structures, building services, electrical and mechanical, overhead line and permanent way.
Nexus is working with the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority on an Outline Business Case (OBC) for Metro to Washington, planned for submission in March 2027. Alongside this, we're progressing from feasibility through to outline design with our technical partners, Arup.
Proposed contract dates for detailed design and construction are subject to further funding and chosen procurement approach, but construction is indicatively planned from 2030. The three phases of Metro to Washington are:
Phase 1: 2023 - 2027 'Plan'
- Feasibility study. Surveys. Outline designs. Value for Money Assessment.
Phase 2: 2027 - 2030 'Planning'
- Planning permission. Contractor procurement. Cost confirmation.
Phase 3: 2030 onwards 'Plans'
- Award contracts. Complete the Detailed design. Deliver the scheme
Nexus is undertaking preliminary market engagement to provide an overview of the project and emerging procurement strategy and is seeking valuable insights from the market as it develops those plans.
CPV: Construction work for buildings relating to railway transport · Installation of signalling equipment · Overhead line construction · Platforms facilities construction work · Railway engineering services · Railway signalling works · Railway station construction work · Railway-track construction materials and supplies · Railways traffic-control equipment · Track construction works
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive T/A Nexus buys Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523), and who usually turns up
Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive T/A Nexus’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: Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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 North East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North East England.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 40 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: 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.
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.
1 bid4% / 17%
2–324% / 17%
4–670% / 50%
7+1% / 17%
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.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate8% / 44%
Within ±2%23% / 35%
Above estimate69% / 21%
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.
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 4523Estimate not published
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 73 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid8%
2–327%
4–634%
7+30%
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.
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.
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.
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.
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Works
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 Jul 2026, 14:35 BST
- Last source update
- 1 Jul 2026, 14:35 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-061815- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c171Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
1 Jul 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published112 days ago1 Jul 2026, 14:35 BST
- Market engagement81 days ago31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
All potential suppliers wishing to participate in the Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) please confirm your interest by emailing [email protected] with reference 'Metro to Washington'.
Upon receipt, you will be provided with further information for a market engagement event, run in partnership with the Rail Industry Association (RIA), on Tuesday 14th July 2026.
Attendees will need to create an account with RIA as part of the registration process. Registration is free of charge, but early registration is recommended to ensure sufficient time to address any potential issues. The deadline for event registration is Friday 10th July 2026 at 17:00.
The initial event will cover Metro to Washington, as well as broader Light Rail opportunities in Tyne & Wear, including Metro Go, which is subject of a separate notice. The event will feature presentations by Nexus and interactive workshops with Nexus and other delegates. The detailed agenda and event structure will be provided following confirmation of interest
Metro to Washington is an evolving project. The purpose of the initial event is to provide early insight into Nexus' anticipated requirements and receive feedback from attendees. All information shared at the event is therefore indicative and subject to change. Should Nexus proceed to procurement, its requirements will be set out in the procurement documents, which will take precedence over any information provided at the event.
Suppliers who are unable to attend the event (or who do not wish to do so) can nevertheless still register their interest in Metro to Washington, to receive materials presented at the event and be notified of any future market engagement, by emailing [email protected]
Such future market engagement may include additional events (in person or virtual), meetings (multi-lateral or bilateral), written requests and submissions (such as questionnaires) and other related activity. Nexus may, but may not, publish further notices regarding such future events, so interested suppliers are encouraged to register now if they wish to be invited to participate in the ongoing engagement programme.
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 72 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 Jul 2026, 14:35 BSTUK2
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender