Official UK procurement notice
Network Rail Track Focused Railway Systems Contract
Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Current Rail Systems Alliances are Track Work contracts formed as partnerships between Network Rail and one or more suppliers.
The requirement covers end-to-end delivery of track renewals, including design, planning, installation, testing, commissioning and close-out. Primary scope comprises plain line, S&C and drainage works. Secondary scope such minor signalling, electrification and plant, telecoms, civils, structures and earthworks may also be delivered as standalone work through the alliances, which will sit alongside existing regional frameworks.
In addition to this, the new contracts will have the flexibility to provide secondary scope additional works such as standalone S&T and E&P works not associated to any primary scope track works.
Network Rail is seeking to appoint suitable supplier(s) to continue the delivery of Rail Systems and associated work for the Financial Period (FP) 1 and 2 programmes, the estimated start date for mobilisation is mid-2028, with go live in mid-2029.
The detailed scope and commercial model will be published within the tender documents.
CPV: Civil engineering support services · Construction work for railways and cable transport systems · Engineering design services · Railway construction works · Railway engineering services · Railway-track maintenance services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED buys Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523), and who usually turns up
NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. 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.
No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 42 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.
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.
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?
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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 bid13% / 12%
2–350% / 36%
4–638% / 30%
7+0% / 21%
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 estimate83% / 45%
Within ±2%0% / 34%
Above estimate17% / 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 7131Published estimate£5.0bn
This lot is listed as CPV 7131. The table above uses the notice category.
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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 451 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid14%
2–324%
4–629%
7+33%
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- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- 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
- 30 Jan 2026, 16:16 GMT
- Last source update
- 22 Oct 2026, 10:49 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-099851- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06136dFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
30 Jan 2026 → 1 Jun 2029 · 5 dates- Planning notice published268 days ago30 Jan 2026, 16:16 GMT
- Latest notice published3 days ago22 Oct 2026, 10:49 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 99 days31 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
Network Rail will be holding another Market Engagement Meeting with potential suppliers in advance of this procurement activity. We will be holding this as an online event on 28th October 2026 at 1500hr. We will provide suppliers with an overview of the procurement activity and our key requirements, priorities, Strategy Overview, Contract Expectation, Tender Evaluation & Assessment followed by a Q&A session. At this stage the precise scope is yet to be determined, however we would welcome any views or insights that you may have. If you would like to attend this session please could you register your interest by emailing on [email protected]. We look forward to meeting you soon to discuss this procurement activity further.
- Tender notice expectedin 128 days1 Mar 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts1 Jun 2029, 00:00 BST
Notice history
4 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 30 Jan 2026- Pipeline notice published30 Jan 2026, 16:16 GMTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published2 Feb 2026, 16:50 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published12 Feb 2026, 16:47 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Oct 2026, 10:49 BSTUK2
Published amendments (2)
Due to the number of suppliers interested in the Market Engagement session this will now no longer be held in person at a venue, but as an online event on a date and time to be confirmed, apologies that an in-person meeting could not be arranged. If you would like to attend this session please could you follow the link to complete the form and register your interest, no later than Friday 20th Febr…
Network Rail will be holding another Market Engagement Meeting with potential suppliers in advance of this procurement activity. We will be holding this as an online event on 28th October 2026 at 1500hr. We will provide suppliers with an overview of the procurement activity and our key requirements, priorities, Strategy Overview, Contract Expectation, Tender Evaluation & Assessment followed by a Q…
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-01: 1 release · 30 Jan 2026
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 (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender