Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 11 May 2026, 12:05 BST

Official UK procurement notice

project_46090 - #44262 - Crossing Restoration Machine (CRM)

Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)

GoodsBelow thresholdUtilitiesSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 11 May 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 11 Oct 2027 · starts 12 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

An automated welding machine to deliver consistent, repeatable welds across a full cross unit including both wing rails and nose. The system must deliver improved welding consistency utilising a Flux Cored Arc Welding process , reduce manual rework, and minimise variation in welding quality. Evidence shall be provided to demonstrate enhanced reliability, reduced repeat failures, and improved long-term crossing performance.

CPV: Railway equipment

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yrSMEVCSE
Contract period: 12 Oct 2026 – 11 Oct 2027 (1 yr)
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED buys Railway equipment (CPV 3494), and who usually turns up

NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED’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: Railway equipment (CPV 3494) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED · division 34
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: 0 of 1 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
0 of 1—

No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.

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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 1 known-location awards · market: no winner locations published
0 of 1—

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside the delivery region.

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: 20 decided notices · market: no decision dates published
156 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 156 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 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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 3 of 5 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: no bid counts or routes published
60%—

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer16 lots with bid counts · all categories
13% had one bid
The marketNo bid counts published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid13%
Buyer: 2 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
2–350%
Buyer: 8 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
4–638%
Buyer: 6 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
7+0%
Buyer: 0 of 16 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.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer6 lots with estimate and award · all categories
83% below estimate
The marketNo estimate-and-award pairs published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
Below estimate83%
Buyer: 5 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%0%
Buyer: 0 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate17%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
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 349412 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
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 351 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet24% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 351 similar lots
1 bid24%
83 of 351 similar past lots received 1 bid (24%).
2–345%
157 of 351 similar past lots received 2–3 (45%).
4–625%
89 of 351 similar past lots received 4–6 (25%).
7+6%
22 of 351 similar past lots received 7+ (6%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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.

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
Goods
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Below threshold
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
11 May 2026, 12:05 BST
Last source update
11 May 2026, 12:05 BST
Authority reference
project_46090
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-042923
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Railway equipment
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069587 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

11 May 2026 → 12 Oct 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published164 days ago
    11 May 2026, 12:05 BST
  2. Tender notice expected164 days ago
    11 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  3. Contract starts11 days ago
    12 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    11 May 2026, 12:05 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

NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PNZN-9524-VCQJ Waterloo General Office, London, London, SE1 8SWContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure