Official UK procurement notice
Provision of a Thunderbird Incident Response Locomotive Service
Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)
Sectors: Repair & Maintenance (50) Delivery: UK
Framework ceiling (notional)£10,800,000framework ceiling, not attributable revenue
Submissions closed 18 Aug 2025awarded 7 Nov 2025
Awarded to Colas Rail Limited
Framework period 3 yrsends 7 Jan 2029 · up to 7 Jan 2032 with extensions · starts 8 Jan 2026
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProvision of a Thunderbird Incident Response Locomotive Service for Network Rail's Eastern Region to be based at Newark Northgate Sidings.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 10 Jan 2028, 23:59 GMT.
- How the procedure runs: Procurement Specific Questionnaire will run concurrently with the tender. The conditions of participation will be used to verify the eligibility of a Participant's bid being evaluated; it will not be used to shortlist suppliers.
- No preliminary market engagement: This procurement event is to competitively tender for the continuation of a known requirement with an established scope.
CPV: Repair, maintenance and associated services related to railways and other equipment
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
- Places
- up to 1 suppliers · 6 bids received (6.0 per place) · 1 appointed (full)
- Framework period
- 3 yrs · up to 6 yrs from 8 Jan 2026
Published description of the framework
The framework's pricing document provides a fixed price for the service. The service is instructed via purchase orders for the duration required.
This framework is awarded to one supplier only so there is no selection process for the insruction of services.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£10,800,000
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)1
- Technical & professional ability
Participants must hold a valid Track Access Agreement
What it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
How bids were scored
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 30%
- Commercial: 70%
Published award criteria (2)
- Commercial
- Technical
Conditions of participation1
- Technical & professional ability
Participants must hold a valid Track Access Agreement
What this means for your bid
- Price carries 70 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 7 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- “Provision of a Thunderbird Incident Response Locomotive Service” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 1 suppliers, not a single contract, and call-offs are awarded directly: getting appointed is the whole game.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA, CPTPP)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 10 Jan 2028
- First published
- 7 Jul 2025, 09:56 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Jan 2026, 14:44 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 6 Nov 2025
- Authority reference
project_42922, pqq_3698, itt_18064- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-037651- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0559a1Find a Tender
- How it runs
Procurement Specific Questionnaire will run concurrently with the tender.
The conditions of participation will be used to verify the eligibility of a Participant's bid being evaluated; it will not be used to shortlist suppliers.
How it was run
Official noticeRun through: Jaggaer · Who buys & how to bid on JAGGAER
Access & registration note: Free; latest Chrome/Edge/Firefox only — corporate browsers fail
- Appointment period ends
- 18 Aug 2025, 16:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 4 Aug 2025, 16:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Timeline
7 Jul 2025 → 23 Jan 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published7 Jul 2025, 09:56 BST
- Clarification questions by4 Aug 2025, 16:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown18 Aug 2025, 16:00 BST
- Award decision expected by349 days ago6 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent349 days ago7 Nov 2025
- Standstill ends337 days ago18 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts287 days ago8 Jan 2026
- Latest notice published272 days ago23 Jan 2026, 14:44 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Jul 2025- Tender notice published7 Jul 2025, 09:56 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published7 Nov 2025, 16:15 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete7 Nov 2025, 16:15 GMT
- Contract signature expected26 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published23 Jan 2026, 14:44 GMTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastSuppliers appointed 11 award · see the list ↓
Bids received 6
Named bidders 6published on the award notice
Contracts signed 1latest 24 Dec 2025
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colas Rail LimitedProvision and Operation of a "Thunderbird" Recovery and Incident Response Service for the Eastern Region8 Jan 2026 – 8 Jan 2029 · up to 8 Jan 2032Extensions: Option to extend by 3 years | £8,920,562 | 7 Nov 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Colas Rail Limited
- Signed
- 24 Dec 2025
- Value
- £8,920,562
- Period
- 8 Jan 2026 – 8 Jan 2029 · up to 8 Jan 2032 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- One option to extend for a further 3 years
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6final-stage tenders | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- did not winDB Cargo (UK) Limited · Yorkshire and the Humber
- did not winGB Railfreight Limited · Greater London
- did not winRailAdventure UK Limited · West Midlands
- did not winRail Operations Group LimitedSME · East Midlands
- did not winWest Coast Railway Company LTD · North West England
- wonColas Rail Ltd · Greater London
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
6 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- Colas Rail LtdFramework contractor
- DB Cargo (UK) LimitedBidder / tenderer
- GB Railfreight LimitedBidder / tenderer
- Rail Operations Group LimitedBidder / tenderer
- RailAdventure UK LimitedBidder / tenderer
- West Coast Railway Company LTDBidder / tenderer
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender