Official UK procurement notice
RFI - TRAIN OPERATIONS OPTIMISATION AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SUITE
Authority: FIRST GREATER WESTERN LIMITED (Public body)·On behalf of: FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITED
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProject Executive Summary
First Avanti West Coast & First Greater Western Limited rely on a suite of operational systems, Tracsis (Train Tracs, Tracs RS, Tracs Roster), Bugle, and Acumen that underpin crew planning, diagramming, delay attribution, and performance reporting. This document provides a consolidated specification of these systems to support internal governance, DfT requirements, and upcoming commercial decisions.
Purpose of the RFI Event
Establish a clear record of system functionality and architecture.
Support market testing, RFI preparation, and vendor evaluation.
Enable informed decisions about system renewal, replacement, or improvement.
Highlight system constraints and operational dependencies.
System landscape at a glance
Tracsis Suite
Train Tracs - optimised crew diagramming, constraints, scenario modelling.
Tracs RS - optimised stock diagramming, constraints, scenario modelling.
Tracs Roster - compliant roster production, base roster optimisation.
Bugle
TRUST data imports, incident review, delay attribution, and reporting.
Acumen
Performance reporting, trend analysis, and data exports for BI tools.
All systems rely heavily on file‑based data movement, with limited modern integration options.
Estimated Annual Spend = C£1.1m (Combined for both GWR & AWC)
First is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to explore prospective suppliers capable of delivering a comprehensive Train Operations Optimisation and Performance Management Suite; this RFI is for information‑gathering purposes only and does not constitute any commitment by First to enter into a contract.
CPV: Industry specific software package · Railway traffic control software development services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How FIRST GREATER WESTERN LIMITED buys Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221), and who usually turns up
FIRST GREATER WESTERN 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: Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221) →
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 South West England (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South West 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 105 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%
2–332%
4–633%
7+32%
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 estimate54% / 46%
Within ±2%31% / 34%
Above estimate15% / 20%
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 7221Estimate 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 79 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–323%
4–628%
7+39%
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
- Goods
- 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
- 9 Mar 2026, 13:02 GMT
- Last source update
- 9 Mar 2026, 13:02 GMT
- Authority reference
FG003095- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-020885- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066558Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
9 Mar 2026 → 20 Mar 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published225 days ago9 Mar 2026, 13:02 GMT
- Contract starts224 days ago10 Mar 2026
- Market engagement213 days ago20 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
RFI Procurement Lead:- Ejaz Kamal
E-Mail: - [email protected]
Mobile:- +44 7815 480 816
All interested suppliers are advised to contact the procurement lead at the email address provided above; upon receipt, the procurement lead will grant access to the RFI documentation via the First Sourcing Portal (Wax Digital). Prospective suppliers must provide full company details, along with the contact information of the individual who will be responsible for submitting the RFI response.
Kindly submit your interest to access the RFI by 20-03-2026 max.
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published9 Mar 2026, 13:02 GMTUK2
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
3 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- FIRST RAIL HOLDINGS LIMITEDProcess contact pointProcuring entityFirst Rail Procurement is managing the RFI event on behalf of GWR & AWC.
- FIRST TRENITALIA WEST COAST RAIL LIMITEDContracting authorityPublic undertaking
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