Official UK procurement notice
Road and Rail Noise measuring tool
Authority: Department for Transport (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Department for Transport (DfT) seeks to procure specialist technical expertise to finalise new road and rail noise calculation methods. As noise policy and assessment are devolved matters, adoption of the method outside England would be a decision for the relevant Devolved Administrations.
The current methods, Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN, 1988) and Calculation of Railway Noise (CRN, 1995), no longer reflect modern vehicle technologies, infrastructure design or the latest evidence on environmental noise. New evidence-based methods have now been developed through joint research commissioned by the DfT, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), National Highways (NH) and the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) and require completion before they can be used.
This procurement will deliver the work needed to bring the new method to a fully usable and publishable standard. This includes consolidating the research outputs into a coherent four-part calculation method, producing an open-source reference implementation, completing outstanding integration and validation tasks, and supporting the Authority (DfT) during an initial beta testing period. The outcome will be a new single, authoritative document describing the calculation method for both road and rail noise that will supersede CRTN (1988) and CRN (1995).
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Lot 1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award — no call for competition
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 22 Sept 2026, 09:44 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Sept 2026, 09:44 BST
- Authority reference
TRST3085- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07770b
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights; Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
The DfT is gearing up its resource to produced, publish, and manage the new methods of Road and Rail Noise Calculation but there is currently the equivalence of just over two full time equivalent policy professionals working on its delivery, within the DfT. Establishing a consortium of experts is the only reliable resource capable of delivering the technical knowledge, product design, operational testing and user more…
‘trouble shooting’ during a testing phase to fill the specialist knowledge/capability gaps which challenge the next stage of delivery of new methods of Road and Rail Noise Calculation. Furthermore, given the specialist expertise required to develop new methods for Road and Rail Noise Calculation, the UK offers only a limited pool of professionals. A consortium approach provides the most effective means of engaging and leveraging this expertise. Government funding has already enabled Defra, National Highways, and the Rail Safety Standards Board to develop initial methods documents with support from external expert suppliers. To deliver Point-to-point implementation, ISO testing, and user group support and clarifications during live 'beta phase’ implementation alongside subsequent addressing and fixing of issues that emerge requires technical and expertise. The beta development is critically dependent on the user group support and clarifications during a 1- to 2-year testing phase, as users of new methods will be relying on immediate support to resolve issues or provide workarounds. Neither DfT and the other government departments or arm's length bodies (ALBs) possess the technical and sector knowledge to support all aspects of this methods delivery (nor would it be feasible to resource this internally). This STA proposal will enable the DfT to: 1. retain the intellectual property rights (IPR) of work completed to date (four extensive reports with total sunken costs of over >£250,000), future work, and final methods documents. 2. identify and resolve outstanding evidence/resource gaps including re-writing of existing code used for the HARMONOISE method, resolving some issues around the source and propagation interface (such as retro-diffraction), testing it in line with ISO 17534 (est. 30 test cases to benchmark against). 3. provide detailed technical and subject matter expertise and support during a period of live ‘beta testing’ based on the initial methods and associated digital architecture (i.e. coding). 4. publish final methods in an open access (freely accessible) format. 5. retain commercial insight to help develop a departmental framework to ensure the long-standing management of the methods and associated regulatory framework.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AECOM7 Oct 2026 — 7 Mar 2029 | £300,000 | — | Standstill |
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 22 Sept 2026- Contract signature expected5 Oct 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Transparency notice published22 Sept 2026, 09:44 BSTUK5
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- AECOMAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender