Official UK procurement notice
Speed Management Programme - Speed Database Development
Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTo address the rail industry problem of train over speeding and the resulting risks, Network Rail has set up a Speed Management Programme with industry collaboration and oversight.
The SMP aims to develop a Speed Management System (SMS) that enables real-time, in-cab information for Permanent (including junction speeds), Blanket, Emergency and Temporary Speed Restrictions (PSR, BSR, ESR, TSR), thereby reducing the risk of overspeed incidents, improving safety, operational efficiency, and supporting network management.
To enable that, the SMS proposes a creation of the National Speed Database (SDB) which is the single version of the speed restrictions truth providing real-time warranted data to the industry.
As per predefined boundaries of the programme, the Railway Undertakings (RU) will install and maintain their own Speed Display System (SDS), be it an existing Driver Advisory System (DAS), Train Control Management System or another device. The broadcast of speed restriction information will conform to a national standard to ensure interoperability with the RUs chosen system and any future deployment of ETCS.
As part of the Speed Management Programme, Network Rail intends to procure a supplier to develop and deliver the National Speed Database (SDB). The SDB will act as the industry's authoritative source for speed restriction information and will support the provision of real-time speed restriction data to railway stakeholders through a nationally standardised interface. This exercise is intended to gather market insight, assess supplier capability and inform Network Rail's procurement strategy, requirements development and future tender approach for the delivery of this solution. We will confirm the Estimated Value when we start the Tender process.
CPV: Database 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 NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED buys Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221), 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: 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 Greater London (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 Greater London.
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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 156 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 bid13% / 0%
2–350% / 31%
4–638% / 31%
7+0% / 38%
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% / 42%
Within ±2%0% / 58%
Above estimate17% / 0%
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 7221No real estimate
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 13 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid0%
2–331%
4–631%
7+38%
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
- Services
- 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
- 18 Aug 2026, 11:57 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Aug 2026, 11:57 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-078487- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e672Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
18 Aug 2026 → 13 Dec 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published64 days ago18 Aug 2026, 11:57 BST
- Market engagement29 days ago21 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
Suppliers wishing to participate should register their interest by emailing on [email protected]. Following receipt of an expression of interest, suppliers will be provided with a detailed project overview together with a set of initial market engagement questions.
Network Rail will then hold an online market briefing session via Microsoft Teams. The purpose of this session is to provide additional information regarding the project, explain the objectives of the engagement exercise, and allow suppliers to ask questions. The date and time of the session will be confirmed in due course, and a Microsoft Teams invitation will be issued to all interested suppliers.
Following the market briefing, suppliers will receive a Microsoft Forms questionnaire containing a series of questions relating to the proposed requirement. Suppliers will be invited to submit their responses electronically through Microsoft Forms within the timeframe specified in the invitation.
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Contract starts13 Dec 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Aug 2026, 11:57 BSTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender