Official UK procurement notice
Rail Storage Services at Askern and Marchwood
Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe requirement is to award two direct awards for the provision of Rail Storage services, one at Askern near Doncaster for short rail (less then 36m) and one at Marchwood near Southampton for the remaining overseas long rail (54/108m) that is not stored at Scunthorpe. Part of the requirements include unloading and loading at Askern and internal shunting and loading at Marchwood by the suppliers. The plan is to award the agreements, using appropriate indexation for the management of price control. Lot 1 at Askern is expected to last for 5 years starting in 2027 with a total value of 1329274 GBP and Lot 2 at Marchwood is expected to last for 1 year from June 2026 with a total value of 2855714 GBP, the total value of the two direct awards being 4184988 GBP.
CPV: Railway-track maintenance services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 6 yrs from 1 May 2026
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use the vehicle
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 15 Jan 2026, 10:45 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Jul 2026, 11:26 BST
- Authority reference
43219- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-065064- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060666Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Intellectual Property Exclusive Rights; Single Suppliers Technical Reasons; Additional Repeat Extension Partial Replacement
- Published justification
The awards are proposed to be in accordance with the Procurement Regulations 2024and Procurement Act 2023 Section 41 Schedule 5 as the following justifications:
i) 5 (a/b) Other exclusive rights (primary justification)
The suppliers have exclusive rights to the land upon which the existing rail stock is stored and therefore there are no reasonable alternative suppliers to deliver the services. It would not be reasonable to enter land sub-leases due to the nature of the total scope of services required.
ii) 6 (a/b) Absence of competition for technical reasons
In the case of Lot 2, no other supplier would be able to provide access to the site at Marchwood (it’s a military establishment) or to provide shunting operations on site which is not part of the Network Rail infrastructure.
iii) 7 (a/b) Additional/repeat services
In both lots, additional services are required to handle/load/shunt the stored rail, which has already been located there under previous procurement arrangements. A change in supplier would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation in moving to a new location, handling, quality degradation and removal of the rail to an alternative supplier, whilst not required for use.
- Risks
In both lots, contract performance could be jeopardised if exclusive rights to the land on which the services are delivered were to be withdrawn either commercially or through national security reasons.
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
15 Jan 2026 → 10 Jul 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published274 days ago15 Jan 2026, 10:45 GMT
- Next notice expected240 days ago17 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts168 days ago1 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published98 days ago10 Jul 2026, 11:26 BST
Notice history
8 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 15 Jan 2026- Pipeline notice published15 Jan 2026, 10:45 GMTUK1
- Transparency notice published13 Mar 2026, 14:53 GMTUK5
- Status changed to complete13 Mar 2026, 14:53 GMT
- Procurement method changed13 Mar 2026, 14:53 GMT
- Contract award notice published8 Jun 2026, 13:28 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected30 Jun 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published10 Jul 2026, 11:26 BSTUK7
- Contract signature expected31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-01: 1 release · 15 Jan 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inframat LimitedSMERail Unloading and Loading and Storage Services1 Jul 2027 – 30 Jun 2032 | £1,329,274 | 8 May 2026 | Awarded |
| Associated British PortsRail Storage Services1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027 | £2,855,714 | 8 May 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Rail Unloading and Loading and Storage Services · Inframat LimitedSME
- Signed
- 30 Jun 2026
- Value
- £1,329,274
- Period
- 1 Jul 2027 – 30 Jun 2032
- Status
- active
Rail Storage Services · Associated British Ports
- Signed
- 30 Jun 2026
- Value
- £2,855,714
- Period
- 1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2027
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
2 commercial parties on the notice- Associated British PortsFramework contractor
- Inframat LimitedFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (7)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender