This notice announces an administrative change to an existing contract or market (a contract change notice). No new tender or admission is opened here; see the linked notices below for the original opportunity.
Official UK procurement notice
Taxi Management Services · UK public procurement notice
Authority: SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY LIMITED (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSWR require around 5,000 taxis per period to facilitate the traincrew diagrams and run the service on time. The Taxis required covers around 2/3 diagrammed and the rest are ad-hoc or emergency.
There are planned taxis which run every day, one-off taxis are also required during engineering / special events, and also emergency taxis on the day if there is disruption to the train service.
The provision of these fully managed Services must be delivered in accordance with the specification and Supplier's obligations.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Administrative change
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 20 Mar 2026, 15:36 GMT
- Last source update
- 16 Sept 2026, 13:52 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087776- Latest notice
- Contract change notice (UK10)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0670a4Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Additional Repeat Extension Partial Replacement
- Published justification
Additional or repeat goods, services or works - extension or partial replacement
First Travel Solutions Limited (FTS) is the contracting authority's incumbent provider of Taxi Management Services across the SWR network. The service was previously delivered under a framework agreement, which expired on 31 December 2025, after which SWRL maintained continuity through an interim arrangement.
Following SWR's transfer to public ownership, SWRL was required to enter into its own contractual arrangements and could not continue to rely on the group framework contract previously in place. A short term direct award is therefore required with the incumbent supplier to ensure continuity of this safety critical service, which supports traincrew movements, customer transport during disruption, and the safe operation of the railway.
This interim arrangement will cover the period from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026, with an optional extension of up to 3 months, after which the service will transition to a contract awarded through the forthcoming DfTO Dynamic Market for transportation.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
31 Mar 2026 → 16 Sept 2026 · 2 dates- Standstill ends203 days ago31 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST
- Notice published35 days ago16 Sept 2026, 13:52 BST
Notice history
5 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 20 Mar 2026- Transparency notice published20 Mar 2026, 15:36 GMTUK5
- Contract award notice published20 Mar 2026, 15:49 GMTUK6
- Contract signature expected1 Apr 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published30 Apr 2026, 14:04 BSTUK7
- Contract change notice published16 Sept 2026, 13:52 BSTUK10
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-03: 1 release · 20 Mar 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Travel Solutions Ltd1 Apr 2026 – 30 Sept 2026 · up to 31 Dec 2026Extensions: If SWR is unable to run a mini-competition as planned, within the six month initial period · Options: There is an element of ad-hoc services for unplanned taxi requirements. | £2,400,000 | 20 Mar 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · First Travel Solutions Ltd
- Signed
- 1 Apr 2026
- Value
- £2,400,000
- Period
- 1 Oct 2026 – 31 Dec 2026 · up to 31 Dec 2026 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Extension can be used if the industry solutions being procured by DFTO is not ready by the contract end date.
- Change 4 Sept 2026 Extension by mutual agreement
14 agreed KPIs: Supplier On Boarding and Audits · Supplier Performance · Train Service Performance …
- Supplier On Boarding and Audits
- Supplier Performance
- Train Service Performance
- Pre-Booked Journeys (inc up to 1 hour in advance)
- Emergency/Adhoc Bookings
- Emergency/Adhoc Bookings - DDA
- Confirmation of Emergency/ Ad-hoc and DDA Bookings
- Electronic Journey Tracking
- Call Answering
- Accidents, Incidents or Near Misses and Customer Complaints
- COVID (or other relevant Pandemic scenarios)
- Invoices
- Customer Performance
- Sustainability and Accessibility
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- First Travel Solutions LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract change notice Contract change 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
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender