Official UK procurement notice
Third Line Support for Network Rail (High Speed)
Authority: NETWORK RAIL (HIGH SPEED) LIMITED (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNetwork Rail (High Speed) intends to award a contract for Third Line Support to Compagnie des Signaux. This is an ongoing contract which provides signalling and control systems on the HS1 route, including RCCS and associated proprietary platforms. Services include incident support, fault investigation and recovery, maintenance of development and support environments, diagnostics and repair of critical equipment, obsolescence monitoring, contract and service management, and system specific training.
The services can only be delivered by the supplier as the sole owner of the system-level intellectual property.
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
Published description of the framework
The contract is awarded directly, with work instructed via purchase orders under the agreed terms without a further competitive selection process.
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
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- 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, CPTPP)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 9 Apr 2026, 09:42 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Aug 2026, 14:55 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-078597- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067e86Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
This approach aligns with the Direct Award Justification under Schedule 5, item 7 of the Procurement Act 2023. Schedule 5, item 7 stipulates that direct award is permitted if the following conditions are met in relation to the public contract:
- (a) a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works, and
- (b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.
Compagnie des Signaux is the sole supplier capable of providing comprehensive third line support for the HS1 signalling and control systems. No other supplier has access to the proprietary engineering environment or the safety critical software needed to diagnose faults, implement fixes or maintain system integrity. Alternative suppliers could only contribute to peripheral or unrelated areas (e.g., independent safety assessment or separate SCADA/power systems), but none can provide the required third line support for
RCCS, confirming that a direct award is justified.
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 9 Apr 2026- Transparency notice published9 Apr 2026, 09:42 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published15 Jun 2026, 09:28 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected29 Jun 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published18 Aug 2026, 14:55 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMPAGNIE DES SIGNAUX1 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2032 · up to 30 Jun 2034Extensions: Option to extend by 2 years (1+1) | £6,095,211 | 5 Jun 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 2
- Signed
- 29 Jul 2026
- Value
- £6,095,211
- Period
- 29 Jul 2026 – 30 Jun 2032 · up to 30 Jun 2034 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Option to extend by 2 years (1+1)
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
1 commercial party on the notice- COMPAGNIE DES SIGNAUXFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- 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