Official UK procurement notice
Ticket Retailing & Validation Solutions
Authority: Northern Trains Ltd (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNorthern Trains Limited has a requirement to replace its existing Ticket Retailing & Validation solution by December 2026 due to the incumbent supplier's withdrawal from the UK rail ticketing market.
Northern are therefore looking to engage the supply market to understand the solutions available.
Northern Trains Limited Invitation to Tender is for the provision of a technology solution that satisfies two main outcomes for Northern:
•Suitable replacement of the on-train and ticket office solution to maintain and safeguard ticket retailing and validation provision
•Deliver on NTL's dependency into the PAYG programme for EMV
A successfully delivered solution must meet 11 significant requirements:
1)Complete Ticket Issuing System (TIS) for All Devices
2)Architecture Description of All Components
3)Full Range of Retailing Options Available Day One
4)RDG Accreditation and Compliance
5)Adherence to Project Delivery Timelines
6)Customer Payment Type Acceptance
7)Support for ITSO PAYG Smartcards
8)TfGM cEMV PAYG Capability
9)Customer Travel Options and Fare Types
10)End-of-Shift Accounting Functionality
11)Ticket Inspection and Validation Functionality
CPV: Maintenance and repair of ticket-issuing machinery · Maintenance and repair of ticket-validation machinery · Ticket-issuing machines · Ticket-validation machines
How this framework works
From the published notice- Bids received
- 3 bids received · 1 suppliers appointed
- Framework period
- 6 yrs · up to 11 yrs from 31 Mar 2026
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Quality: 45%
- Commercial: 45%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality
- Commercial
- Social Value
- Price carries 45 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4.5 points. Quality carries 45 of 100: the paper moves it further than the discount.
- “Ticket Retailing & Validation Solutions” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 9 Sept 2025, 09:24 BST
- Last source update
- 28 Aug 2026, 16:43 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 4 Mar 2026
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-078223- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-059648Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 12 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Access Code : KF72D9CNNW
Timeline
9 Sept 2025 → 28 Aug 2026 · 9 dates- Planning notice published9 Sept 2025, 09:24 BST
- Market engagement397 days ago19 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
Northern would like to invite any suppliers who substantially meet the system detailed to register their interest to attend a briefing call hosted by the Project Team & Procurement Manager to explain the requirements in more detail.
The briefing call will be hosted on Teams on 19/09/2025 11.30am - 12.30pm for all suppliers to attend. The session will consist of the project team giving an overview of Northern's technical requirements in further detail followed by a Q&A sessions for interested Suppliers to field any initial questions or clarifications.
If you are interested in partaking in this briefing call please send an expression of interest to Alex Ashman ([email protected]) along with a summary of the system capabilities (i.e Product fact sheet).
- Tender notice published328 days ago28 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMT
- Admission / appointment period ends283 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown12 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by231 days ago4 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent231 days ago5 Mar 2026
- Standstill ends219 days ago16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts205 days ago31 Mar 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published55 days ago28 Aug 2026, 16:43 BST
Notice history
10 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 9 Sept 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published9 Sept 2025, 09:24 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published28 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMTUK4
- Published value published: £30,000,00028 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMT
- Status changed to active28 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMT
- Procurement method changed28 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMT
- Deadline published: 12 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT28 Nov 2025, 16:05 GMT
- Contract award notice published5 Mar 2026, 16:54 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete5 Mar 2026, 16:54 GMT
- Contract signature expected1 Apr 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published28 Aug 2026, 16:43 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-09: 1 release · 9 Sept 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldline IT Services UK Limited1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2032 · up to 31 Mar 2037Extensions: The minimum term is six (6) years, with the option to extend for a further five (5) years, split into a three (3) year option followed by a two (2) year option, up to a total maximum duration of eleven (11) years. | £29,167,795 | 5 Mar 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Ticket Retailing & Validation Solutions · Worldline IT Services UK Limited
- Signed
- 28 May 2026
- Value
- £29,167,795
- Period
- 28 May 2026 – 27 May 2032 · up to 27 May 2037 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- The minimum term is six (6) years, with the option to extend for a further five (5) years, split into a three (3) year option followed by a two (2) year option, up to a total maximum duration of eleven (11) years.
3 agreed KPIs: Number of P1 Incidents · Onboard Service Performance · Station Service Performance
- Number of P1 Incidents, Number of Priority 1 (P1) incidents recorded during each Rail Period.
- Onboard Service Performance, Performance of the Onboard service against the contractual 99.5% SLA for each Rail Period.
- Station Service Performance, Performance of the Station service against the contractual 99.5% SLA for each rail period.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 2 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonWORLDLINE IT SERVICES UK LIMITED · East Midlands
- did not winTHE TICKET KEEPER LTDSME · South East England
- did not winVIX TECHNOLOGY UK LIMITED · South East England
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
3 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- THE TICKET KEEPER LTDBidder / tenderer
- VIX TECHNOLOGY UK LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- Worldline IT Services UK LimitedFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (5)
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
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender