Official UK procurement notice
Trams Control System Renewal Programme
Authority: Transport for London (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe London Trams Control system was originally installed in the late 1990s when the system was constructed and comprised two distinct elements:
- The Trams Management System (TMS), installed in the depot at Therapia Lane and comprises software and hardware components responsible for taking information from equipment across the tram network and providing status and control capabilities to control room operational and maintenance staff. The TMS additionally performs a SCADA function, including software and Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) at the various traction power supply substations positioned across the network.
- The Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) installed at various locations around the tram network, provide autonomous local decision making and control of aspects of the signalling and control system. Communication between these elements is provided by a distributed fibre-optic communications system.
The PLCs are original equipment and have been in use since the inauguration of the network at the turn of the century. The TMS is a more recent installation having been replaced in 2014.
Both parts of the control system contain elements that are becoming obsolete and nearing life expiry.
TfL is therefore procuring the design, delivery and implementation of a replacement system to encompass the full control system requirements, replacing the existing TMS, RTUs and PLCs. The requirement will also cover ongoing maintenance and support services.
The procurement is for award of two contracts to the same supplier, one for the design, delivery and implementation of the replacement system, and one for the ongoing maintenance and support services. The maintenance contract will commence following the implementation of the replacement system, on a minimum term of five years and an option to extend for the life of the system.
The estimated 7-year contract duration entered covers the estimated duration of the system replacement (est. 2 years) and initial maintenance term (5 years), with the option to extend the maintenance services for up to a further 15 years (covering the expected system life of 20 years total).
The contracting entity for this procurement will be Tramtrack Croydon Limited, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of Transport for London.
- How the procedure runs: This tender will follow the competitive flexible procedure comprising the following stages: Stage 1) Participation Stage - comprising a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ, including Conditions of Participation) and Declaration forms in accordance with the Participation Stage documents. The four highest scoring compliant Applicants will progress to the following: Stage 2) Invitation to Submit Initial Tender (ISIT) Stage - comprising Technical, Social value and Commercial submissions and in accordance with the ITT documents. TfL will reserve the right to dialogue with Bidders during the ISIT stage. TfL may also elect to hold one or more negotiation stages in accordance with the ITT documents. If TfL proceeds with one or more negotiation stages, TfL will proceed with: 3) Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) Stage 4) Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (ISFT) Stage All stages are further described in the Participation and Tender documents which will be available on TfL's SAP Ariba e-tendering portal to interested and registered suppliers.
CPV: Communications equipment · Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork · Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£24,000,000
- Economic & financial standing
Detailed within the Procurement Specific Questionnaire for this requirement.
- Technical & professional ability
Detailed within the Procurement Specific Questionnaire for this requirement.
What 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)
- Technical: 50%
- Commercial: 40%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
- Technical: Criteria are further described within the tender documentation.
- Social Value: Criteria are further described within the tender documentation.
- Commercial: Criteria are further described within the tender documentation.
- Economic & financial standing
Detailed within the Procurement Specific Questionnaire for this requirement.
- Technical & professional ability
Detailed within the Procurement Specific Questionnaire for this requirement.
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Works
- Notice status
- Closed
- 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
- 1 May 2025, 15:53 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Jul 2025, 14:33 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 8 Dec 2026
- Authority reference
WS2124341025 / LTC-23-607- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-042411- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050baaFind a Tender
- How it runs
This tender will follow the competitive flexible procedure comprising the following stages:
Stage 1) Participation Stage - comprising a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ, including Conditions of Participation) and Declaration forms in accordance with the Participation Stage documents.
The four highest scoring compliant Applicants will progress to the following:
Stage 2) Invitation to Submit Initial Tender (ISIT) Stage - comprising Technical, Social value and Commercial submissions and in accordance with the ITT documents.
TfL will reserve the right to dialogue with Bidders during the ISIT stage. TfL may also elect to hold one or more negotiation stages in accordance with the ITT documents. If TfL proceeds with one or more negotiation stages, TfL will proceed with:
- Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) Stage
- Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (ISFT) Stage
All stages are further described in the Participation and Tender documents which will be available on TfL's SAP Ariba e-tendering portal to interested and registered suppliers.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 5 Sept 2025, 14:00 BST
- Submission deadline
- 5 Sept 2025, 14:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
TfL e-Tendering:
This procurement process is being conducted electronically on TfL's e-Tendering portal SAP Ariba. Participation and Tender documentation will be available on this portal to all interested Applicants.
The portal can be accessed via the following link:
service.ariba.com/Supplier.aw ↗
Central Digital Platform:
As part of the participation, Applicants should also be registered on the Central Digital Platform and have completed all the relevant registration questions. Further details can be found here:
www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗
SAP Ariba Registration:
The following instructions explain TfL's e-Tendering portal and provide guidance on how interested parties will be able to communicate with TfL in relation to this exercise.
(1) To register or to check if you are already registered to SAP Ariba, log on to service.ariba.com/Supplier.aw ↗ Interested parties must read the instructions carefully before proceeding with registration.
(2) Once you have registered on SAP Ariba (or are already registered), you must also register on TfL's SAP Ariba system through the following link s1-eu.ariba.com/Sourcing/Main/ad/sel… ↗
Guidance on registering is available through the following link: here content.tfl.gov.uk/supplier-registratio… ↗
(3) Upon completion of steps 1 and/or 2, interested parties must inform [email protected] with the following details:
- your organisation name as registered in SAP Ariba;
- your applicable supplier ID associated with TfL in SAP Ariba, in the form of SM Vendor ID, or ERP ID, or AN ID, or ACM ID;
- your single point of contact registered on SAP Ariba; first name and surname;
- your email address registered with SAP Ariba; and
- your role in the organisation as registered with SAP Ariba;
Completion of these steps will enable TfL to invite interested parties to the sourcing event in SAP Ariba to gain access to the procurement documents, allowing interested Applicants to view documents and submit their Participation stage responses via SAP Ariba.
Please contact [email protected] in the first instance should you experience any problems with the portal for issues related to items 1 and 2 above.
Applicants must read the instructions carefully before proceeding with registration and are advised to satisfy themselves that they understand all the requirements of the procurement and terms of the contract and the rules of the procurement process before submitting their participation and tender responses.
Timeline
1 May 2025 → 4 Jan 2027 · 6 dates- Planning notice published1 May 2025, 15:53 BST
- Tender notice published23 Jul 2025, 14:33 BST
- Next notice expected24 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline5 Sept 2025, 14:00 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 45 days8 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 71 days4 Jan 2027
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 May 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 May 2025, 15:53 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published23 Jul 2025, 14:33 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £24,000,00023 Jul 2025, 14:33 BSTwas £20,000,000
- Status changed to active23 Jul 2025, 14:33 BST
- Procurement method changed23 Jul 2025, 14:33 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender