Planning

Contract for South Western rail passenger services. Currently operated by First MTR South Western Trains Limited (Ltd).

  • THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT

T01: Prior information notice for public service contract

Notice identifier: 2024/S 000-010630

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-044f00

Published 2 April 2024, 3:49pm



Section one: Competent authority

one.1) Name and addresses

THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT

Great Minster House,33 Horseferry Road

LONDON

SW1P 4DR

Email

railprocurement@dft.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UKI32 - Westminster

Justification for not providing organisation identifier

Not on any register

one.3) Communication

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

one.4) Type of the competent authority

Ministry or any other national or federal authority


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Contract for South Western rail passenger services. Currently operated by First MTR South Western Trains Limited (Ltd).

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 60200000 - Railway transport services

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

Areas covered by the public transport services:
Rail transport services

two.2) Description

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 60210000 - Public transport services by railways

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKI - London
  • UKJ - South East (England)
  • UKK - South West (England)
Main site or place of performance

South Western rail passenger services operate between London Waterloo, South West London, and counties in South and South West England including the Isle of Wight.

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

Contract for provision of commuter and regional rail passenger services on the UK conventional mainline rail system. These serve the key cities of London, Portsmouth, Southampton and Reading, and extend as far as Bristol, Exeter and Weymouth.

Services also operate between Ryde and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight. It is envisaged the services would run between:

(a) Ascot to Guildford

(b) Brockenhurst to Lymington Pier

(c) Portsmouth Harbour to Southampton Central

(d) Salisbury to Southampton Central

(e) Salisbury to Yeovil Junction (via Westbury and Castle Cary)

(f) Eastleigh to Romsey

(g) Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin

(h) London Waterloo to Weymouth

(i) London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour (via Haslemere and Botley)

U) London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids

(k) London Waterloo to Guildford (via Cobham, Esher, and Bookham)

(I) London Waterloo to Alton

(m) London Waterloo to Basingstoke

(n) London Waterloo to Hampton Court

(o) London Waterloo to Shepperton (via Twickenham and Kingston)

(p) London Waterloo to London Waterloo via Kingston

(q) London Waterloo to Darking (via Bookham)

(r) London Waterloo to Chessington South

(s) London Waterloo to Reading

(t) London Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riversde

(u) London Waterloo to London Waterloo via Hounslow

(v) London Waterloo to London Waterloo via Richmond

(w) London Waterloo to Weybridge and Woking (via Brentford and Chertsey)

There is a mixture of leisure, business and commuter travel. These services would be similar to those currently operated under the South Western National Rail contract.

A direct award is now envisaged, in line with the Public Service Obligations in Transport Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023 No.1369).

two.2.7) Envisaged start date and the duration of the contract

Start date

25 May 2025

Duration in months

96


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Type of procedure

Direct award for railway transport


Section six. Complementary information

six.1) Additional information

It is anticipated that the contract will include a core period of at least 3 years with discretion for the Secretary of State to determine whether, and if so to what extent, the contract will continue beyond that core term, subject to a maximum contract period of between 6 and 8 years in total.

The competent authority reserves the right not to proceed with the direct award as envisaged or to use an alternative method to procure an operator for the contract.

This pre-award publication is published by the competent authority under Regulation 22 of the Public Service Obligations in Transport Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023 No. 1369), and relates to a direct award of a public service contract concerning transport by rail under Regulation 17(1) of those Regulations. The competent authority reserves the right to amend this notice at any point before the relevant day (as defined in Regulation 22(2) of those Regulations), and to publish a rectification where required to do so.