Planning

West Yorkshire Bus Franchising

  • West Yorkshire Combined Authority

UK2: Preliminary market engagement notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-012261

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-04fb55

Published 1 April 2025, 1:57pm



Scope

Description

A decision was made on the 14th of March 2024 by Tracy Brabin, the Mayor of West Yorkshire, to bring buses back under local control in the biggest shake-up of the region's transport network in decades.

Since then, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has engaged with bus operators, and will continue to do so until the tender opportunities are launches between August and October 2025.

Current engagement is helping WYCA confirm its commercial positions. At the time of publication of this notice, WYCA envisages 9 baskets of contracts based on geographic areas (these baskets of varying numbers of contracts based on size and complexity), let in three procurement rounds from Q4 2025 to Q8 2027

Contract dates (estimated)

  • 28 March 2027 to 28 March 2034
  • 7 years, 1 day

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

  • 60112000 - Public road transport services

Contract locations

  • UKE4 - West Yorkshire

Engagement

Engagement deadline

15 June 2025

Engagement process description

An online briefing event was held on the 25th of November 2024. This was followed up by 1:1s held with suppliers looking through a list of questions about the outline commercial position that was the subject of the online brief. These 1:1s lasted until early January.

Feedback enables the CA to further define its commercial position.

Another online brief was held on the 24th of March 2025. Further 1:1s will be held from this date, until mid-to-late May. During this time, online briefs on smaller, specific may also be held to receive targeted feedback about certain any points.

Broadly, topics over the next few months will be:

* business case and lot strategy

* assets and depots;

* network planning and management;

* fleet;

* customer requirements;

* contracting and commercial position, including timing and structure of the procurement process;

* data, systems, processes.

The timings of these topics is subject to change, and we will publish further details in due course. The best way to stay up to date is to join our mailing list (below).

Suppliers wishing to join the maket engagement process should email: bus.reform@westyorks-ca.gov.uk.


Submission

Publication date of tender notice (estimated)

1 October 2025


Contracting authority

West Yorkshire Combined Authority

  • Public Procurement Organisation Number: PHYG-7328-ZLQJ

Wellington House, 40 - 50 Wellingon Street

Leeds

LS1 2DE

United Kingdom

Region: UKE42 - Leeds

Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government