Scope
Description
Northern Trains Limited, is a Train Operating Company (TOC) that operates passenger rail services in the North of England. Northern Trains Limited is publishing this notice to establish a contract for the supply of Train Planning (Timetabling & Diagramming) software and implementation services.
The nature of the arrangement is that the software and implementation services will be supplied under NTL's IT Services Agreement. NTL will award a contract under either of the following scenarios: (1) A contract will be awarded to the top scoring supplier under Lot 1, or (2) A contract will be awarded to the top scoring suppliers in Lots 2 & 3. Accordingly the overall value of the Notice is reflective of this.
Where used throughout this notice, the meaning of Train Operating Companies includes all and any of those train operating companies who, currently or in the future, provide services for the carriage of passengers by railway:
a. under a franchise agreement with the Secretary of State within the meaning of section 23(3) of the Railways Act 1993 or
b. under, or secured under, the Secretary of State's duty in section 30(1) of the Railways Act 1993; or
c. in accordance with legislation which supersedes or amends the powers referred to in a) and b), including where such powers are transferred from the Secretary of State to another body.
The list of current providers of services for the carriage of passengers by railway under these provisions can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-register-of-rail-passenger-contracts.
Novation or Assignment
The contract may be novated or assigned by Northern Trains Limited to Train Operating Companies, or to DFT Operator Limited (company number: 07141122) or any successor parent company to a Train Operating Company, following a corporate restructuring or similar circumstance.
Other Information
Northern Trains Limited expressly reserves the right:
i. not to award any suppliers the contract referred to in this notice; and
ii. in no circumstances will the customer be liable for any costs incurred by the suppliers.
Total value (estimated)
- £22,000,000 excluding VAT
- £26,400,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 20 March 2026 to 19 March 2032
- Possible extension to 19 March 2037
- 11 years
Description of possible extension:
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.
Options
The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid.
Additional licensing, implementation/development/configuration services
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 48300000 - Document creation, drawing, imaging, scheduling and productivity software package
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
Contract locations
- UKC - North East (England)
- UKD - North West (England)
- UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Lot constraints
Description of how multiple lots may be awarded:
NTL will award a contract under either of the following scenarios: (1) A contract will be awarded to the top scoring supplier under Lot 1, or (2) A contract will be awarded to the top scoring suppliers in Lots 2 & 3.
Lot 1. Train Planning Software - Single Platform
Description
NTL is seeking to procure a single solution that will be used by the Service Planning department to deliver the following capabilities:
•Planning and development of timetables for submission to Network Rail. Timetables are submitted to Network Rail on a six-month rotation and must consider the requirements of customers along with the timetables being developed in parallel by other operators.
•Creation of Crew Diagrams to provide maximum coverage of timetabled services using available resource.
•Creation of Unit Diagrams describing the allocation of unit types to services from within the NTL unit asset catalogue. This does not include the allocation of specific units.
The successful supplier will be required to implement the solution in line with the following:
•Full production implementation of a system by March 2027, with a period of parallel running completed prior.
•A system and operational cutover before or during March 2027, with no material impact on the BAU activities and capabilities of the NTL Service Planning department.
Lot value (estimated)
- £11,000,000 excluding VAT
- £13,200,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations, contract dates and options are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 2. Train Planning Software - (Timetabling)
Description
NTL is seeking to procure a software solution that will be used by the Service Planning department to deliver the following capabilities:
•Planning and development of timetables for submission to Network Rail. Timetables are submitted to Network Rail on a six-month rotation and must consider the requirements of customers along with the timetables being developed in parallel by other operators.
The successful supplier will be required to implement this solution and ensure seamless integration with the successful supplier of Lot 3 in line with the following:
•Full production implementation of a system by March 2027, with a period of parallel running completed prior.
•A system and operational cutover before or during March 2027, with no material impact on the BAU activities and capabilities of the NTL Service Planning department.
Lot value (estimated)
- £5,500,000 excluding VAT
- £6,600,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations, contract dates and options are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 3. Train Planning Software - (Crew Unit & Diagramming)
Description
NTL is seeking to procure a software solution that will be used by the Service Planning department to deliver the following capabilities:
•Creation of Crew Diagrams to provide maximum coverage of timetabled services using available resource.
•Creation of Unit Diagrams describing the allocation of unit types to services from within the NTL unit asset catalogue. This does not include the allocation of specific units.
The successful supplier will be required to implement this solution and ensure seamless integration with the successful supplier of Lot 2 in line with the following:
•Full production implementation of a system by March 2027, with a period of parallel running completed prior.
•A system and operational cutover before or during March 2027, with no material impact on the BAU activities and capabilities of the NTL Service Planning department.
Lot value (estimated)
- £5,500,000 excluding VAT
- £6,600,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations, contract dates and options are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Submission
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
5 November 2025, 5:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/
Tenderbox Reference: TA9SBV97CP
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
4 March 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | Quality | 60% |
| Commercial | Cost | 30% |
| Social Value | Quality | 10% |
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
Utilities
Competitive flexible procedure description
The Tender stages will be run as follows:
Stage 1:
All interested suppliers can apply to be considered for participation in this procurement exercise, through application via https://www.delta-esourcing.com/ Tenderbox Reference: TA9SBV97CP.
Through a set of criteria defined in the PSQ documentation, a maximum of five (5) suppliers for each lot will be invited to respond to the ITN stage. All other suppliers (and non-compliant parties) will be notified as unsuccessful from the process at this stage.
The PSQ will be evaluated in three (3) parts:
Part 1: Mandatory information to be provided by the suppliers, failure to do so and in an accurate manner may lead to exclusion from the procurement process.
Part 2: Questions relating to conditions of participation, including standard & technical questions
Part 3: Software Capability Assessment Tool
All suppliers that have have passed the submission of mandatory information will then be evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria provided within the ITP documentation. PSQ Parts 2 & 3 will both have a total score of 100% available, the top five (5) scoring suppliers for each lot who achieve the minimum threshold for Parts 2 & 3 outlined in the ITP documentation will be shortlisted to participate in the ITN stage.
All other submissions will be declined. NTL reserves the right to not score any question response that had not been provided in line with the instructions provided in the ITP.
Each lot will have an overall total score of 100%. The total score (100%) will be divided by the criteria outlined within the Tender Documentation. Responses will be issued to evaluators to evaluate against the scoring criteria on an individual basis, recording their own justification for that score. NTL's procurement team will then hold a group moderation session with evaluators in respect of each scored question, considering the individual evaluator scores and justifications. In those moderation sessions the evaluators will discuss the reasoning for their scoring of each scored question and agree a consensus score and associated rationale for that question. NTL's procurement team shall facilitate these moderation sessions until a consensus score and rationale is reached by the relevant evaluators for each scored question.
The anticipated weightings for the ITN stage of the Tender process will be 60% - Quality, 30% - Commercial and 10% - Social Value, this will be confirmed within the tender documentation.
Following evaluation of the ITN, a minimum of the top 2 (two) highest scoring bidders for each lot will be invited to submit Best and Final Offers(BAFOs). NTL strongly encourages all bidders to submit competitive Tender submissions. Whilst NTL may request Best and Final Offers (BAFOs), bidders should not rely on any potential subsequent opportunities for providing improved commercial offers.
Contracting authority
NORTHERN TRAINS LIMITED
- Companies House: 03076444
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PZCJ-2164-HJQZ
George Stephenson House
York
YO1 6JT
United Kingdom
Region: UKE21 - York
Organisation type: Public authority - central government