Notice Information
Notice Title
RRSG0003 - Expansion of International Passenger Rail Depot Capacity. Potential Public Private Partnership opportunity
Notice Description
The Government is fully supportive of the growth and expansion of international rail connections between the UK and mainland Europe, as well as establishing a thriving and competitive market for international rail passenger services. We are seeing renewed interest from potential new entrants looking to enter the market to compete with Eurostar, as well as Eurostar's own publicised plans to procure a new fleet of trains to supports its expansion plans, including opening new routes to Switzerland and Germany. All are seeking to base their fleet maintenance operations in the UK given the nature of their planned services and constraints in mainland Europe. Most new entrants have plans to procure 10-12 trainsets whilst Eurostar has announced plans to procure 30-50 trainsets across both its cross-Channel and continental Europe networks. A lack of available international passenger rail maintenance / stabling depot capacity is constraining sector growth and limiting competition. The Government is therefore considering potential interventions to address this constraint, which could facilitate market opening and significant growth. The objective of this pre-liminary market engagement is to understand potential private investor interest in and appetite for financing and delivering the expansion of international passenger rail deport capacity in the London area. The Government has assessed options for establishing a new maintenance depot and is now interested in understanding market appetite to participate in the construction and operation of a new light and/or heavy maintenance facility that would be capable of meeting the needs of multiple operators' fleet requirements.
Planning Information
To ensure we take the right approach, the Department for Transport would like to understand private partner investor interest in this opportunity. We plan to hold initial conversations (up to a maximum of 30 mins for each session) with potential investors over Microsoft Teams week commencing 3rd November 2025. The strength of demand in the international passenger rail market is evidenced by the significant and active interest that major rail operators have in joining the market. It is envisaged that access charges to depot facilities would generate from consistent long-term returns for an investor in international passenger rail depot capacity. The objective of this-preliminary market engagement is to understand potential private investor interest for funding the expansion of international passenger rail depot capacity in London and the Southeast. Including understanding: • Potential investors’ interest and views on the investment opportunity • Preferred commercial and delivery structures • Risk appetite and related considerations • Other related potential revenue streams, linked to investment in depot capacity expansion, that could generate investment return Organisations wishing to participate should note that engaging in this preliminary market engagement exercise, including completing and returning a questionnaire response, is not a prerequisite to participating in any subsequent competitive process. Department for Transport will review response to this engagement process and may conduct further iterative engagement processes, as it may require. In any subsequent procurement Department for Transport will make all relevant market engagement documents available to potential suppliers. Participation in this market engagement exercise (including attendance at a market engagement event) will be wholly at each responding organisation's own cost. No expenses or costs incurred by any organisation responding to this notice and/or participating in this engagement process will be reimbursed by the Department for Transport. This market engagement exercise and any associated documents or communications should not be regarded as an investment recommendation or defined opportunity. No information contained in the documents or in any communication made between Department for Transport and any organisation in connection with any aspect of this market engagement exercise shall be relied upon as constituting a contract, agreement or representation that any contract shall be awarded. Whether or not the Department for Transport subsequently commences a procurement and/or thereafter awards any contract related to this potential opportunity shall be solely at its discretion. The Department for Transport intends to issue a brief post engagement questionnaire to parties that have taken part. If you would like to take part in this engagement, you must formally express your interest via the Jaggaer online portal using the following link: https://dft.app.jaggaer.com/go/315617550199856E55A5 To register your interest in the preliminary market engagement, please ensure you: Upload a signed copy of the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) – note that the NDA must be accepted in its standard form and must not be amended. Submit your completed questionnaire response. Provide the names and email addresses of up to two attendees who will represent your organisation. If you are not already registered on the Department for Transport's e-sourcing platform Jaggaer, you can register via the following link: https://dft.app.jaggaer.com/
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-05a3bd
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060379-2025
- Current Stage
- Planning
- All Stages
- Planning
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Not Specified
- Procurement Method Details
- Not specified
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
45 - Construction work
50 - Repair and maintenance services
66 - Financial and insurance services
70 - Real estate services
71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
90 - Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services
-
- CPV Codes
34620000 - Rolling stock
34940000 - Railway equipment
34942000 - Signalling equipment
45000000 - Construction work
45200000 - Works for complete or part construction and civil engineering work
45213320 - Construction work for buildings relating to railway transport
45220000 - Engineering works and construction works
45230000 - Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork
45234100 - Railway construction works
45234112 - Railway depot construction work
50220000 - Repair, maintenance and associated services related to railways and other equipment
50225000 - Railway-track maintenance services
50700000 - Repair and maintenance services of building installations
66122000 - Corporate finance and venture capital services
66171000 - Financial consultancy services
70330000 - Property management services of real estate on a fee or contract basis
71220000 - Architectural design services
71311230 - Railway engineering services
71323000 - Engineering-design services for industrial process and production
79100000 - Legal services
79410000 - Business and management consultancy services
79993000 - Building and facilities management services
90911200 - Building-cleaning services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- Not specified
- Lots Value
- Not specified
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 29 Sep 20254 months ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- 31 Dec 2025Expired
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 31 Aug 2027 - 31 Aug 2029 2-3 years
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Planning
- Lots Status
- Planning
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT
- Contact Name
- Not specified
- Contact Email
- gcdcrmrail@dft.gov.uk
- Contact Phone
- Not specified
Buyer Location
- Locality
- LONDON
- Postcode
- SW1P 4DR
- Post Town
- South West London
- Country
- England
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLI London
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLI3 Inner London - West
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLI35 Westminster and City of London
- Delivery Location
- Not specified
-
- Local Authority
- Westminster
- Electoral Ward
- Vincent Square
- Westminster Constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060379-2025
29th September 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.
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