Award

Rail Storage Services at Askern and Marchwood

NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

13 Mar 2026 at 14:53

Planning

15 Jan 2026 at 10:45

Summary of the contracting process

Network Rail Infrastructure Limited has recently completed the procurement process for rail storage services at two locations: Askern near Doncaster and Marchwood near Southampton, under a direct award method. The procurement, outlined under the UK Procurement Act 2023, involved awarding two contracts to handle rail storage requirements and related unloading and shunting services. The planned agreements, intended to run until 2032, have been distributed between two providers: Inframat Limited for Askern, starting July 2027, with a contract value of £1,329,274, and Associated British Ports for Marchwood, commencing June 2026, valued at £2,855,714. The total value for these contracts sums to £4,184,988. These contracts align with the legal framework and make use of indexation to manage price control. The process was flagged by exclusive rights, absence of competition, and additional service needs, largely due to land ownership and technical restrictions.

This tender presents substantial growth opportunities for businesses specialising in railway-track maintenance services, particularly those possessing exclusive access rights or needing to fulfil extensive logistical requirements. Inframat Limited, representing a Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME), is positioned to benefit from delivering rail unloading and loading services for shorter rails at Askern. Larger enterprises like Associated British Ports can leverage their scale and capabilities to support long rail storage operations at a military site in Marchwood. Businesses capable of handling technical manoeuvres such as internal shunting and those with specific knowledge in managing unique site demands are ideal candidates for similar future procurement selections. Overall, the infrastructure and contractual dynamics offer a robust platform for diversification and increased operational proficiency within the utilities regime.

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Notice Title

Rail Storage Services at Askern and Marchwood

Notice Description

The requirement is to award two direct awards for the provision of Rail Storage services, one at Askern near Doncaster for short rail (less then 36m) and one at Marchwood near Southampton for the remaining overseas long rail (54/108m) that is not stored at Scunthorpe. Part of the requirements include unloading and loading at Askern and internal shunting at Marchwood by the suppliers. The plan is to award the agreements to run to 2032, using appropriate indexation for the management of price control. Lot 1 at Askern is expected to last for 5 years starting in 2027 with a total value of 1329274 GBP and Lot 2 at Marchwood is expected to last for 6 years from June 2026 with a total value of 2855714 GBP, the total value of the two direct awards being 4184988 GBP.

Procurement Information

The awards are proposed to be in accordance with the Procurement Regulations 2024and Procurement Act 2023 Section 41 Schedule 5 as the following justifications: i) 5 (a/b) Other exclusive rights (primary justification) The suppliers have exclusive rights to the land upon which the existing rail stock is stored and therefore there are no reasonable alternative suppliers to deliver the services. It would not be reasonable to enter land sub-leases due to the nature of the total scope of services required. ii) 6 (a/b) Absence of competition for technical reasons In the case of Lot 2, no other supplier would be able to provide access to the site at Marchwood (it's a military establishment) or to provide shunting operations on site which is not part of the Network Rail infrastructure. iii) 7 (a/b) Additional/repeat services In both lots, additional services are required to handle/load/shunt the stored rail, which has already been located there under previous procurement arrangements. A change in supplier would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation in moving to a new location, handling, quality degradation and removal of the rail to an alternative supplier, whilst not required for use.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-060666
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023084-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

50 - Repair and maintenance services


CPV Codes

50225000 - Railway-track maintenance services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£4,184,988 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£4,184,988 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
13 Mar 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
17 Feb 2026Expired
Award Date
13 Mar 20261 months ago
Contract Period
31 May 2026 - 31 May 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SE1 8SW
Post Town
South East London
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI45 Lambeth
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Lambeth
Electoral Ward
Waterloo & South Bank
Westminster Constituency
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
2
Supplier Names

ASSOCIATED BRITISH PORTS

INFRAMAT

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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