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Provision of Support and Maintenance of Automatic Passenger Gate Systems

TRANSPORT UK EAST MIDLANDS LIMITED

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

31 Jul 2026 at 15:23

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

24 Jul 2026 at 15:37

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Transport UK East Midlands Limited is procuring support and maintenance for automatic passenger gate systems at East Midlands Railway stations. The requirement covers access-control equipment and the associated railway equipment, computer systems and ticket-validation machinery. The work is a specialist technical maintenance service for the existing passenger gatelines, including repair and ongoing support of the installed systems. The buyer is a private utility operating in the rail sector. Delivery is across East Midlands Railway’s station network, with the procurement covering a broad UK operational area. The requirement is therefore relevant to businesses providing railway station equipment maintenance, automatic gate support, access-control systems, ticketing equipment or related engineering services, particularly those able to support an existing proprietary installation.

The procurement has been completed and awarded through a direct award to Cubic Transportation Systems Limited. The award was made on 31 July 2026 for £6,726,140.40 gross, including a single lot, and the service contract is scheduled to run from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2031. Contract signature was scheduled for 12 August 2026. The award is active and the tender is complete. Transport UK East Midlands Limited relied on the statutory direct-award provisions for intellectual property and exclusive rights, and for the absence of competition for technical reasons. Cubic is the original equipment manufacturer, with proprietary software, diagnostic systems, documentation, calibrated spare parts and technical capability required for the existing gates. Replacing functioning infrastructure to create competition was considered disproportionate.

This award demonstrates sustained demand for specialist maintenance of automatic passenger gates across a rail station network, at substantial operational scale and over a multi-year service period. A credible future competitor would need proven capability in railway station access-control and ticket-validation equipment, fault diagnosis, repair, preventative maintenance and support of live passenger-facing systems. The requirement also shows the importance of controlling or lawfully accessing proprietary software, diagnostic tools, technical documentation, calibrated spare parts and system-specific hardware. Relevant suppliers would need to demonstrate robust engineering resources, response capability across multiple stations, operational reliability and experience of maintaining safety-critical or service-critical rail equipment. For non-OEM businesses, securing the necessary intellectual-property rights, technical access, parts supply and formal manufacturer authorisation would be central to competing with the incumbent.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Provision of Support and Maintenance of Automatic Passenger Gate Systems

Notice Description

Provision of support and maintenance of Automatic Passenger Gate Systems across East Midlands Railway's stations.

Procurement Information

This direct award is justified under Section 41 and Schedule 5, Paragraph 5 (Protection of intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights) and Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 (Absence of competition for technical reasons). 1. Single Supplier due to IP and Technical Restrictions (Para 5(a) & Para 6(a)): Support and Maintenance of the Automatic Passenger Gate Systems can only be delivered by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), Cubic Transportation Systems, due to the proprietary nature of the system architecture, including supplier-specific hardware, core software and technical systems. The OEM has confirmed that the core software, technical systems and core components of the gateline equipment are proprietary to Cubic and protected by intellectual property rights. The OEM has confirmed that: - Access to Cubic diagnostic software or fault management systems is not available to third-party maintenance providers; - Maintenance manuals or technical documentation for Cubic gateline equipment are not provided to third-party maintenance providers; - Hardware or calibrated spare parts are not provided to third-party maintenance providers; and - No formal certification or accreditation scheme exists that would allow a non-Cubic engineer to maintain the Cubic-supplied equipment. As such, EMR is not aware of any alternative supplier capable of delivering the requirement that possesses the necessary legal rights, technical documentation, software access, spare parts and technical capability to maintain the existing systems. 2. Absence of Reasonable Alternatives (Para 5(b) & Para 6(b)): The existing gateline infrastructure is operational and has not reached end-of-life. A competitive tender for maintenance only is not feasible because access to the proprietary software, diagnostic systems, technical documentation, calibrated spare parts and maintenance accreditation required to support the assets is restricted to the OEM. Sourcing an alternative supplier would require a full removal and replacement of the live asset base across stations. Full system replacement would result in substantial duplication of cost, significant technical and operational complexity, and disproportionate disruption to live station operations. Replacing functional, non-obsolete assets solely to facilitate a competitive maintenance procurement would not represent a reasonable alternative. Competition is therefore absent, and a direct award to the OEM is justified under Schedule 5, Paragraphs 5 and 6.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d388
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/072831-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

42 - Industrial machinery

50 - Repair and maintenance services

CPV Codes

42961100 - Access control system

50220000 - Repair, maintenance and associated services related to railways and other equipment

50312000 - Maintenance and repair of computer equipment

50317000 - Maintenance and repair of ticket-validation machinery

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£6,726,140 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
31 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
31 Jul 20262 months ago
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
TRANSPORT UK EAST MIDLANDS 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
EC4A 3AG
Postcode Area
Central 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
City of London
Electoral Ward
Castle Baynard
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

CUBIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS LIMITED

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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