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Class 320/4 Rolling Stock Lease

ScotRail Trains Limited

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

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28 Jul 2026 at 13:54

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

ScotRail Trains Limited procured an extension to the existing lease of 12 three-car Class 320/4 electric multiple-unit vehicles. The rolling stock supports ScotRail’s operation of suburban passenger services, including lifeline services on the Glasgow Suburban Lines. The requirement covers continued use of the existing fleet, rather than the supply of new trains, and is intended to maintain services while ScotRail develops an enduring replacement fleet using emerging technologies such as batteries and network electrification. The work concerns railway rolling stock and associated equipment, delivered for operation on the relevant Glasgow suburban routes. The fleet must interoperate with the rail infrastructure, ScotRail’s other fleets, depots and safety arrangements.

The procurement is complete and the contract was awarded to Eversholt Rail on 28 July 2026. It used a limited procedure: an award without prior publication of a call for competition, justified as additional supplies where changing contractor would create economic or technical difficulties, significant inconvenience and duplicated cost. The existing lease was due to expire on 31 December 2027. A five-year extension was agreed, with an option for a further period of up to 12 months. The estimated value of the extension including the option is £31,200,000 excluding VAT. One lot covered the lease modification. The contract was signed on 28 July 2026 and is active. The award relates to the same 12-vehicle fleet.

This procurement indicates demand for suppliers able to support established electric multiple-unit fleets operating on constrained suburban rail networks. A credible future competitor would need rolling-stock leasing or asset-management capability, together with strong knowledge of fleet interoperability, route acceptance, gauging, depot compatibility and rail safety requirements. Experience of maintaining or supplying three-car electric units suitable for the Glasgow Suburban Lines would be particularly relevant. ScotRail’s stated constraints also show the importance of avoiding extensive infrastructure modification, additional fleet-specific driver and engineering training, and prolonged vehicle downtime. Suppliers should therefore be able to demonstrate operational continuity, technical compatibility and the capacity to integrate with existing railway fleets while longer-term rolling-stock solutions are developed.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Class 320/4 Rolling Stock Lease

Notice Description

This notice concerns a modification to an existing lease (the Lease) procured whilst ScotRail was under the Abellio franchise ownership, between ScotRail Trains Limited (SRT) and Eversholt Rail Leasing Limited (Beacon Rail) for 12 x 3 car Class 320/4 vehicles (the Fleet). The Lease is currently scheduled to expire on 31 December 2027 and a 5-year extension has been agreed to the Lease for the same scope of supplies, with an additional option to extend for up to a further one year. The value of that extension (inclusive of options) is estimated to be GBP 31,200,000 excluding VAT. This extension is necessary to ensure SRT is able to discharge its obligations and continue to deliver vital services while the suburban new fleet procurement is concluded and is therefore an interim solution until the new fleet can be procured, built and commissioned for passenger service.

Lot Information

Lot 1

The Lease is being modified in accordance with regulation 86(1)(b) of the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016 as additional supplies not included within the original procurement have become necessary, and a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons and would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of cost for SRT, because: 1. The modification has become necessary: there is a need to secure the ongoing operation of the Lease, which includes lifeline services in Glasgow suburban areas, while SRT carries out a full procurement for an enduring rolling stock solution using emerging technologies (including batteries and network electrification). 2. A change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons: this is because: a. the Fleet has specific characteristics and technical features that are designed to interoperate with the rail infrastructure and SRT's other fleets and are required for operation on the Glasgow Suburban Lines. For example: (i) Along with ScotRail's other existing fleets, the Fleet is the only fleet which is fully accepted for operation on these lines, without incurring expensive and operationally disruptive gauging works. (ii) Fixed front end gangways, which are fitted to a number of EMU fleets, are not accepted by driver unions and are not permitted on the South Glasgow route due to obscuring vision of off-side starter signals. (iii) any alternative Fleet would require an extensive programme of train crew and engineering staff training, incurring significant training which would create significant additional (and disproportionate) training workload at a time when SRT is already engaged in an intensive programme of recruitment for future fleet cascades and new trains and therefore does not have the capacity to commence a training programme for an additional new fleet within the necessary timeframe. b. SRT's analysis has confirmed that there are no alternative available fleets that contain the necessary technical features and could meet these requirements. Other potential available fleets have insufficient trains or would be too long to replace the existing 3-car Cl320/4 and do not have the network/depot/safety compatibility required to operate on the relevant routes. c. In the event that an alternative existing fleet with suitable performance and technical characteristics was available (which in SRT's view is not the case), and that fleet could be adapted to accommodate the necessary technical features, this would result in substantial duplication of cost, significant inconvenience and extra time out of service, which would be disproportionate in the context of an interim solution.

Options: Option to extend for a period of up to a further 12 months.

Procurement Information

Please refer to II.2.4 for the Description of the procurement

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d54a
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/071237-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation

CPV Codes

34600000 - Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£31,200,000 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
ScotRail Trains 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
GLASGOW
Postcode
G2 6HQ
Postcode Area
Glasgow
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM3 West Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM32 Glasgow City
Delivery Location
TLM Scotland
Local Authority
Glasgow City
Electoral Ward
Anderston/City/Yorkhill
Westminster Constituency
Glasgow North

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Eversholt Rail

Further Information

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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