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Metrolink Ticket Vending Machine Operation and maintenance Service Agreement

Transport for Greater Manchester

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

06 Aug 2026 at 09:41

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

06 Aug 2026 at 09:22

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Transport for Greater Manchester is procuring operation and maintenance services for 223 ticket vending machines across the Greater Manchester Metrolink light rail network. The machines sell Metrolink and multi-modal travel products. The service covers multilingual customer interfaces, cash payments in UK coins and notes, Chip and PIN and contactless card payments, back-office card-payment processing linked to TfGM’s merchant acquirer, compliance with PCI DSS, device management, availability and incident management, and cash collection. This is a specialist transport ticketing, payment processing, software support and equipment maintenance requirement. The infrastructure was supplied and installed by Scheidt & Bachmann Fare Collection Systems GmbH, which has also been providing the existing maintenance, operational, back-office and payment service arrangements. Delivery is centred on Greater Manchester’s Metrolink network.

The procurement has been awarded through a single-supplier direct award under the Procurement Act 2023, relying on intellectual property rights and absence of competition for technical reasons. TfGM selected Scheidt & Bachmann Fare Collection Systems GmbH, the original equipment manufacturer, on 4 August 2026. The award value is £9.7 million excluding VAT and £11.64 million including VAT. The initial contract period runs from 29 October 2026 to 30 April 2029, with options for two successive 12-month extensions; the maximum extent date is 30 March 2031. The agreement covers one lot and is above threshold. A standstill period ends on 17 August 2026, with signature scheduled for 2 September 2026. The award is recorded as pending while the tender is complete.

This requirement demonstrates demand for integrated fare-collection technology in a light rail environment, combining physical ticket vending equipment, multilingual user interfaces, cash handling, card-present payments, payment back-office services, PCI DSS compliance, device management, service availability, incident response and cash collection. A credible future competitor would need demonstrated capability across both operational technology and payment services, including secure processing through a merchant-acquirer relationship and support for cash and contactless transactions. Relevant experience maintaining a large distributed machine estate, meeting robust service levels and managing incidents would be important. Suppliers would also need to understand transport ticketing across a network serving more than one travel mode. The incumbent’s original-equipment-manufacturer position shows that proven technical compatibility, intellectual-property access and deep knowledge of installed infrastructure are decisive factors for this buyer.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Metrolink Ticket Vending Machine Operation and maintenance Service Agreement

Notice Description

Currently, 223 Ticket Vending Machines (TVM's) are installed on the Greater Manchester Metrolink Light Rail Network and enable customer ticket purchases in respect of both Metrolink (and multi-modal) travel products. Maintenance and Operational services for this estate of TVM's are provided by Scheidt and Bachmann Fare Collection Systems GMBH the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the TVM infrastructure supported by a back office and Payment Service Provider (PSP) service that is provided by the OEM supplier through (where applicable) an assortment of sub-contract arrangements. The secure compliant and resilient continued operation of the Metrolink Ticketing Vending Machines (TVM's) is of critical importance to TfGM, and requires robust operation and maintenance arrangements to be put in place to sustain the infrastructure during a period until the the end of April 2029 and potentially beyond during extension periods. This notice provides transparency around the reasons for this single source procurement of the Metrolink Ticket Vending Machine Operation and Maintenance Service Agreement. The Metrolink Ticket Vending Machine Operation and Maintenance Service shall include: * operation of a screen based user interface that will enable consumers to select ticketing products (in a number of different European languages) in respect of travel on the Greater Manchester Metrolink network and on other travel modes across Greater Manchester; * the facility to process consumer payments for the ticketing products that consumers have selected at a respective TVM including cash payments (in UK coinage and banknote currency) and Credit and Debit Card payments (processed as cardholder present Chip and PIN and contactless transactions); * a back-office service that will enable the processing of customer Credit and Debit Card payments in conjunction with TfGM's Merchant Acquirer service in accordance with card-scheme rules for cardholder present Chip and PIN and contactless transactions and compliance the payment Card Industries Data Security Standard (PCI DSS); * device management of the estate of TVM's to ensure that the infrastructure is operated to robust service levels of availability and incident management; and * cash collection services.

Procurement Information

With respect to the Direct Award Justification, the ground relied upon under section 41 (1) and Schedule 5 (as per Regulation 26(h) and (i) of the 2024 Regulations: Single Supplier - Paragraph 5 (Intellectual Property) and 6 (Absence of competition for technical reasons) of Schedule 5 to the Procurement Act 2023. No other economic operator is able to provide the operation and maintenance of the Metrolink TVM infrastructure that has been supplied and installed by Scheidt and Bachmann Fare Collection Systems GMBH, the original equipment manufacturer.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dd21
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/074494-2026
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

30 - Office and computing machinery, equipment and supplies except furniture and software packages

48 - Software package and information systems

50 - Repair and maintenance services

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

30144200 - Ticket-issuing machines

30144400 - Automatic fare collection

48810000 - Information systems

50000000 - Repair and maintenance services

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£9,700,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
4 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
29 Oct 2026 - 30 Apr 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Transport for Greater Manchester
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
MANCHESTER
Postcode
M1 3BG
Postcode Area
Manchester
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD3 Greater Manchester
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD33 Manchester
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Manchester
Electoral Ward
Piccadilly
Westminster Constituency
Manchester Central

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Scheidt & Bachmann Fare Collection Systems GmbH

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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