Official UK procurement notice
1054260192 T1420 and T1421 Preliminary Market Engagement Briefing – Freight Vehicle Braking Research
Authority: Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB) (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionRSSB is undertaking preliminary market engagement in relation to two proposed and interdependent research procurements, T1420 and T1421, concerning variability in freight vehicle braking-system components.
The overall research programme is expected to include the identification of representative wagons, development of a static brake-testing plan, undertaking of static brake testing and detailed analysis of the resulting data.
RSSB currently intends to procure the programme through two separate competitive tender exercises. The precise allocation of the phases and associated activities remains under consideration and may be informed by the responses received through this engagement.
The purpose of the engagement is to:
- understand supplier interest and capability across the proposed phases;
- test whether the proposed procurement and delivery timescales are achievable;
- understand how additional testing or information requirements arising during delivery should be managed; and
- obtain feedback on data handover, communication, governance and coordination where different suppliers are appointed.
RSSB has established the fundamental objectives and proposed technical scope of the research. This engagement is not intended to redesign the core requirement.
Further information and the questions on which RSSB is seeking feedback are contained in the T1420 and T1421 Preliminary Market Engagement Briefing – Freight Vehicle Braking Research, available through the Delta eSourcing portal.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
rssb.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-London… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
CPV: Research services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB) buys Research services (CPV 7311), and who usually turns up
Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB)’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Research services (CPV 7311) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Greater London (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 21 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid0% / 8%
2–330% / 17%
4–660% / 33%
7+10% / 42%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate18% / 44%
Within ±2%82% / 50%
Above estimate0% / 6%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 7311No real estimate
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 12 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid8%
2–317%
4–633%
7+42%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 29 Jul 2026, 12:27 BST
- Last source update
- 29 Jul 2026, 12:27 BST
- Authority reference
1054260192- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-071661- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d65aFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
29 Jul 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published89 days ago29 Jul 2026, 12:27 BST
- Market engagement75 days ago12 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Interested suppliers must register or log in to the Delta eSourcing portal and access the T1420 and T1421 preliminary market engagement exercise using the link or access code provided in this notice.
Suppliers should review the attached Preliminary Market Engagement Briefing and provide a written response to the questions contained in section 3.
Responses should be provided in a single Word or PDF document and submitted as an attachment through the Delta eSourcing Message Centre for this exercise by 12:00 on 12 August 2026.
When submitting a response, suppliers should use the message subject:
T1420/T1421 Preliminary Market Engagement Response – [Supplier name]
Suppliers may also use the Message Centre to raise clarification questions concerning this engagement.
Responses submitted by email or through any route other than the Delta eSourcing Message Centre may not be considered.
- Contract starts26 days ago1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published29 Jul 2026, 12:27 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender