Official UK procurement notice
Engineering Vehicles - Tube Gauge Tamper
Authority: Docklands Light Railway Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionLondon Underground (LU) is proposing to undertake an Early Market Engagement (EME) that will facilitate the development of a suitable procurement strategy for the acquisition of a fleet of Tube Gauge Tampers which are essential for maintaining track geometry across LU's deep tube network, where tight curvature, restricted clearances and 4th rail traction supply impose unique operational constraints.
LU currently operate a set of 3 Tube Gauge Tampers acquired in 1980, which are now beyond their design life, with limited OEM support and increasing obsolescence. To maintain safe track alignment, avoid Temporary Speed Restrictions (TSRs), and ensure long-term operational resilience, LU is exploring options for the replacement of the Tube Gauge Tampers.
This Preliminary Market engagement aims to understand supplier appetite and technical capabilities, innovation and commercial considerations relating to the manufacture, supply, and long-term support of a new set of Tube Gauge Tampers. Feedback will help shape LU's procurement strategy, technical specification, delivery mode, and programme.
The scope of this preliminary market engagement covers the potential procurement of new set of Tube Gauge Tampers capable of operating across the LU network, including deep tube tunnels, depots and subsurface interfaces. The indicative scope include:
- Functional and operational requirements
- Environmental Performance
- Signalling System integration
- Operational & Functional Requirements
- Maintenance, Support and Lifecycle Considerations
Functional and operational requirements:
- Operating within a modified LG1 kinematic gauge profile. This is a particularly challenging gauge profile that will enable the tamper to go anywhere on the LU network.
- 1,435 mm gauge track to ensure interoperability of LU assets on mainline infrastructure.
- Navigating minimum horizontal curve radius of 64 m (with some curves down to 46 m in depots).
- Operating on maximum gradients of 3.4%.
- Achieving a maximum speed of 60 mph (self-propelled or hauled).
- Utilise LU's two-line brake system and electronic brake control system along with DropHead Buckeye coupler to ensure compatibility for locomotive haulage. The current operational philosophy assumes the tamper will be loco hauled in Running Mode.
- Delivering tamping functionality for plain line and points & crossings. Inclusive of conductor rails and checkrails.
- Tampers that meet the fire requirements for operating in a tunnel environment. Consideration will need to be made to exit the tamper longitudinally in the event of a fire.
Environmental Performance
In line with LU's carbon reduction drive, consideration should be placed on Tube Gauge Tampers that are:
- Hybrid, battery, or alternative low-emission propulsion.
- Euro V or better diesel engines (if diesel is proposed).
- Reduced carbon footprint across design, manufacture, and transport.
Signalling System Integration
The current operational philosophy assumes that the tampers will be loco hauled in Running Mode which reduces the number of signalling systems required to be fitted to the tamper. At this stage the suppliers should consider spatial and technical constraints for integrating a Tripcock signalling system which interfaces with the braking system.
Operational & Functional Requirements
The new tampers should:
- Support rapid set up and stow to maximise productivity during engineering hours.
- Provide emergency recovery capability allowing safe towing in the event of power failure.
- Achieve a 25-year service life.
- Be compatible with LU battery locomotive haulage.
Maintenance, Support and Lifecycle Considerations
Suppliers are invited to provide:
- Maintenance plans and man hour estimates.
- Expected overhaul cycles.
- Availability of long- term parts support.
- Opportunities for modularisation, remote diagnostics, or reliability improvements.
Commercial, Programme and Market Information
TfL seeks indicative (non- binding) information on:
- Guide pricing for the tampers. LU anticipates procuring at least one tamper, with the option to procure additional units depending on budget, operational need, and value for money. Suppliers are encouraged to indicate how pricing may scale for the supply of 1, 2, or 3 units.
- Production lead times, Design development durations and delivery programmes.
- Key risks, opportunities, and market constraints.
- Supplier appetite to participate in a future tender.
CPV: Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Docklands Light Railway Limited buys Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts (CPV 3460), and who usually turns up
Docklands Light Railway Limited’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: Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts (CPV 3460) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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 152 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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% / 26%
2–367% / 43%
4–633% / 20%
7+0% / 11%
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 estimate48% / 41%
Within ±2%32% / 26%
Above estimate20% / 33%
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 3460Estimate not published
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 35 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid26%
2–343%
4–620%
7+11%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Cook Rail LimitedEarlier contract | Supply of Drawgears for Engineering Vehiclesstarted Aug 2025 | — | £567k | Matched as the earlier contract |
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
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 22 Apr 2026, 15:13 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Apr 2026, 15:13 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-036700- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0688c6Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
22 Apr 2026 → 1 Mar 2028 · 3 dates- Planning notice published188 days ago22 Apr 2026, 15:13 BST
- Market engagement160 days ago20 May 2026, 23:59 BST
Suppliers wishing to participate in this preliminary market engagement should register their interest by contacting:
Sam Ward
Commercial Manager
Email: samward1@tfl.gov.uk
Suppliers expressing an interest in participating will be required to complete and submit an Early Market Engagement Market Sounding Questionnaire (MSQ). The MSQ will be used to gather non‑binding information to support TfL's understanding of the market, supplier capability, technical solutions, delivery approaches and whole‑life considerations relating to Tube Gauge tamping machines.
Participation is open to organisations with the relevant technical capability and experience to design, manufacture and support specialist on‑track railway maintenance plant, including tamping machines suitable for operation within constrained gauge, tunnel and mixed‑infrastructure environments.
Responses submitted as part of the MSQ will not form part of any subsequent tender or procurement process, and participation in this market engagement does not constitute a commitment by TfL to proceed with a future procurement. All information provided will be treated in confidence and used solely to inform TfL's future procurement strategy. Participation will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future competition.
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Contract starts1 Mar 2028
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Apr 2026, 15:13 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