Official UK procurement notice
Metrolink New Rolling Stock
Authority: Transport for Greater Manchester (Public body)
TfGM is preparing to procure a new fleet of high floor light rail rolling stock to support the renewal of the fleet and future development of the Metrolink network. The procurement will seek a capable manufacturing partner to design, manufacture, test, commission and support the introduction into service of the new tram vehicles for tram and tram-train operation, including the provision of associated technical documentation, training, spares and whole life support (non-exhaustive). Metrolink is the largest light rail network in the UK, patronage is at record levels and work is underway to renew, add capacity and expand the reach of the network to more parts of Greater Manchester.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTfGM is preparing to procure a new fleet of high floor light rail rolling stock to support the renewal of the fleet and future development of the Metrolink network. The procurement will seek a capable manufacturing partner to design, manufacture, test, commission and support the introduction into service of the new tram vehicles for tram and tram-train operation, including the provision of associated technical documentation, training, spares and whole life support (non-exhaustive).
Metrolink is the largest light rail network in the UK, patronage is at record levels and work is underway to renew, add capacity and expand the reach of the network to more parts of Greater Manchester. The Metrolink system currently comprises a fleet of 147 trams, over 100 kilometers of track and overhead line, 99 stops, 2 depots and growing patronage of over 46.6 million passenger journeys per annum (March 2026). Metrolink is the largest light rail network in the UK.
This Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise will allow for a better understanding of the marketplace's capabilities in delivering the new rolling stock for Metrolink.
This is the first of two planned preliminary market engagements (should sufficient detail be provided during this first market sounding TfGM reserve the right not to proceed with the second preliminary market engagement) and initially will be to understand market appetite and capability. (As noted Metrolink trams are high floor and interested parties responding to this first notice should have the appropriate manufacturing capability).
Participation in this PME is voluntary, and this exercise is entirely separate from any subsequent procurement activity. Participation or non-participation in this market sounding will not affect the opportunity for suppliers to participate in any subsequent procurement and will not form part of any procurement assessment or selection process.
Similarly, this exercise is not a commitment or indication by TfGM of an intended procurement approach to the market.
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 Transport for Greater Manchester buys Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts (CPV 3460), and who usually turns up
Transport for Greater Manchester’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 North West England.
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 77 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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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% / 28%
2–333% / 31%
4–657% / 26%
7+10% / 15%
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 estimate53% / 13%
Within ±2%20% / 30%
Above estimate27% / 57%
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 39 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid28%
2–331%
4–626%
7+15%
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. Contracts Finder contracts appear on the Retender Radar, not yet in these figures.
- 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
- 5 Nov 2026, 11:07 GMT
- Last source update
- 5 Nov 2026, 11:07 GMT
- Authority reference
202601010- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-105068- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b3bdFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
5 Nov 2026 → 1 Dec 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published47h ago5 Nov 2026, 11:07 GMT
- Today7 Nov 2026
- Market engagementin 23 days30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Interested parties, with appropriate manufacturing capability, should register (free of charge) on the Pro Contract e-Platform procontract.due-north.com ↗ and access opportunity DN833433.
Please then use the messaging function within the opportunity to confirm interest. A short questionnaire will then be issued via the messaging function which should then be returned via the same messaging function.
Suppliers responding to this PME will/may be invited to take part in individual workshops. The purpose of the meetings will be to enable a more detailed and focused discussion between TfGM and the individual suppliers, to enable TfGM to better understand market perspectives and shape the future arrangements accordingly. TfGM panel members may differ, depending on the questionnaire responses and corresponding staff availability. Organisations not invited to a workshop may still have their written responses considered for market-engagement purposes and will not be precluded from further engagement. TfGM will host up to 6 workshops. If there are more suppliers than workshop slots, TfGM will need to filter suppliers to provide as broad a selection of perspectives as possible across those workshops. A selection of suppliers will be made on the basis of providing a good range of responses for TfGM to best understand market perspectives. Due to time and resource constraints, TfGM will issue invitations for these workshops only to organisations intending to bid for the opportunity, not supply chain entities or bidder support organisations.
By registering interest, organisations confirm they are content to be contacted and engaged by TfGM for high level preliminary market engagement activity. This registration is not a commitment by TfGM or the organisation to participate in any future procurement activity.
- Contract startsin 388 days1 Dec 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Nov 2026, 11:07 GMTUK2
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