Official UK procurement notice
Southern Region Passive Thermal Management Solutions for Legacy Lineside Signalling Equipment Housings (Location Cases)
Authority: NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionLegacy lineside equipment housings (dating from the 1960s–2000s) on the GB rail network are experiencing increasing thermal stress due to hotter, longer summers and changing climate patterns. These housings were not designed for elevated ambient temperatures or prolonged thermal loads and are increasingly at risk of overheating, which may degrade the reliability or lifespan of the sensitive signalling and telecoms equipment inside.
In Kent Route, there are over 5,000 and in Southern Region there are over 15,000 of these housings (also known as Location Cases), and nationally over 60,000.
Network Rail is seeking passive thermal management solutions that can be retrofitted to existing housings without compromising security, structural integrity, or existing cable penetrations. Active cooling systems are not desirable due to power constraints, maintenance burden, and whole-life cost implications.
- How the procedure runs: A Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) will be issued to all interested parties to assess suppliers before invitation to the main ITT stage. The PSQ is designed to enable early down-selection, ensuring that only those with the necessary capability, capacity, and relevant experience progress further in the process. Any bidder scoring below a threshold of 2 on each question will not progress beyond the PSQ stage.All suppliers passing the PSQ will progress to ITT stage. Full details of the process are contained in the Instructions to Participants.
CPV: Cooling and ventilation equipment
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs may be awarded directly or by further competition
- Places
- up to 3 suppliers
- Framework period
- 2 yrs · up to 6 yrs from 3 Jul 2026
Published description of the framework
The framework will be established as a single-lot, multi-supplier framework under NR1(MT) contract conditions. Awards under the framework will be made by direct award or quotation exercise, dependent on value.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£14,000,000
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical Envelope: 60%
- Commercial Envelope: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical Envelope
- Commercial Envelope
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Southern Region Passive Thermal Management Solutions for Legacy…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 3 suppliers, not a single contract: call-offs may be direct or by further competition.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 6 Jun 2025, 11:34 BST
- Last source update
- 14 Nov 2025, 13:05 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 19 Jun 2026
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-073974- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-054443Find a Tender
- How it runs
A Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) will be issued to all interested parties to assess suppliers before invitation to the main ITT stage. The PSQ is designed to enable early down-selection, ensuring that only those with the necessary capability, capacity, and relevant experience progress further in the process.
Any bidder scoring below a threshold of 2 on each question will not progress beyond the PSQ stage.All suppliers passing the PSQ will progress to ITT stage.
Full details of the process are contained in the Instructions to Participants.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 12 Dec 2025, 11:00 GMT
- Appointment period ends
- 12 Dec 2025, 11:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 2 Dec 2025, 11:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
6 Jun 2025 → 3 Jul 2026 · 7 dates- Planning notice published6 Jun 2025, 11:34 BST
- Market engagement20 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
The Market Engagement for the "Passive Thermal Management Solutions for Legacy Lineside Signalling Equipment Housings (Location Cases)" will be conducted through the completion of a questionnaire.
This questionnaire must be returned by 20th June 2025.
To access the Market Engagement submission document, please follow these steps:
- Visit our Bravo site using the link provided below.
Link to Bravo: networkrail.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html ↗
- On the Bravo login page, locate and select the "View Current Opportunities" option at the bottom left of the page. Find and select the link for ‘Southern Region Passive Thermal Management Solutions for Legacy Lineside Signalling Equipment Housings (Location Cases)’ to access the documents available for the market engagement exercise.
There is no need to log in to Bravo to access the opportunity. You can view and download the necessary documents without logging in.
An overview of the requirements and the instructions for returning the market engagement information are detailed within the PDF document titled ‘Passive Thermal Management Solutions Market Engagement’.
The questionnaire that is required to be completed and returned is provided in a separate Word document titled ‘Appendix 1 - Passive Thermal Management Solutions Market Engagement Submission Form’.
Please ensure you follow these instructions carefully to submit your information correctly.
- Tender notice published348 days ago14 Nov 2025, 13:05 GMT
- Clarification questions by330 days ago2 Dec 2025, 11:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period ends320 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown12 Dec 2025, 11:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by131 days ago19 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts118 days ago3 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 6 Jun 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published6 Jun 2025, 11:34 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published14 Nov 2025, 13:05 GMTUK4
- Published value published: £14,000,00014 Nov 2025, 13:05 GMT
- Status changed to active14 Nov 2025, 13:05 GMT
- Procurement method changed14 Nov 2025, 13:05 GMT
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender