Official UK procurement notice
Trackside Acoustic Detection System (TADS)
Authority: CHILTERN RAIL LIMITED (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionChiltern Rail Limited (Chiltern) is undertaking preliminary market engagement to support the planned replacement of its existing Trackside Acoustic Detection System (TADS).
TADS has been used by Chiltern since 2015 to monitor the health and condition of axle bearings and other bogie mounted rotating components. TADS is a wayside system developed by “Transportation Technology Centre Inc” (TTCI) for the purpose of detecting defective railroad bearing prior to failure. This system uses microphone-based technology to collect the acoustic signature of each bearing on a passing train. This data is processed thorough a collection of algorithms to identify defective bearings. The resulting information is used to drive critical safety, business and operational decisions.
TADS is becoming unreliable and has suffered several outages more recently therefore Chiltern is seeking information from the market regarding potential solutions and delivery approaches for its replacement.
The scope of requirement may include:
- System design and Network Rail approval.
- Decommissioning existing equipment and making the site safe.
- Civil engineering where required for the new equipment.
- Instillation of new equipment.
- User interface/software package.
- Ongoing maintenance and support.
Further requirements are detailed within the draft specifications included within the documents provided.
The purpose of this RFI is to:
- Understand the solutions and delivery models currently available in the market;
- Determine whether the requirement is best delivered through lots or separate procurements;
- Test and refine the draft functional and non-functional requirements;
- Understand implementation;
- Obtain indicative pricing and commercial information;
- Identify likely implementation timescales, dependencies and risks.
The estimated contract value, contract duration and final procurement structure have not yet been determined. Suppliers are therefore being asked to provide information on available commercial models, indicative pricing, implementation timescales and the main factors affecting cost.
This is preliminary market engagement only and does not constitute an invitation to tender or a commitment by Chiltern Railways to commence a future procurement. The purpose is to help Chiltern understand market capability and develop its requirements, commercial approach and procurement strategy, which is consistent with the intended function of preliminary market engagement under the Procurement Act 2023.
CPV: Train monitoring services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How CHILTERN RAIL LIMITED buys Support services for land transport (CPV 6371), and who usually turns up
CHILTERN RAIL LIMITED has little published record in this market. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Support services for land transport (CPV 6371) →
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.
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 55 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.
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 bid21%
2–345%
4–615%
7+18%
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 estimate40%
Within ±2%55%
Above estimate5%
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 6371Published estimate£1.2m
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 33 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid21%
2–345%
4–615%
7+18%
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
- 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
- 6 Oct 2026, 10:11 BST
- Last source update
- 6 Oct 2026, 10:11 BST
- Authority reference
UIN2060- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-094107- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078156Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
6 Oct 2026 → 1 May 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published20 days ago6 Oct 2026, 10:11 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 3 days30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
This preliminary market engagement will be conducted electronically through Market Dojo. No physical supplier events are currently planned. The engagement will commence on Tuesday 6 October 2026. Suppliers will be provided with access to the Request for Information questionnaire, the draft requirements spreadsheet and the relevant background information through Market Dojo. Suppliers wishing to participate should register with Market Dojo at the following URL: marketdojo.com/market-dojo-sign-up/ ↗ and once registered, use invitation code: 4AF903D4B4 to access the event.
Once access has been gained, all communications relating to the engagement must take place through Market Dojo. This includes the submission of clarification questions, Chiltern Railways' responses to those questions and the submission of completed RFI responses. Clarification questions must be submitted through Market Dojo by 14:00 on Tuesday 13 October 2026. Chiltern Railways intends to issue consolidated responses to clarification questions through Market Dojo by Friday 16 October 2026. Completed responses must be submitted through Market Dojo by 14:00 on Friay 30 October 2026. Following review of the responses, Chiltern Railways may invite suppliers to participate in further market engagement discussions or solution demonstrations. Any further sessions will be arranged separately and will remain part of the preliminary market engagement process.
- Tender notice expectedin 43 days9 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 185 days1 May 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published6 Oct 2026, 10:11 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