View Expired Tender

Department for Transport ('DfT')
Zone 21, floor 4, Great Minster House, 33 Horseferry Road
For the attention of: Mr Dale Ward
SW1P 4DR
London
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel. +44 2079443693
E-mail: pqq@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Fax +44 2079443533

Internet address(es):

General address of the contracting authority: www.dft.gov.uk/topics/rail-passenger-franchises/background

Address of the buyer profile: www.dft.gov.uk

Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions

Other: Transport

The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no

Great Western Franchise letting.

Services

Service category No 18: Rail transport services

NUTS code UK

The notice involves a public contract

Railway transport services. The DfT is seeking to appoint an appropriately experienced and qualified transport operator to operate the Great Western rail passenger franchise. Expressions of interest are now being sought from the market and shortlisted potential providers will receive the invitation to tender planned to be issued in May 2012. It is expected that the successful bidder will be announced in December 2012 with the contract commencing in April 2013.

The length of the franchise term will be 15 years.

60200000

The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): yes

This contract is divided into lots: no

Variants will be accepted: no

The Great Western Franchise provides long-distance, commuter, regional and branch-line train services from London Paddington to the Midlands, Cotswolds, South Wales and West of England, the South Coast, Devon and Cornwall. The franchise serves the key locations of London, Reading, Oxford, Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Exeter, Plymouth, Penzance, Southampton, Portsmouth, Newbury, Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester.

In 2010/11 the services that make up the current Great Western Franchise had total passenger-related revenue of GBP 679 000 000, covering 90 million passenger journeys and 3.4 million passenger miles.

The new Great Western Franchise will be largely based upon the present service structure with the following expected changes:

— The current Heathrow Connect services are planned to be transferred to the Crossrail operator from May 2018,

— The full Crossrail service is planned to operate from December 2019 and will replace the majority of the relief line services from Maidenhead to Paddington,

— In line with the Government's aspiration for decentralisation, the franchise may be let so as to permit future changes in the way that discrete parts of the network are financed, monitored and managed by organisations other than the DfT.

Options for longer term enhancements of rail links to Heathrow, such as Western Access and Airtrack Lite, are being considered and the franchise operator will be expected to engage constructively with industry partners in developing these options. The franchise operator may have the opportunity to tender for the operation of such services in due course.

It is currently expected that the franchise operator will take responsibility for the provision of rolling stock. This is likely to include the procurement of a fleet of electric multiple units to take advantage of the planned electrification. From 2017 new Intercity Express Trains ('IEP') are anticipated to be delivered to the franchise operator with the full fleet available from early 2018 which, in the event, would cause changes for the high speed fleet.

The franchise operator will be expected to take cost and revenue risk for the period of the Great Western contract. Revenue risk will be subject to a support mechanism probably linked to economic factors. This support would be complemented by a mechanism to share higher than expected profits.

The franchisee will be expected to take full repairing leases on some or all of the stations that it operates other than on network rail managed stations.

The contract will be based on the franchise agreement currently being revised in line with government policy.

The franchise operator may be able to benefit from implementing revised working arrangements with network rail. This work would align incentives and may require the franchisee and network rail to agree to different arrangements between their respective organisations.

Further details will be set out in the invitation to tender issued to shortlisted potential providers.

Options: no

This contract is subject to renewal: no

Duration in months: 180 (from the award of the contract)

The DfT may require that the agreed-form funding deed made available to the bid vehicle is underwritten by suitably accredited third parties or banks.

The franchise operator will be required to provide a parent company guarantee in support of its obligation to maintain the stations.

The potential provider appointed to operate the franchise should have sufficient financial backing to place a performance bond and a season ticket bond. These are expected to be up to GBP 50 000 000 and GBP 25 000 000 respectively.

Not provided.

A private limited company incorporated in the UK.

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: The information and formalities necessary to assess whether a potential provider qualifies to receive an invitation to tender are contained in the pre-qualification questionnaire and pre-qualification process document.

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: The information and formalities necessary to assess whether a potential provider qualifies to receive an invitation to tender are contained in the pre-qualification questionnaire and pre-qualification process document.

Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: Not Provided.

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:

The information and formalities necessary to assess whether a potential provider qualifies to receive an invitation to tender are contained in the pre-qualification questionnaire and pre-qualification process document.

Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:

Not provided.

Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: no

Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: no

Negotiated

Some candidates have already been selected (if appropriate under certain types of negotiated procedures) no

Envisaged minimum number 3: and maximum number 5

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates: Optimal number for franchise competition.

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated no

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

An electronic auction will be used: no

GWF2013

Prior information notice

Notice number in the OJEU: 2011/S 152-252780 of 10.8.2011

9.2.2012 - 10:00

English.

This is a recurrent procurement: no

The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no

The franchise procurement process is being undertaken in pursuance of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended). It is a Part B services contract and is therefore voluntarily utilising an OJEU Notice. The process by which the procurement will operate is set out as appropriate in the pre-qualification documentation and the Invitation to Tender and will be compatible with applicable EU law. GO reference: GO-20111219-PRO-2811312.

19.12.2011