Procurement description
This procurement process is being advertised and run by First Greater Western limited on its own behalf and on behalf of the successor operator of the rail passenger transport services in respect of Great Western Railway (GWR). That successor operator will be a public sector company, is expected to be a wholly owned subsidiary of DfT OLR Holdings Limited and will be ultimately owned by the Secretary of State for Transport. The date for transfer of the current operations to the successor operator is not yet confirmed. Where the transfer is completed before contract award under this procurement process, the successor operator may elect (but will not be obliged) to carry on with this procurement process in place of GWR, by taking on the role of contracting entity from the date of completion of the transfer (with this notice and all other procurement documents to be interpreted accordingly). Where the transfer is not yet completed by the time of contract award, contractual rights may be included in the contractual arrangements to enable transfer to the successor operator. Bidders should note that this procurement process (if ongoing), or any awarded contract, may be included in a transfer scheme made by the Secretary of State under section 12 of the Railways Act 2005, or the transfer may be effected outside of, or separate from, such a scheme.
If transfer takes place before the contract award the successor operator shall assume all the rights of the Client set out in this document. All references to the Client shall be deemed to refer to the successor operator for the purposes of this procurement and the successor operator shall be entitled to continue or terminate this procurement as if it was involved.
The tender will be split into separate lots, those submitting bids, can bid on individual lots, all lots and can also submit a bid against lot/s as a joint venture. Any joint submissions must clearly define which operator is doing what.
No sub-contracting is permitted once relevant contract has been awarded.
An overview is provided below of all the requirements and how the bids will be divided into sections.
The lots have been divided into 7 categories:
- Lot 1 - Passenger Diversions (80x and Night Riviera (cl.57 and Mk3 coaches)) and associated Empty Coaching Stock (ECS) moves to/from LNP via WLL, via GWML & South West Sidings (SWS), and Reading Train Care Depot (RTCD).
- Lot 2 - Electric/hybrid loco plus Driver (with 1000v Electric Train Supply (ETS))
- Lot 3 - London North Pole 387s/Heathrow Express (HEx) units
- Lot 4 - Fairwater Yard - Didcot Railway Centre
- Lot 5 - South Marston and High Output Operations Base (HOOB) (if required)
- Lot 6 - Didcot Railway Centre (DRC)
- Lot 7 - Reading Upper Triangle
To have a pool of trained Drivers and PICs to deliver GWR passenger diversions and GWR Depot Strategy when required. There will be a requirement to maintain competency, for Drivers and PICs on all applicable routes, traction and locations. A variation will then be issued for each possession where there is a requirement for Depot Strategy (only applicable locations) and/or passenger diversions and for what duration.