Quick answer — Direct Rail Services LimitedLast refreshed 09 Mar 2026

At a glance

Direct Rail Services Limited has awarded £1.3bn across 14 suppliers, with 74 live contracts.

Why: Top supplier share 23% · 20 open notices now · 1 award in last 90 d (£450k) · SME share 84% (Cabinet Office target 33%) · 5 modifications in last 90 d.

Decision signals
Top-supplier concentration23%
Modifications · 90 d5
SME spend share84%
Pipeline · open now20
Awards · 90 d1

About this buyer

Mission, scope and statutory context.

Direct Rail Services Limited is a contracting authority, based in UKD12. Tracks 85 published notices and 76 awards on PublicSupply.

85
Notices published
76
Awards
14
Suppliers engaged
2024
First award on file

Spend profile

Award value by month — rolling 24 months. Line shows 12-month moving average.

£1.9m
12 m spend
£162k
Prior 12 m
+1104%
YoY change
£25.0m
Median award
Awards (£m)12m moving avg
Direct Rail Services Limited — monthly award value, rolling 24 months£0m£0m£1m£1m£2mJulOctJanAprJulOctJanApr

Contract pipeline

Forward flow — planned notices through to completed awards in the last 90 days.

Planned

20

Pipeline notices

Open (bidding)

20

Live tenders

Awarded (90d)

1

£450k

Frameworks open

0

Framework / DPS routes

Procurement mix

How this buyer procures — by procedure, instrument, and publication source.

Contract type

services41 · £581.8m
goods20 · £92.4m
Unspecified24 · £2.1m

Instrument type

contract83 · £676.1m
call off2 · £162k
Source:Find a Tender: 64Contracts Finder: 21

Awarded contracts · 74 live

All contracts with a published award notice where Direct Rail Services Limited is the contracting authority.

downloadExport CSV
TitleSupplierCPVValueAwardedStatus
RFI for provision of Terminal Ground staff & Train Driver Duties63711000£0est.planning
Removal and Fitment of Class 68 and 88 Locomotive Windscreens50112120£60kest.active
Provision of a Fleet and Asset Management SystemNTT Data Business Solutions Limited£2.0mest.active
Locomotive and Wagon Tyre Turning Services50221300£1.2mest.planning
Supply of Class 66 Traction Motors - UTEX/Service Exchange Model16730000£500kest.active
Supply of Class 66 Traction Motors - UTEX/Service Exchange Model16730000£500kest.active
Design, Removal, and Re-Livery of LocomotivesAST Signs Ltd£450k09 Mar 2026pending
Locomotive and Wagon Tyre Turning Services50221300£1.2mest.planning
Supply of Class 66 Traction Motors - UTEX/Service Exchange Model16730000£500kest.active
Class 68/88 Locomotive Windscreen Fitment50221000£50kest.planning
Showing 110 of 108

Top suppliers · by total award value

Ranked by cumulative awarded value. YoY = last 12 months vs prior 12 months.

1
CL
12 contracts · SME
£300.0mest.
23% of total
2
FP
11 contracts · SME
£275.0mest.
21% of total
3
DW
£275.0mest.
21% of total
4
TH
11 contracts · SME
£275.0mest.
21% of total
5
HS
£44.0mest.
3% of total
6
BS
£44.0mest.
3% of total
7
PM
1 contract
£44.0mest.
3% of total
8
TG
£26.9mest.
2% of total
914
···
6 other suppliers
long tail · 2 SMEs
£5.1m
0% of total
various

Category spend breakdown

By CPV division · lifetime awards

Other
59 contracts
£1.7bn
93%
Transport equipment, vehicles
10 contracts
£59.4m
3%
Security, emergency equipment
4 contracts
£27.4m
1%
Transport services
1 contract
£25.0m
1%
Repair & maintenance
12 contracts
£19.6m
1%
Agricultural machinery
5 contracts
£2.1m
0%
Software packages, IT
2 contracts
£420k
0%
Other community services
1 contract
£162k
0%

Activity heatmap

Award volume by CPV division × month. Darker = more £ awarded.

Jul
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Other
2
0
Transport equipment, vehicles
Security, emergency equipment
Transport services
Repair & maintenance
Agricultural machinery
LessMore (£m awarded)

Commercial & procurement leadership

Who signs off contracts, owns frameworks and runs SME engagement.

Coming Q3 2026

Curated leadership roster

Chief commercial officer, framework owners, SME lead and clinical sign-offs per buyer. Top-50 contracting authorities first, rolling out by sector.

Modifications · 5 in 90 d

Variations logged under Procurement Act 2023 s.74. Above-tolerance modifications attract a flag.

Coming Q3 2026

Per-modification s.74 classification + tolerance flagging

We see 5 notices tagged with a modification flag in the last 90 d. Next phase parses each one against PA 2023 s.74 limbs and surfaces above-tolerance flags.

Compliance & transparency

FOIA performance, statutory disclosures & prompt payment.

Coming Q4 2026

FOIA & prompt-payment ingestion

Notice timeliness and modification flags are derivable today. FOIA refusal rate, prompt-payment %, KPI reporting and net-zero plans need new data sources — work scoped, ingestion next quarter.

SME & social value

Performance against Cabinet Office targets & PPN 06/20.

84%
SME supplier share
target 33%
47
SME award rows
0
VCSE award rows
14
Distinct suppliers

Peer benchmark

vs other buyers in the same type. Highlighted row = this buyer.

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Compare against the peer group

£149 / seat / month. Configurable peer groups, rolling trendlines, and CSV / PDF exports for board packs.

News mentions

Major UK press & trade publications.

Free with account

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Article previews are free with an account — the underlying data is gated to satisfy publisher agreements.

Statutory & accountability

Legal status, identifiers & accountable officers.

Identifiers & contact

Type
Contracting authority
Region
UKD12
Companies House
03020822
Contact
Sian Young
Email
sian.young@ntsglobal.uk

Board & accountable officers

Coming Q3 2026

Accountable officer + board roster

Pulled from gov.uk for arm's-length bodies and from Companies House for company-form buyers — chair, CEO, SRO and sign-off authority per contract band.

Resources

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