Description
The East West Railway Company (the Authority) is responsible for the delivery of East West Rail (EWR), a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project providing new and upgraded rail links between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. EWR Co. is responsible for leading the development, procurement, and commissioning of the railway.
The Authority is undertaking preliminary market engagement in advance of a planned procurement of an Integration, Technical, Operations, Assurance and Environmental (ITOAE) Partner to support the development and delivery of the EWR programme. The scope, structure, and commercial model of the procurement will be informed by this engagement.
This notice is issued to inform the market of the Authority's current thinking, to seek views from potential suppliers, and to help shape the scope, structure and delivery model of any future procurement. This is not a call for competition.
Overview of the Intended Contract
The Authority is considering the establishment of a single supplier contract for the provision of programme-level ITOAE services for a period of up to twelve (12) years, with performance and scope breakpoints at Years 3, 6 and 9.
The ITOAE Partner is envisaged as a strategic role supporting the Authority across multiple phases and areas of the programme. The role is intended to provide confidence that design and delivery outputs are coordinated, technically robust, affordable, and ready to support works procurement and construction, and that information made available to the Authority's decision-makers and oversight bodies is reliable, consistently evidenced, and audit-ready.
The ITOAE Partner is not intended to act as a lead designer or discipline designer. The Authority's current intent is that the ITOAE Partner will not hold Principal Designer duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Design responsibility and Principal Designer duties under the CDM Regulations are expected to rest with the separately appointed designers and the main works contractor(s), not with the ITOAE Partner.
Relationship with the Client Support Framework
The Authority is separately considering the procurement of a Client Support Framework (CSF) to provide scalable client-side support capacity across defined service lines.
The Authority's current position is that the ITOAE Partner appointee will be structurally separated from the CSF, such that the appointed ITOAE Partner (and associated entities within its corporate group) will not be eligible to be appointed under the CSF for the duration of the ITOAE contract. The purpose of this separation is to protect the independence of assurance and advice, to mitigate real or perceived conflicts of interest, and to align with independent review findings on major programme governance (including the Stewart Review, 2025).
The Authority is testing this position through this preliminary market engagement. The final Conditions of Participation will be confirmed in the tender documentation and will be set in accordance with the Authority's obligations under the Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement Regulations 2024.
Indicative Scope of Services
At this stage, the Authority has defined the high-level scope of services. These are expected to include (but are not limited to), at a programme level:
Design integration and coordination across multiple packages and parties, including utilities and third parties
Design assurance and technical challenge on behalf of the Authority
Provision of technical insight across specialist domains including environmental, operational, transport planning, geotechnical, and railway systems
Management of design maturity, readiness, and stage-gate progression
Digital, information, and configuration management
Support to constructability, delivery integration, and transition to construction and beyond to entry in to service
Intelligent Client support and client team capability development
These services are expected to be applied across a range of major infrastructure, railway technical and environmental domains, which may include (but are not limited to):
Rolling stock and vehicle-infrastructure interfaces
Timetabling and operations
Railway systems engineering and integration
Stations, buildings, and passenger environments
Earthworks and Structures including Tunnels and other transport systems
M&E, power, and technical services
Asset management and whole-life considerations
Digital engineering and digital representation of assets
Environmental, sustainability, hydrology and carbon considerations
The ITOAE Partner is expected to operate under a two-tier service structure comprising a retained Core Services baseline, supplemented by time-bound Authorised Services packages approved against a costed Service Delivery Plan. The precise scope, responsibilities, interfaces, and contract value may evolve following market engagement and further internal development.
Contract Details
Contract Form – NEC4 Professional Service Contract
Estimated total value -
Approximately £150 million to £200 million in anticipated contract value over the 12-year term, set against a programme budget envelope of £300 million. The £300 million envelope provides appropriate financial headroom for the scope evolution, programme slippage and operational realities typical of a 12-year infrastructure programme of this scale and complexity, and accommodates Discrete Packages instructed under the Authorised Services model (indicative range, subject to confirmation prior to tender)*
*The indicative value range reflects a twelve (12) year term. The final value will be confirmed in the tender notice and is subject to internal approval and the outcome of this engagement.
Key Dates
Registration Deadline – Friday 12th June 2026, 17:00 (please register here: https://eastwestrail.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/26370375019E8E01BDEE)
Briefing Pack & Recorded Presentation Issued – Monday 15 June 2026
Questionnaire response deadline – Friday 26 June 2026, 17:00
One to One Sessions – Week Commencing 6 July 2026
Points to Note
Please note the following important points before registering an interest:
This PME is not a call for competition and is not published with the intention of reducing any time limits for the receipt of tenders.
EWR Co. reserves the right not to commence any procurement process or award any contracts in respect of the EWR project and to amend the requirements stated in this PME (or as stated in any pre-procurement market engagement documents).
EWR Co. will provide information on its emerging thinking on scope, commercial structure, and contracting approach via the pre-recorded briefing presentation and within the pre-procurement market engagement documents made available to registered suppliers. EWR Co. reserves the right to further develop and change the procurement strategy and/or other aspects of the proposed procurement and delivery strategy as a result of pre-procurement market engagement or otherwise.
EWR Co. may undertake further pre-procurement market consultation exercises.
Please follow the link under the engagement section for more details and to register your interest.