EWR Co. (the Authority) is responsible is responsible for leading the development, procurement, and commissioning of the railway.

The EWR Co. 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.

The 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.

The EWR Co. is considering the establishment of a single supplier contract for the provision of programme-level ITOAE services for a period of up to 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.

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 the 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.

At this stage, the Authority has defined the high-level scope of services which are expected to include at a programme level:

The services are expected to be applied across a range of major infrastructure, railway technical and environmental domains, which may include :

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.

Currently, the estimated total value of the upcoming tender is put at 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 the engagement.

EWR Co is asking suppliers to note the following important points before registering an interest:

The 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.:

Current estimated start and end contract dates are 2 August 2027 to 2 August 2039.

Deadline for suppliers to register expressions of interest must be received before 5pm on Friday 12 June 2026.

Following the closure of the registration deadline, participants will receive a briefing pack and recorded briefing presentation, setting out the Authority's current programme context, indicative scope of services, and proposed commercial approach. The briefing materials will provide the information necessary to complete the market engagement questionnaire, which must be submitted by the questionnaire response deadline of 5pm Friday 26th June.

Timetable as follows:

Following review of the questionnaire responses, the Authority intends to invite a selected group of four to five (4-5) participants to attend a structured one-to-one session. Participants will be selected objectively on the basis of:

Non-selection for a one-to-one session will not preclude any party from participating in any future procurement process. One-to-one sessions will be conducted to a structured, pre-issued agenda and are not intended to receive supplier sales or capability presentations.

Click here to access the EWR Co, procurement portal to express an interest in the preliminary market engagement (or to register on the Authority's Jaggaer e-procurement portal, if not already registered )

Click here for more information about the East West Railway Nationally Signiuficant Infrastructure Project