Leasing of existing Rolling Stock for Southeastern Metro Services to meet October 2027 demand

Tender description

The overall objective of this procurement is cost reduction and cost avoidance, through securing the best medium and long-term value fleet solution for the benefit of taxpayers, the Department for Transport, Southeastern and ultimately, Southeastern's customers. We believe that a component of this objective can be secured by leasing existing Rolling Stock of sufficient quantity, to address the escalating costs of Southeastern's ageing fleet Such Rolling Stock must be available for full unrestricted operational passenger service with Southeastern by 01 October 2027 The quantity of vehicles to be procured on lease is anticipated to be between 350 and 810 (these quantities have been calculated using an assumed 20m vehicle length). The precise number to be leased will be determined once tenders have been received Southeastern will require either a lease or sub-lease for Rolling Stock which meets the key requirements which will include (but not be limited to): o Availability of units in full unrestricted operational passenger service with Southeastern by 01 October 2027 o full compliance with all applicable accessibility regulations (PRM NTSN) o compatibility with Southeastern infrastructure (excluding High Speed 1 infrastructure) and all approval processes completed by 01 October 2027 o bidders will be required to demonstrate that all vehicles tendered must not compromise the inter-operability, and must support the efficiency, of Southeastern's fleet operation o all vehicles tendered must have a remaining useful life in passenger service of at least 15 years from October 2027 o units powered by 750V DC electric third rail o suitable for metro operation o doors at 1/3 and 2/3 positions o toilets o cab air conditioning, as a minimum o AC traction motors o must not worsen energy consumption compared to the current Southeastern fleet Southeastern is seeking a fleet which will operate with sustainability in mind, with a goal to reduce carbon footprint, energy usage and embedded carbon Bidders may be required to provide ongoing maintenance support, for example, the supply of heavy maintenance to be included in the lease, along with design authority support. Alternatively, by way of a materials supply and technical support agreement, whole life cost guarantees and a performance regime Lot 1: SE Trains Limited (trading as Southeastern) is a UK train operating company serving stations in London, Kent and East Sussex. In order to support our strategy of cost reduction, as well as modernising and enhancing passenger experience, we have developed our rolling stock asset strategy and are now inviting expressions of interest for the lease of existing Rolling Stock to meet our requirements Interested parties should register their interest in taking part, and to be eligible to receive further tender documentation during the process by responding on this survey link https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/H3PWW7/ Following the deadline for response to this notice, Southeastern will provide further communications to interested parties and will arrange a number of bidder engagement sessions before issuing an Invitation to Pre-Qualify (ITP). The ITP stage of the procurement will focus on high level capability and previous experience in leasing rolling stock to the UK market which will be evaluated to ensure only the most suitable bidders progress to the Invitation to Negotiate stage later in 2023. Tender documentation issued at ITP stage will be in a developed form but may be subject to amendment prior to the ITN being issued Interested parties should note that Southeastern is undertaking parallel procurement activities for the manufacture and financing of new rolling stock, with a view to selecting either new rolling stock or existing rolling stock or a combination of options to meet its requirements Interested parties should also note that Southeastern may select and award one or more than one contract for existing rolling stock in response to this contract notice in order to fulfil its requirements and therefore bidders may offer fewer than 350 vehicles Interested parties should also note that partaking in this procurement process may not result in any award and suppliers are taking part at their own cost and risk. The issue of the contract notice (or any other procurement document) does not have contractual effect or create any form of contract (implied or otherwise) between Southeastern and any other person Southeastern will not be liable, under any circumstances, for any bid costs, expenditure, work or effort incurred by a Bidder in proceeding with or participating in this procurement, including if the procurement process is terminated or amended at any stage prior to contract execution Southeastern reserves the right to amend, modify and/or add further stages to or terminate the process at any stage prior to contract execution