W&W Frontline Labour Framework Market Engagement

Please note the contract start and end dates are to be confirmed. The dates represented in this notice are incorrect.

Network Rail is undertaking preliminary market engagement in relation to the potential future provision of frontline labour services for the Wales Route and the Western Route.

The current Frontline Labour Framework provides principal vendor arrangements for the supply of core frontline labour across geographic lots, supported by national specialist lots covering Electrification & Plant (E&P) and Signalling & Telecoms (S&T) grades. As part of an ongoing category and route-level review, Network Rail is considering whether future requirements for the Wales and Western Routes could be delivered through separate route-based frameworks, procured independently of other regions.

The services in scope are expected to include the provision of frontline rail labour to support maintenance and enhancement activities on Network Rail infrastructure, including (but not limited to):

Track (core) labour

Civils (core) labour

Trackworker protection roles

Semi-professional grades

Sentinel-sponsored and competence-managed rail labour

All supplied personnel would be required to meet relevant industry standards, including Sentinel requirements and applicable Network Rail assurance, safety and competency frameworks.

Through this preliminary market engagement exercise, Network Rail seeks to:

Assess market capability and capacity to support route-specific frontline labour frameworks;

Understand existing supplier presence and labour pool availability within the Wales and Western Routes;

Test supplier appetite to bid for one or both route-based frameworks;

Explore mobilisation, resilience and delivery considerations under a route-led procurement model;

Gather insight into potential opportunities to enhance operational responsiveness, local accountability and overall value.

This notice is issued for market engagement purposes only. It does not constitute a call for competition, does not commit Network Rail to undertake any procurement, and does not form part of a formal procurement process. Any future procurement would be subject to separate notice in accordance with applicable procurement regulations.

Network Rail welcomes responses from both incumbent and non-incumbent suppliers with relevant frontline rail labour capability.