Support and Maintenance of Central Booking Engine

Concepts

• software maintenance
• york
• central booking engine
• central
• maintenance
• engine
• booking
• information technology
• transferee train operating companies
• parent owning group

Location

YORK

Description

Development, Maintenance and Support Services for the Central Booking Engine

Total Quantity or Scope

LNER is procuring on its own behalf and will enter into the relevant contract documents where such contracts are awarded. However, the contract documents also permit the use or transfer of contracts to Transferee Train Operating Companies, or Parent Owning Group. In the event that such provisions are utilised, this procurement is also to be for the benefit of the Transferee Train Operating Companies and their Parent Owning Group in accordance with regulation 56 of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016. However, LNER is responsible for the conduct of the procurement throughout and all correspondence and communication from suppliers is to be solely with LNER The meaning of Transferee Train Operating Companies includes all those train operating companies who, currently or in the future, provide services for the carriage of passengers by railway: a) under a franchise agreement with the Secretary of State within the meaning of section 23(3) of the Railways Act 1993 or b) under, or secured under, the Secretary of State's duty in section 30(1) of the Railways Act 1993; or c) in accordance with legislation which supersedes or amends the powers referred to in a) and b), including where such powers are transferred from the Secretary of State to another body. The list of current providers of services for the carriage of passengers by railway under these provisions can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-register-of-rail-passenger-contracts.

Award Detail

Renewal Options

Option to extend the initial term by a further 5 years in increments of 12 months

CPV Codes

• 72267000 - Software maintenance and repair services
• 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Indicators

• Options are available.

Legal Justification

LNER have been contracting with Vix Technology UK Limited for the provision of the Central Booking Engine ((CBE) since 01/10/2016. The supplier owns the intellectual property rights (IPR) for the source code of the CBE. therefore, maintenance and support can only be carried out by Vix Technology UK Limited, in line with UCR 2016 (50)(1)(c)(ii) and (iii). Over the term of the contract LNER has invested in system and functional development to improve the customer proposition, the financial appraisal period for the developments has not matured, nor has the system reached the end of its operational life. The contract is awarded in order to maintain business continuity whilst the industry considers next generation digital ticketing solutions. A change in supplier could only be done if LNER were to procure a new/different booking engine, and therefore would oblige the utility to acquire supplies having different technical characteristics which would result in incompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance in line with UCR 2016 50 (1) (e).

Other Information

The contract is to be awarded with an initial 5-year term, Jan 25 - Jan 30 with options to extend by a further 5 years in increments of 12 months. Value of the initial 5 year period is £16m including all maintenance and development costs, and the total contract value will be a maximum of £32m if all 5 extensions were instructed.