CONTRACT NOTICE – OFFICIAL JOURNAL

Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)

I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions National or federal agency/Office Regional or local Authority Regional or local Agency/Office Body governed by public law European Institution/Agency or International Organisation

General public services Defence Public order and safety Environment Economic and financial affairs Health Housing and community amenities Social protection Recreation, culture and religion Education Other (Please specify) transport

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Description

II.1.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

II.1.2(a))

Type of works contract

II.1.2(b))

Type of supplies contract

II.1.2(c))

Type of service contract

II.1.2)

Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance

II.1.3)

This notice involves

A public contract
The setting up of a Dynamic Purchasing System
The establishment of a framework agreement

II.1.4)

Information on framework agreement (if applicable)

Framework agreement with a single operators
Framework agreement with several operators

Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged

Duration of the framework agreement

Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds four years

Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement

Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded

II.1.5)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

The DfT is seeking to appoint an appropriately experienced and qualified applicant to operate the East Anglia rail passenger franchise. Expressions of interest are now being sought from the market for this franchise. Parties which are successful at being shortlisted for this franchise will receive the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the franchise. It is expected that this will be issued in August 2015 and that the deadline for the submission of tenders will be in December 2015. It is anticipated that the contract will commence in October 2016. The successful applicant for the franchise will be required to enter into a standard form franchise agreement amended as necessary to deal with the specific circumstances of this franchise.

Further details of the East Anglia franchise are included in the Prospectus for the franchise.

The Anglia route covers a large area with densely populated areas at its southern end, regional hubs at its centre and sparsely populated rural communities in the north.

The main markets are commuter travel to London, in particular to the City and the Docklands, and leisure travel to Stansted Airport, the Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, and the coastal resorts of Sheringham, Cromer, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Walton-on-the-Naze, Clacton-on-Sea and Southend-on- Sea.

The railway tends to be the first choice for commuters especially on the suburban network, which experiences strong patronage in the peak. The regional hubs of Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich serve large and growing business markets as well as feeding commuters into London.

The route also caters for the growing international markets with stations at Stansted and Southend airports and at Harwich International to connect into ferries from Harwich International Port.

The passenger services can generally be broken down into 5 distinct groups:

— Great Eastern Main Line services — these are the long distance intercity services between London and Norwich.

— Great Eastern and West Anglia services — routes include Braintree, Cambridge, Colchester, Ipswich and Harwich as well as the coastal resorts of Southend-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze.

— Stansted Express — direct airport services.

— Interurban services — Stansted Airport, Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich with connections to the Midlands and North of England at Peterborough.

— Rural services — Suffolk and Norfolk branch lines connecting local communities to the regional conurbations and linking into long distance and commuter services into London.

The franchise is operated by Abellio Greater Anglia who were awarded a 2-year contract in 2012 which was extended until October 2016 as part of the Department's direct award schedule for franchising.

The DfT is willing to accept applications from a single entity, a consortium or a joint venture.

Details of the legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded are set out in section III.1.3) of this notice.

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.7)

Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

II.1.8)

Division into lots

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

II.2)

Quantity or Scope of the Contract

II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope

II.2.2)

Options

Provisional timetable for recourse to these options

Number of possible renewals

In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated time frame for subsequent contracts

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions Relating to the Contract

III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required

A guarantee of at least 40 000 000 GBP ('Fixed Guarantee') will be required to be provided by each applicant's guarantor. DfT will require a funding deed to be provided to the franchisee by its guarantor. This funding deed is an agreement between the guarantor, the franchisee and the Secretary of State for Transport whereby the guarantor provides a guarantee to the franchisee in the amount specified by the DfT. Under the terms of the funding deed, the Secretary of State as a party to this deed will therefore have legal rights to require the franchisee to draw down under the loan facility to ensure the financial robustness of the franchisee.

As part of the evaluation of financial and economic standing of applicants during the pre-qualification process, each applicant's guarantor will be required to pass 3 out of 4 financial ratio tests. If an applicant's guarantor fails to pass 3 out of 4 of the tests or wishes to provide bonding as an alternative to passing the required tests, then an applicant can provide a letter of intent from a suitable third party financial institution to provide bonding for 100 % of the value of the guarantee which for the purposes of the evaluation of PQQ responses shall be 40 000 000 GBP. If an applicant's guarantor passes three or more of the tests, then an applicant is required to provide a letter of intent from a suitable third party financial institution to provide bonding for 50 % of the value of the guarantee which for the purposes of the evaluation of PQQ responses shall be 20 000 000 GBP. If an applicant proposes to use more than 1 guarantor, then the levels of required bonding will be adjusted per guarantor. Further information in respect of this and the detailed requirements for parent company support and how this will be evaluated as part of the pre-qualification process, is set out in the Pre-Qualification Process Document (PPD).

Following receipt of tenders submitted in response to the ITT, the DfT will re-calculate the results of the financial ratio tests carried out as part of the pre-qualification process, both in light of the actual guarantee required under the funding deed and to take account of any material events which have been disclosed and any audited annual accounts or credit rating updates issued during the franchise letting process. It is currently anticipated that the ITT will require a minimum of 33 % up to a maximum of 50 % of the value of the guarantee to be bonded by a suitable third party financial institution or institutions, provided that the guarantor passes at least 3 out the 4 financial tests set out in the PQQ. If the guarantor fails this test, then 100 % of the value of the guarantee must be bonded.

At the ITT stage, DfT reserves the right to increase the Fixed Guarantee to an amount higher than 40 000 000 GBP. In addition to the Fixed Guarantee (as increased, if applicable by the terms of the ITT), the DfT will also require an additional amount to be guaranteed by an applicant's guarantor ('Variable Guarantee'). The size of this Variable Guarantee will depend on the level of Franchise Payments bid, and the method for calculating the size of this Variable Guarantee will be set out in the ITT. The total guarantee required from any successful bidder for the East Anglia franchise will therefore be the sum of the Fixed Guarantee (as increased, if applicable, by the terms of the ITT) and this Variable Guarantee calculated on the basis of the successful bidder's Franchise Payments. The form of the funding deed will be attached to the ITT.

The franchisee must provide a Performance Bond and a Season Ticket Bond (calculated in accordance with a formula set out in the standard form franchise agreement) from a suitable third party financial institution. The Performance Bond is anticipated to be in the region of 15 000 000 GBP for the franchise. The Season Ticket Bond is expected to be around 80 000 000 GBP for the East Anglia franchise.

The DfT may require the franchisee to provide a parent company guarantee in support of its obligation to maintain the stations. Further details will be set out in the ITT.

III.1.2)

Main Terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions

Further details of financing are contained in the PQQ and Pre-qualification Process Document (PPD).

III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is to be awarded

Regardless of whether an applicant applies as a single entity, a consortium or a joint venture, applicants are asked to note that the party to the franchise agreement must be a company incorporated for that special purpose. Such a company may be a subsidiary of a single entity, a consortium or a joint venture according to the nature of the applicant. Details of the applicant's proposed contractual structure should be set out in its PQQ response.

Applicants must provide full details of their proposed contracting structures. Changes to consortia and contracting structures must be notified to the DfT immediately. Full details relating to, and/or further restrictions on changes to consortia and contracting structures are set out in the tender documents. Further details are set out in the PQQ and PPD.

III.1.4)

Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

The franchisee will be required to have all appropriate permissions, licences, etc. to undertake the services under the franchise agreement in the UK and under UK legislation (and/or under all equivalent legislation in the place of their establishment) and will be required to evidence these according to the requirements set out in the tender documents and contract documents.

Applicants who successfully meet the PQQ criteria will be expected to explain in their ITT response how they will obtain merger control clearance to operate the franchise.

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

The information and formalities necessary to assess whether an applicant will be shortlisted to receive an Invitation to Tender are contained in the PQQ and PPD. Interested parties will be required to sign a Franchise Letting Process Agreement (FLPA) to participate in the pre-qualification process. Applicants are required to register their expression of interest to receive a PQQ and gain access to the franchising procurement e-sourcing portal and FLPA by emailing eastanglia@dft.gsi.gov.uk Further details are set out in the PPD.

III.2.2)

Economic and financial capacity

III.2.3)

Technical capacity

III.2.4)

Reserved contracts

The contract is restricted to sheltered workshops
The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes

III.3)

Conditions Specific to Service Contracts

III.3.1)

Is provision of the service reserved to a specific profession?

III.3.2)

Will legal entities be required to state the names and professional qualifications of the personnel responsible for the execution of the service?

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure

Open		Restricted
Accelerated restricted		Negotiated
Accelerated negotiated		Competitive dialogue

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.1)

Have candidates already been selected?

IV.1.2)

Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates

IV.1.3)

Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated

IV.2)

Award Criteria

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction will be used

IV.3 Administrative Information

IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

Prior Information Notice
Notice on a Buyer Profile

Other previous publications

IV.3.3)

Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

IV.3.4)

Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

IV.3.5)

Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

IV.3.7)

Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender 

IV.3.8)

Conditions for opening tenders

Section VI: Other Information

VI.1)

Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published

VI.2)

Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds?

VI.3)

Additional Information

In terms of paragraph 3 of Article 10 of Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts, Directive 2014/23/EU does not apply to concessions for public passenger transport services within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007. In terms of paragraph (i) of Article 10 of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26.2.2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC, and paragraph (g) of Article 21 of Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26.2.2014 on procurement by entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors and repealing Directive 2004/17/EC, Directives 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU do not apply to public service contracts for public passenger transport services by rail.

This tender process is subject to Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23.10.2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70 (the 'Regulation') and constitutes a ‘public service contract' within the meaning of the Regulation.

Accordingly the publication of this notice in the Official Journal of the EU is entirely voluntary. References to the negotiated procedure in this notice do not constitute reference to the competitive procedure with negotiation as described in Directive 2014/24/EU or the negotiated procedure with prior call for competition described in Directive 2014/25/EU and should not be construed in any way as constituting an undertaking by the Authority to carry out a tender process in line with the requirements that apply to the carrying out of a tender process by means of the competitive procedure with negotiation or negotiated procedure with a prior call for competition under Directives 2014/24/EU and 2014/25/EU respectively. Information as to how applicants express an interest and participate in the procurement are set out in the PPD. The tender process which the Authority intends to follow will be described in more detail in the Prospectus, the PPD and the ITT. The information contained in this notice is neither exhaustive nor binding, and may be amended at the time of issue of any further notice or notices or at any other time at the discretion of Authority. All financial information supplied as part of the tender must be clearly denominated in pounds sterling. This requirement does not apply to any requested information which has not been created for the tender (e.g. company financial reports), which should use the original currency. Any resulting contract will be considered a contract made in England according to English law. The Authority is not and shall not be liable for any expenses, costs or liabilities incurred by those expressing an interest or negotiating or tendering for a franchise agreement or any other agreement entered into in connection with such franchise agreement, or their associated entities or any other person. The Authority reserves the right not to award a contract, to make whatever changes it sees fit to the structure and timing of the procurement process, to cancel the process in its entirety at any stage and, where it considers it appropriate to do so, make a direct contract award pursuant to Article 5(6) of the Regulation. The Authority is a public authority under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ('the Act') and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 ('EIR'). As part of its duty under the Act and the EIR, the Authority may disclose information to a person making a request unless the information is covered by an exemption under the Act or the EIR. The Authority is required to determine whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing this information. Applicants should state in their responses whether or not they consider the information supplied should be exempted from disclosure to third parties under the Act or the EIR and should provide reasons for such views. These views will be taken into consideration by the Authority when deciding whether to disclose information.

(Please see the tender documents for further information).

VI.4)

Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures

Body responsible for mediation procedures

VI.4.2)

Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals:

VI.4.3)

Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice