Writing winning bids and tenders for the Rail Sector | Win more contracts with our expert help

Led by Jason Cooney, our specialist rail bid team brings over 42 years of combined experience helping clients win contracts in the UK and international railway sectors. From high-speed rail and rolling stock procurement to complex DBOM contracts, we provide the technical writing expertise, bid management and coordination skillset, and design capability required to turn complex bids into winning proposals.

Regardless of if you are a UK-based SME looking to join a framework across the UK, or a large international firm bidding for major infrastructure projects, we bridge the gap between your technical capabilities and the UK public sector evaluators expectations. .

Rail Tenders and Bids across the UK and beyond

We have a dedicated rail industry bid writing service led by two of our team members who specialise in rail sector bids. They bring extensive experience in rail and rolling stock bids and an understanding of what it takes to win bids for both major rail infrastructure projects and other rolling stock maintenance projects. Our team understands the industry terminology, client expectations and technical and safety focus required to create compelling bids and tenders. We will help you navigate the requirements, and competitive landscape, to develop a quality winning proposal.

Rail Infrastructure Projects

We combine our experience in large infrastructure bids and tenders across the UK with our specialist rail experience to help businesses across the UK win contracts with Network Rail and other major rail industry infrastructure project procurers. We have helped a range of rail companies write bids and tenders to Network Rail. Network Rail is responsible for rail infrastructure and often releases RFI, Tenders and bids for a range of projects and services such as signaling upgrades and rail improvements. Network Rail use a similar RFP document format for most of their procurement initiatives. Our write bid writers know their way around it and assist businesses servicing the rail industry to write compelling proposals for rail industry businesses large and small.

Rolling Stock Procurement

The rail industry often involves Train operating companies issuing tenders to buy and sometimes sell new and refurbished trains. With an expanding rail network across the UK, there is the constant need and demand to increase stock and meet customer demand as well as to replace ageing fleets.

There is the emergence of social value in tender requirements, which can have an impact on the overall result. We have helped local UK and international businesses write bids and tenders for the sale of rolling stock. Our bid writers will guide your team, including technical personnel, through the rolling stock procurement process and have experience writing bids across most aspects of the sector.

Maintenance Contracts and bids

We have helped many businesses that service the rail industry to win contracts with network rail and the UK government over the years. This includes cleaning companies, consultancies that repair and maintain trains and other rail infrastructure, as well as engineering inspections services. Our writers know the terminology and work with small and medium consultancies to win contracts across the country.

We will work with you to highlight your key points of difference and demonstrate that your business:

1. Is credible and reliable.
2. Has the expertise and experience to deliver the maintenance services.
3. Has the internal quality assurance and other processes to manage and deliver on a rail maintenance contract ove the long term.

Different types of contracts in the rail industry

Our writing consultants have written bids for international and local companies across the UK bidding for all different types of rail contracts including:

• Design and build contracts: Where our client is a single entity bidding to design and build the rail project.
• Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM) Contracts: We have helped international companies bid for these contracts to Network Rail and more broadly across the globe. These are generally quite complex bids and tenders and we work with key internal engineers and stakeholders as part of their teams to prepare comprehensive submissions. We also help recruit bid writers for these firms who are looking to increase their in-house capability.
• Alliances and Joint Ventures: We work constructively with our clients and their partners to contribute to tender writing teams for larger bids or contracts which they are bidding on as part of an alliance.
• Framework Agreements: We have strong experience writing applications and submissions for framework agreements across the UK for a range of different frameworks such as CCS.

Strategies we will employ to help you win more contracts

Our team will employ a range of strategies to help you win. These include:

• Putting forward structured case studies. These should show a description of the project, the challenge, solutions and result. It’s also a good idea to articulate key team members involved in each case /. project, safety, equipment use and any innovation or value added services.
• Quantify as much as possible – including value you will provide. This is quite challenging. You need to put a framework around what you will be delivering, and then put a value on it.
• Demonstrating innovation in the rail industry. All your competitors will generally have the same capabilities as you do. You need to set your business apart in a bid. You can do it on price. However, that is a strategy that can damage margins and business viability. Coming up with innovative ideas and demonstrating that you will innovate through technology and other avenues is crucial to putting forward a quality bid or proposal.
• Incorporate international best practice. By showing that you are an active member of the rail industry, you can demonstrate that you are at the forefront of the industry. In your bid, talk about how you will introduce best practice internationally into the services you will provide in the UK.
• Write a concise, to the point response. Rail sector procurement personnel are experienced and knowledgeable. They can quickly see through any marketing fluff in your bid. We recommend you write concisely and to the point.

Case studies and experience in the rail sector

Our bid writers have helped our clients win contracts and writing winning bids and tenders for some of the country’s most iconic rail projects including:

• Crossrail: This was one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe. We helped our client bid for a range of contracts and aspects of work associated with the new railway line that ran through central London. Jason Cooney, our Director, was hands on with this bid and worked closely with the client to help them grow the project and win contracts for different works. Capacity and resourcing was critical. By demonstrating that our client had programs in place to increase capacity both in terms of personnel and equipment, we were able to help them secure a larger share of the work.

• HS2: The High Speed 2 (HS2) project is a high-speed railway line that will connect London, Birmingham, and Manchester. We have helped clients submit many tenders and bids associated with the project including proposals for tunnelling expertise. We have an 85% success rate helping clients win work on this project and have successfully helped clients with a broad range of services win contracts.
• Great Northern Railway Upgrade: This involves the upgrade of the Great Northern Railway line between London and Peterborough. Our team of bid writers, including Director, Jason Cooney, has helped clients bid for works related to signaling and station improvements. As specialist bid writers in the rail sector, we understand the terminology around signaling and the work involved in station improvements. By demonstrating and understanding of the station environment, we were able to help our client secure station improvement works, particularly by talking about the processes they had in place for undertaking works out of hours.

Servicing the UK

We service clients both internationally, who are looking to bid for rail sector contracts in the UK, as well as locally across the UK. Our team has helped businesses based in London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff. Contact Jason Cooney to talk about how we can assist with your next rail bid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a rail specific bid writing service or consultant who can help us?

Yes. Here at Tsaks Consulting UK, the rail sector is a sector we focus on and specialise in. We understand specific rail industry terminology, the relevant safety standards (such as RISQS) as well as the different procurement frameworks. We are familiar with writing bids to the different TOCs such as Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, London North Eastern Railway, TransPennine Express, ScotRail, Hull Trains and Grand Central. Our team will work with you to understand where you fit in the market, identify your key selling points and communicate those through a compliant tender.

We need a bid writing resource for a large-scale DBOM and a framework bid. Can you help?

Yes – we certainly can. These are generally highly complex bids and tenders and will it in with your team to manage the bid process, ensure everything is consistent and work closely with your SMEs in order to develop concise and relevant content. We have worked on a number of rail sector bids in 2026 and look forward to continue to working on them into 2027 and beyond.

How much does it cost to hire a rail sector specialist bid writer? We need someone to help with our bid in London.

For our specialist rail sector bid writer here at Tsaks Consulting UK we generally work off 600 +VAT per day. However, we are also able to provide fixed fee proposals for certain bids and tenders. Get in touch with our bid writing team to discuss your specific tender and how we can assist.