How to win: Operational Data and System-to-System Messaging Platforming - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice

About this contract

Network Rail currently operates two platforms (EMS Hub and LINX) that perform broadly similar roles in transporting operational data and enabling system‑to‑system messaging across the railway ecosystem. The EMS Hub has been in use since 2005 as a real‑time messaging platform serving Network Rail and industry partners across multiple business sectors. LINX, introduced in 2017, was initially designed to act as a linkage layer between newer train management services and legacy systems. Over time, both platforms have evolved in parallel, resulting in significant functional overlap, duplicated dataflows, and an unclear delineation of responsibilities between them. LINX is a specialist platform for Traffic Management and operational railway data, providing controlled, resilient and standardised real‑time data exchange. EMS Hub is a flexible, enterprise integration platform supporting a wide range of business domains, including finance, maintenance, operational reporting and web services. Both EMS Hub and LINX provide real‑time messaging and data exchange between operational systems used to manage train movements, timetabling, maintenance, and performance reporting. Because the two platf

How to win contracts like this

• ✓Answer against the marking scheme, not the question text — NETWORK RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED scores each response, so map your evidence to the published criteria and weightings.
• ✓Lead with evidenced capability and social value — for services work these usually outweigh price.
• ✓Show recent, comparable delivery: name similar services contracts you've delivered for public bodies, with measurable outcomes.
• ✓Start early: it closes 8 June 2026 and a strong bid takes iteration.

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