The East West Railway Company (the Authority) is responsible for the delivery of East West Rail (EWR), a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project providing new and upgraded rail links between Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. EWR Co. is responsible for leading the development, procurement, and commissioning of the railway. The Authority is undertaking preliminary market engagement in advance of a planned procurement for Client Support Framework (CSF) Partners to support the development and delivery of the EWR programme. This notice is issued to inform the market of the Authority's current thinking, to seek clarifications and respond to all interested suppliers. This is not a call for competition. Overview of the Intended Contract The Authority is considering the establishment of a 3 lot / single appointed supplier per lot framework for the provision of Client Support Services (CSF) for a period of up to twelve (12) years, with performance and scope breakpoints at Years 3, 6 and 9. Relationship with the ITOAE Partner The Authority is separately considering the procurement of an Integration, Technical, Operations, Assurance and Environmental (ITOAE) Partner. The Authority's current position is that the CSF partners will be structurally separated from the ITOAE, such that the appointed CSF Partners will not be eligible to be appointed under the ITOAE for the duration of the CSF contracts. The purpose of this separation is to protect the independence of assurance and advice, to mitigate real or perceived conflicts of interest, and to align with independent review findings on major programme governance (including the Stewart Review, 2025). The Authority is testing this position through this preliminary market engagement. The final Conditions of Participation will be confirmed in the tender documentation and will be set in accordance with the Authority's obligations under the Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement Regulations 2024. Indicative Scope of Services At this stage, the Authority has defined the high-level scope of services. These are expected to include (but are not limited to), at Lot level Lot 1 – Reporting and Controls / PMO Support Programme, portfolio and package level reporting: • cost, schedule, risk, issue and change dashboards; • consolidated programme performance reporting Planning and scheduling support: • development, maintenance and assurance of master and integrated schedules; • critical path, float and scenario analysis; • schedule change control support. Cost and performance controls: • cost forecasting and EAC support; • reconciliation of cost, schedule and scope baselines; • trend analysis and early warning indicators. Risk, issue and opportunity management support: • maintenance of programme and workstream risk registers; • quantitative risk analysis (QRA) support; • interface with assurance and gateway preparation. Management information (MI) production: • Board, Sponsor and DfT packs; • standardised reporting templates and data definitions; • audit ready evidence trails. Controls systems and data governance: • toolset configuration and administration (e.g. planning, cost, risk tools); • data quality checks and consistency rules; • document and records management interfaces. Lot 2 – Commercial Management and Contract Administration support Procurement support: • pre tender estimation; • commercial evaluation; • commercial support during tender processes Contract administration: • management of notices, instructions, early warnings and compensation events; • administration of NEC (or equivalent) processes; • maintenance of contractual registers and correspondence logs. Change control and forecasting support: • cost planning, estimating and cost engineering; • development and maintenance of cost estimates; • assessment and logging of change events; • affordability and cost assurance of options Payment and cost management support: • valuation support; • payment application assessment; • reconciliation against cost records. Claims avoidance and dispute support: • contemporaneous record management; • support to dispute resolution processes; • preparation of evidence packs (without advocacy role unless instructed). Supplier performance and compliance monitoring: • performance data collation against contractual KPIs; • payment practice and supply chain compliance checks. Commercial data and audit support: • audit responses and evidence collation; • benchmarking and affordability analyses. Lot 3 – Project & Construction Management Support Project and package management support: • workstream coordination and day to day management support; • delivery plan development and tracking; • action management and follow up. • Interface and dependency management: • coordination across contractors, designers, third parties and stakeholders; • management of interface schedules and logs. Programme governance support: • preparation of governance boards and working groups; • action and decision tracking; • support to stage gate and readiness reviews. Stakeholder and third party coordination, including: • support to statutory undertaker, local authority and regulator engagement; • tracking of commitments and undertakings. Transition and mobilisation support: • support to phase transitions (e.g. design to construction); • readiness planning and handover coordination. Delivery performance support: • progress measurement and reporting; • recovery planning support (without authority to direct suppliers). Construction Management: • Clerk of works/Site Inspector • Construction Supervisor/Compliance Manager • Quality Assurance • Health & Safety • CDM compliance. • Contract Form – NEC4 Professional Service Contract • Estimated total value - £230 million -£350 million * *The indicative value range reflects a twelve (12) year term. The final value will be confirmed in the tender notice and is subject to internal approval and the outcome of this engagement.

Procurement Act 2023

Utilities

Objectives This preliminary market engagement under s16 PA23 is being undertaken to: • Inform the market by way of a market engagement presentation outlining the proposed procurement for a 12-year single supplier per lot / 3 Lot CSF Partner model, including breakpoints at Years 3, 6, and 9. • To invite interested parties to raise clarification questions by Wednesday 21st October 2026 which will be collated and responses made to all interested parties unless agreed as confidential. • Confirm if the approach is in line with the market offering and to inform East West Rail in finalising the proposed tender activity. Key Dates • Registration Deadline – Tuesday 20th October 2026, 17:00 • Market Clarification Deadline – Thursday 22nd October 2026, 17:00 • EWR Response to Clarification Deadline – Wednesday 28th October 2026, 17:00 To register interest, potential suppliers should: • Register on the Authority's Jaggaer e-procurement portal, if not already registered East West Rail https://eastwestrail.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/esop/ogc-host/public/eastwestrail/web/login.jst?_ncp=1791885132105.1056374-1 • Express interest in this preliminary market engagement via the Jaggaer portal by the registration deadline above, review presentation and forward clarifications via the Jaggaer portal. On confirmation of registration, participants will receive a briefing presentation, setting out the Authority's current programme context, indicative scope of services, and proposed commercial approach. The presentation will provide the information necessary to brief the interested parties about the proposed procurement. EWR is happy to seek clarifications about the proposed procurement which may include views from the market as to our proposed approach. Points to Note Please note the following important points before registering an interest: 1. This PME is not a call for competition and is not published with the intention of reducing any time limits for the receipt of tenders. 2. EWR Co. reserves the right not to commence any procurement process or award any contracts in respect of the EWR project and to amend the requirements stated in this PME (or as stated in any pre-procurement market engagement documents). 3. EWR Co. will provide information on its emerging thinking on scope, commercial structure, and contracting approach via the briefing presentation and within the pre-procurement market engagement documents made available to registered suppliers. EWR Co. reserves the right to further develop and change the procurement strategy and/or other aspects of the proposed procurement and delivery strategy as a result of pre-procurement market engagement or otherwise. 4. EWR Co. may undertake further pre-procurement market consultation exercises. 5. Publication of this PME is part of the Authority's due diligence process on its options, and the publication of this PME does not indicate that a decision has been made on a particular route for a procurement and/or subsequent contract award, if any. 6. Registration does not bind EWR Co. to include any party in the pre-procurement market engagement exercise. 7. EWR Co. is not obliged to communicate with any parties that register after the deadline for registration has passed. 8. EWR Co. is not obliged to respond to any correspondence on this notice or any matter related to this preliminary market engagement exercise. The decision to accept the registration of any interested party, and subsequent inclusion in any engagement process, shall remain with EWR Co. alone. 9. Non-participation in this process will not prevent any party from participating in any procurement process in due course. Participation will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement process. 10. Given the early stage of the programme and the anticipated impact of the market engagement process and other internal processes, any information provided to the market shall be subject to change. EWR Co. (insofar as it is permitted by law) shall not be liable for any losses incurred by any party as a result of reliance on such information. 11. Any values set out in this PME are indicative and subject to revision and to confirmation in any future notices in relation to EWR procurement.