How to find rail car overhaul bids in the US and Canada

Updated Oct 23, 2026

Rail agencies do not publish their bids in one place. A single commuter railroad may post a truck overhaul on Bonfire, a parts contract on its own website and a vehicle procurement in a state contract register. Here is how the market actually works.

The platforms rail agencies use

• Bonfire: Metra, CTA, NFTA, DART, Houston METRO, Caltrain and others.
• OpenGov Procurement: RTD Denver, VTA, Valley Metro and many airports.
• PlanetBids, BidNet Direct, Bid Express (NJ Transit) and agency-run systems such as SEPTA ePS and MBTA's Business Center.
• Open data in Canada: CanadaBuys (federal) and SEAO (Quebec).

Most require a free supplier registration with commodity codes before they email you. For rolling stock work, pick NAICS 336510 (railroad rolling stock manufacturing) and 488210 (support activities for rail transportation), and every NIGP or UNSPSC code for rail car parts, repair and maintenance that the platform's picker offers.

What to watch for

Midlife overhauls, truck and wheelset programs, HVAC and door operator rebuilds, traction motor repair, onboard systems retrofits (PIS, CCTV, PTC), and shop equipment such as wheel truing machines.

Do it faster

Consist watches 128 rail agencies across all these platforms, scores every notice for rail relevance, and emails you the ones that match your saved searches, with the fleet each bid concerns. Start free.