Railway and tramway locomotives and rolling stock and associated parts

Tender description

The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to engage with the supply market to assess the level of interest and considerations in the provision of rail delivery services. In December 2017 Network Rail issued a PIN (OJEU notice: 2017/S 242-502338) to engage with the marketplace to assess the level of interest in the tender opportunity. In this instance NR is seeking to understand what the market can offer in terms of potential delivery solutions which may include, but not be limited to: — design and build a replacement fleet, — design, build and lease a replacement fleet, — operation (either inclusive or exclusive of haulage around the rail network) and maintenance only, — new fleet service solution, — life extension of existing fleet, — life extended service solution. The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to engage with the supply market to assess the level of interest and considerations in the provision of rail delivery services. In December 2017 Network Rail issued a PIN (OJEU notice: 2017/S 242-502338) to engage with the marketplace to assess the level of interest in the tender opportunity. In this instance NR is seeking to understand what the market can offer in terms of potential delivery solutions which may include, but not be limited to: — design and build a replacement fleet, — design, build and lease a replacement fleet, — operation (either inclusive or exclusive of haulage around the rail network) and maintenance only, — new fleet service solution (end to end service with design, build, operation and maintenance; either inclusive or exclusive of haulage around the rail network), — life extension of existing fleet, — life extended service solution (end to end service life extension, operation and maintenance; either inclusive or exclusive of haulage around the rail network). The current arrangement is that Network Rail owns the trains and then contracts out the operation, maintenance, repairs and support services. In the forthcoming procurement exercise, Network Rail will be looking for proven or innovative ownership, funding and design solutions to meet its requirements. In brief, the rail delivery system should take account of the following operational and environmental parameters: — capable of delivering or recovering rail strings with up to six adjacent rails laid adjacent to each other, to or from, the 4-foot (between the running rails) and up to 2 rails adjacent to each other on each sleeper end; and, with the use of safety-interlocked gauge controls, to a distance of up to 1 metre from the running rails, — capable of transiting short distances between work locations (within a worksite) in a timely manner without the need to stow and secure work equipment, — capable of conducting multiple rail deliveries or recoveries between loading events and undertaken without requiring maintenance interventions (e.g. pre-flight checks) or equipment replenishment, while maximising the availability of the fleet and utilising a balanced maintenance regime rather than an overhaul regime, — capable of working: under live 25 kV OHLE systems; in tunnels; adjacent to isolated third rail equipment; and with the adjacent lines open to traffic, — capable of carrying between 16 and 32 rail lengths. Note: This notice does not replace the earlier PIN but is in addition to the original notice. Interested parties should contact Arnold Lupunga (Arnold.Lupunga@networkrail.co.uk) to request a Soft Market Questionnaire. This is not an invitation to tender, it is solely a market engagement exercise and no direct business will be awarded as a result of participating in this exercise. Further responding to this PIN will not in any way advantage or disadvantage any supplier in a future procurement exercise. Following the market engagement exercise, network rail will not be bound to conduct a procurement exercise or to award any contract, and where it commences a tender exercise reserves the right to cancel the tendering process at any time.