Railways traffic-control equipment

Tender description

The Digital Railway Programme (DRP) requires a capability to test interoperability between multiple manufacturers' equipment and enable adherence to the relevant technical specifications of interoperability (TSIs) in relation to trackside and on-board ETCS equipment. The Digital Railway Programme (DRP) requires a capability to test interoperability between multiple manufacturers' equipment and enable adherence to the relevant technical specifications of interoperability (TSIs) in relation to trackside and on-board ETCS equipment. This capability is a critical enabler for the Digital Railway Strategy in that it provides the ability to ensure effective integration of all ETCS equipment regardless of manufacturer, owner or operator. It is a mandated requirement of the control, command and signalling (CCS) TSI that the network operator provides this facility (which will be made available to passenger and freight customers). It is envisaged that the core requirements will comprise the delivery of a system integration (SI) lab that can provide a single testing platform system that is capable of integrating and testing different suppliers’ Trackside and Onboard ETCS products for different projects within the scope of the DRP. Additionally, the solution is required to provide support capability for ERTMS Track-Train integration testing including the test process, test environment architectures and test management procedures. This will include scenario testing of all ETCS equipment (hardware, software and comms) against the known and constantly updated configuration of the network which will provide early identification of any issues in advance of equipment installation and will therefore de-risk ETCS rollout cost and timescales. In determining the optimal supplier approach to delivering this capability, the procurement exercise to be undertaken will include tender options both for provision of a facility and for provision of the capability as a service. The DRP requires this capability to be in place no later than December 2021 in order to support the deployment of the East Coast Mainline Programme.