Information technology services

Tender description

The current Possession Planning System (PPS) has been in place for in excess of 15 years and has had limited enhancement. During this time, requests for new functionalities as well as improved intelligent capabilities to enhance and future proof the system have been logged but due to the very limited in-house development capability these have not been addressed. We plan to address these as part of APP. The high-level requirements are categorised as follows: • possession planning system improvements or replacement; • engineering access statement digitisation; • workflow; • visual representation; • reporting. For detail relating to these high-level categorised requirements please follow these steps: 1) follow the link — https://networkrail.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html 2) from the welcome screen, access the ‘View Current Opportunities’ link and select ‘Pre-Market Engagement: ‘Access Planning Programme’. 3) click on the attachment – ‘Access Planning Programme – RFI requirements’. The Access Planning Programme (APP) has been established to seek to enable better decision making to optimise the trade-offs between possession access, train plan stability, passenger information and safety. By giving timetable planners an unambiguous single method of determining whether the railway is open to run trains, or closed for engineering work, the stability of the access plan can be improved which gives timetable planning staff the opportunity to plan with increased certainty. The programme has identified requirements from various stakeholders for a large enhancement of the capabilities of current possession and access planning systems. If APP is to contribute to Network Rail’s Strategic Business Plan (SBP) aim to improve the access planning process, then ‘do nothing’ with regards to the Possession Planning System (PPS) is not an option. The delivery of these enhancements should be considered based on its outcome, benefit, benefit owner and alignment with the overall outcomes of APP. However, as the PPS business system owner, system operator must be cognisant of the needs of the industry wide user base of PPS, including other programmes dependent on the system and its data feeds when making this decision. Network Rail will seek to issue a call for competition in the first quarter of 2021 in order to address the requirements detailed above. The purpose of this RFI is to engage with the market, and request information to identify what solutions are currently available in the marketplace, any potential supplier solutions or system integrators that can meet the list of requirements partially, or as a whole. Network rail is keen to explore the availability of new solutions or the replacement or phased enhancement of existing systems. Specifically, this RFI will look to establish the following areas: • identify suppliers that can address either the requirements of all the categories, or individual categories as part of a multi-supplier agreement/system integrator function; • identify existing solutions available in the market; • identify ability to develop existing software; • identify the functionality and capabilities of software services available in the market; • identify indicative costs of the software solutions available in the market; • identify indicative costs for providing software development of the existing system (PPS); • identify indicative yearly service management costs; • identify any additional capabilities that Network Rail may have not considered; • estimate of the length of time to complete solution design to meet the requirements; • ensure suppliers who are interested in any potential future tender activity relating to these requirements are aware of the procurement platform that will be used, and provide them with the steps to complete qualification to this platform (should they not have already done so). Please note that any content received via response to this RFI will be used purely for information purposes only and will not be deemed as forming part of any proposed bid now, or any potential future tender. Should you wish to respond to this RFI please complete the attached document titled ‘Access Planning Programme– RFI Submission Template’, this can be accessed via the link and instructions below. 1) follow the link: https://networkrail.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html 2) from the welcome screen, access the ‘View Current Opportunities’ link and select ‘Pre-Market Engagement: ‘Access Planning Programme’. 3) click on the attachment – ‘Access Planning Programme – RFI Submission Template’. Once completed please send your submission document via email as attachment to alex.jerome@networkrail.co.uk with the email subject ‘Request for Information — Possession Planning System Improvements’. The response deadline for this RFI is the 22 December 2020.