Refurbishment of NIR Ballast Hopper Wagons

Tender description

Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) owns and operates a fleet of six ballast hopper wagons. These wagons were delivered to NIR in 1992 and have been in regular service with NIR until now. The wagons are constructed to Irish Gauge which is 5feet and 3 inches wide or 1600mm wide. The wagons have vacuum brakes and ballast is discharged from them by manually operated levers. The wagons normally operate as a consist of six but can be operated as a shorter length train. NIR proposes to refurbish these six wagons by engaging in a contract with a suitably qualified and experienced train engineering company. The contract will require the appointed supplier to carryout the design elements and the refurbishment elements for each of the six vehicles. The refurbishment works will take place at the supplier’s premises. The main items of work envisaged for the vehicles is summarised as:- • Inspection of each vehicle and production of a refurbishment plan for each vehicle. • Mechanical design and certification for the refurbishment plan on each vehicle • Conversion of the braking system on each vehicle from vacuum to air. This may require the appointment of a Notified Body (NoBo). Tenderers will be responsible for the appointment of the NoBo if the requirement is confirmed. • Design and fitting of permanent lighting (for night time operation) on each vehicle. • Overhaul of the bogies on each vehicle. • Cleaning existing paintwork and re-painting each vehicle. • Production of Operation & Maintenance Documents for the vehicles. • Transportation of the vehicles from NIR’s Belfast depot to the supplier’s depot and the return of the vehicles to NIR’s Belfast depot on completion. • Pre-service testing and certification of all vehicles in Belfast before they return to service. It is NIR’s intention that the refurbishment contract will commence in April 2013 and be completed by February 2014.